I’ll admit, I am a fan of oval rings. I’ve been running non-round rings on my road and cross bikes for some time, and prefer the feel over traditional round rings. With their new addition into the road chainring offerings, the UK based company AbsoluteBlack is looking to shake things up a bit. Based on looks alone, I think they have.
Non-round rings are not something new. Shimano tried them, and there are a few other brands out there currently making them. In the top level of the sport, some riders openly use them, while others have to black out the branding to make sponsors happy. For many people, they have always run round rings, and that is what they want. For others, they just haven’t had the chance to give them a shot without a significant investment. If you haven’t tried them, give the following video a look.
The AbsoluteBlack OVAL road rings won’t give you more power, but they will help you get the most out of what your legs do have. The idea is to be more efficient. See, with round rings, you are required to put out a set amount of power throughout the rotation of the cranks. With the OVAL road rings, AbsoluteBlack has made it so that you are putting down the most torque where your legs are the strongest, letting you ride faster with less muscle fatigue. Unlike other brands out there, AbsoluteBlack rings mount in only one position. Through researching how oval rings interact with your pedal stroke, they believe their position hits the sweet spot, so no need to play around with varying positions of the rings on the crank.
The first thing that gets me is the look of the rings. The CNC’d rings have a webbed look and gives the OVAL road rings a stout, aggressive appearance. On the back side, there are six smooth, angled shift ramps built in for solid, quick front shifts. When you need to bring it back down, there are twelve points around the ring that have been optimized for down shifts. Either way these rings should provide great shifting with no need to modify the front derailleur. Check out the video below to learn more.
Available in the new Shimano 4 bolt pattern and the more traditional Shimano 5 bolt pattern, both for compact cranks (110 BCD), you also get color choices of Black, Racing Red, and Grey. Currently, 34T and 36T are available for the small ring, and 50T and 52T are available for the big ring, with 38 and 53 tooth sizes on the way. If you prefer to spin more, AbsoluteBlack recommends the 50/34 combo. If you are a stronger rider, or keep it to the flats, the 34 or 36 will work with the 50. For racers, go big with the 52/36 combo. Time trial specialists and triathletes will salivate over the 53/38 that will be out soon.
At $185.95 a pair, regardless of the color or number of bolts, these rings are on par with SRAM and Shimano’s top offering chainrings. Just remember to add some chainring bolts to your order if you are switching both rings.
For more, head over to the AbsoluteBlack website. We look forward to getting some samples in to test in the future.
Small rings – $61.95
Big rings – $124.00
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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