Oval vs Round Chainrings. Long term test. MTB Fad or Faster? Absolute Black

[@robbwilliams7885]

I’ve been riding an oval for two seasons now. I get the most noticeable benefit on short, steep climbs. The oval gives me that extra boost to get up and over. I’m a believer (cue the Monkees).

[@aleksarajkovic3471]

Exactly , and do you ride flats or clips?

[@TrailBreaker]

Flats now. I rode clipped in for 17 years. I never felt comfortable on really steep or technical riding or jumps. I feel a lot safer on flats.

[@aleksarajkovic3471]

@@TrailBreaker honestly i switched this season to clips and would never go back, yea it is a bit sketcky at first but i simply got used to it, i ride shimano pedals for now and never preload springs too much, crankbrothers seem better for me but its kinda to much of a hastle since all my friends ride shimanos and I couldn't try their bikes lol

[@davidwhite9817]

I have ovals on a couple of my bikes, they seem to work for me. My best times on tough climbs have all been done with the oval chain rings. I too, refuse to act my age!

[@hardmtnbiker]

I have another perspective. I have an oval on my geared hardtail but round on my SS bikes. I also think it’s where you ride. A 7 mile loop is 2000ft and 14mile longer loop is over 3K. I live next to the foothills of the Angels National Forest, San Gabriel Mountains, so I don’t have rolling or flat trails. That matters because an oval rings advantage is for staying seated and keeping a consistent cadence on gradual climbs and flats. The disadvantage is when you jump out of the saddle to power through sections, you loose that leverage effect. You have to grab a couple gears before you stand and pedal otherwise you will not accelerate as expected. Of course you can adapt to this perhaps be really good about shifting but sometimes those sections are unexpected and understanding your bikes variable reactions needs to be factored. Just my thoughts

[@TrailBreaker]

I agree. It’s really easy to spin out with an oval when standing. As a result, I tend to be able to stay seated during all-but-the-most technical climbs. With the oval I have to drop to a harder gear to mash up steep stuff.

[@LanceBraswell]

I ride exclusively SS on rocky technical trails. I rode oval for two seasons and started to become frustrated until I watched a ride4life fit4life video where he pointed out (and I inferred a bit) namely, if you do a lot of ratcheting when you ride, oval is quite non deterministic on how you apply power on ratchets. It was quite eye opening. If you are a stand and masher with a relatively tall gear (as opposed to a spinner in a low gear), you may be better off with round for SS.

[@hardmtnbiker]

@@LanceBraswell thanks for the credit. That’s awesome that you are racing SS!

[@aleksarajkovic3471]

In my case, when I switched from round to oval on flat pedals difference was enormous on hard climbs , but than I diched flats and went for clips and because of oval I didn't feel almost any difference in tearms of climbing. Even now when I switch to my road bike and back to MTB , there is no difference in how chainrings feel because of the SPD I ride. So in conclusion , OVAL is amazing for flat pedals , and if you ride SPD there is almost no difference.

[@TrailBreaker]

Alesia, that makes a lot of sense. I switched to flats 4 or 5 years ago so the oval is huge for me. On clips you have the other foot to get over the dead spot in the pedal stroke. I guess it really depends on how you prefer to ride😁

[@aleksarajkovic3471]

@@TrailBreaker i guess so😁

[@WildMidwest1]

I watched your earlier video a few weeks ago and thought about my riding style (mostly clipped in SPD). 3/4 of my riding is on asphalt, 1/4 on trails. I decided to purchase shorter cranks, going from 175 down to 165 mm. I’ll give those a few weeks trying different size chainrings before drawing any conclusions. My opinion based on watching multiple videos and reading articles: there’s not much point buying oval chainrings until a rider figures out his optimal crank length. We’ll see how that opinion bears out in the real world.

[@TrailBreaker]

Sounds like a solid plan. I’m going to try 170mm cranks on my Trek Fuel vs the stick 175s. I’m doing it mainly for pedal strikes but hope it’ll pedal better too. Plus I now only ride flats so I really feel the benefits of the oval. I’m looking forward to seeing for myself

[@WildMidwest1]

@@TrailBreaker I ride flats on more challenging terrain where it’s off-camber a lot of the time, or along steep cliffs, etc where being unable to uncleat would have consequences. Two rides now on the 165 cranks and my mind and body are still adjusting. I didn’t expect 1 cm would be such a major change, down from 175 mm. For the first time I can power around corners with confidence of no pedal strikes. I raised my saddle 1.5 cm to achieve leg extension and now I feel my center of gravity is too high… I may back it down a few mm. My cadence is noticeably faster, which makes maintaining circular motion easier - versus up-down grinding. I reduced my chainring from 34 to 32T, so bottom strikes are slightly less likely there as my ring guard provides better coverage. I could even go down to 30T to maintain equivalent torque, though 32T is fine for me. 175 to 165 represents about 12.5% loss of mechanical advantage, with 6% gain on the chainring size reduction. We’ll see if I start developing knee problems or other issues over more rides. So far, shorter cranks seem to be a win.

[@XCRiders]

@@WildMidwest1 I tried 170mm gave it a good honest effort ultimately I couldn’t hammer the petals as well as 175mm. I’m back with 175s collecting PR’s and never gonna mess with crank length again.

[@WildMidwest1]

@@XCRiders It’s a personal preference for sure. Reducing the chainring size proportional to the crank circumference should keep mechanical advantage the same, in theory, but body physics make it an inexact science. I am still on my 165 mm cranks and happy as can be. I only had one slight pedal strike since I decreased the crank length and that was due to carelessness - versus frequent pedal strikes with 175 mm cranks. The same slight pedal strike could have had terrible consequences miles in the backcountry with longer cranks. I have enough miles on my 165 cranks that they are due for a re-build. No regrets.

[@MrFixmeister]

Swapped an oval for a round but it wasn't apples to apples. Could only fit a 34t oval on my bike against a 36t round. The jump to oval was seamless. Then I decided to test by switching back. That's where I noticed the stroke difference between the two. The oval feels like I'm on power all the time whereas the round feels like the throw is too long. I switched back and won't go back to round even though I lose 2 teeth.

[@TrailBreaker]

Yeah, I had to drop to a 30 tooth on my Trek Fuel from a 32 tooth round for clearance. I love the steep climb ability but really didn’t need it. I’d still rather have the oval at 30 than the round at 32 😁.

[@paulnam4488]

Me, mostly single speed, ride round rings. But my wife has ovals on most of her bikes - except her SS and grocery bike. I think she likes them a lot. In fact I should put one on her single speed too. Now I'm completely ignorant about the benefits. However academically I have read so much about them, the reason I put them on my wife's rides, that I am convinced they are better. Still, for some reason I just adore the circle as a pure concept. Also, I wonder about how it might affect my rock garden timings. Another benefit of round rings is that for the single speeder they are not as expensive id7y6

[@Adventure-MTB]

Great Video !! i have a 30T - 12sp now what size oval would you get ?

[@thim8009]

You can hate me all you want, but I kept the round ring and added a motor where the bottom bracket goes and really saw my climb times improve. I still enjoy your vids even if it is an analog bike.

[@TrailBreaker]

I prefer “acoustic” bike 😊. Thanks for watching!

[@thunderbird3694]

Ordered me an Absolute Black 44t Oval Direct Mount Cinch Chainring for my 29+ rigid titanium. Have been running RaceFace 42t Round Direct Mount Cinch Chainring with SRAM XX1 11spd Cassette and often find myself reaching for one more gear that isn't there. Hope to get additional top gear plus benefit of oval on hills with lower gears

[@flatheadfletch]

I’m 62 and remember when oval first came out. Sorry to be blunt, but junk then and junk now. Smooth and steady wins the race (ride). Round wins on a long haul by a long margin !

[@in2fx]

I rode oval sprockets (Shimano 105 Bio-pace) back in the mid '80s on a road bike and loved them, finding it a huge benefit in the hills when riding with stronger riders and having almost no surging and wider power stokes. The only down side I discovered with oval sprockets was at high cadence speeds, like above 115RPM when you would start to get thrown across the top, and it would become quite aggressive when spinning around 125RPM or higher.

[@zixxerlev]

Not the result I expected. But then again, perhaps give a go with an identical test like your first video? I may emulate you and do the same test. I'm pondering if I'll notice the difference when spinning the round ring.

[@TrailBreaker]

Let us know what you find. I may need to do it again like you said😁

[@davedelarosa319]

Old? Check. Out of shape? Double check. On an oval? Well, I was.. Honestly I never felt the benefits of the oval chainring I had, but at the same time I never rode that bike with a round one either. Set up was a 34t ring, SX 11-50(?) cassette, and GX mech on a 29er. It was the first 29er I had and loved the rollover, but couldn't tell the difference in pedaling effort between it and my round setups.

[@TrailBreaker]

Are you clipped in?

[@davedelarosa319]

@@TrailBreaker Flats. Used to run straps and cages back in the day, though. But I guess that's really neither here nor there.

[@LuluBejot]

Yes Mtb isn’t dead! You are good and nice video! I subscribed to you and I do ride as well.😃

[@skynet0513]

hum… i think that oval chainring is more efficient with clipsed pedals not flat, maybe try it 🤔

[@aleksarajkovic3471]

Nahh when you ride clips you feel no difference at all honestly, at least in my case with a decent technique of pulling on the reverse stroke.

[@TrailBreaker]

Efficiency is really nice but I’ve chosen to stick with flats for safety reasons. I rode SPDs for 17 years but don’t want to risk NOT being able to bail out while airborne on a jump gone bad!😁

[@s14tat]

Are they the same teeth count?

[@TrailBreaker]

Yes, 32

[@manabiker]

In the tests I've seen they never say what sizes they are using, a 32t round, vs a 32t oval is an unfair advantage, I call a 32t oval a part time 34t because of the height.. just go from a 32t round to a 34t round and you'll see a good improvement.. people changing from a 32t round to a 32t oval should see a difference, its TRICKNOLOGY !!! it sells stuff, I'm waiting for oval wheels...;) !!!

[@stivego6682]

I use 44 oval on my mtb

[@TrailBreaker]

Lol!

[@XCRiders]

Oval is a placebo The fastest riders don’t use them

[@TrailBreaker]

The fastest riders don’t need them. For my old legs it really helps me spin and climb easier

[@barefootbob1269]

Been back and forth between oval and round several times over the last 6 years. Always go back to oval and fell like it benefits me over the round. Riding many years now 270 lbs and 67 but still out there doing it. On climbs especially technical i really feel better power to the ground. Also will add really bad knees was told needed replacements over 10 years ago. I get less knee pain riding oval this time I will not be going back to round.

[@leerjet18]

There are 2 ways to position the chainwheel with oval. What way are you mounting it? The narrow when crank is horizontal?

[@barefootbob1269]

@@leerjet18 There is not! Oval only works one way. Depending on what style crank you have it may fit but only one correct way to orient it. That is why I like the absolute black they have an indexing mark. So without rambling anymore with crank at 9 and 3 it will look like the egg is on end tall point more or less up and down narrow will be front to rear.