Rotor Oval Chainrings

Brian Terwilliger

Anyone ride these?  Good, bad, makes no difference?  Looking at a bike that has these installed (52/36) along with the the Rotor power meter in the crank axle.  Never ridden them and reviews of oval/elliptical chainrings are all over the map.  Unlike the Osymetric chainrings, these don't have that crazy egg shape to them.  Thanks.

tim cronk

I rode them for a few years... Going back to round rings I never noticed a difference in power, effort, cadence, feel , or anything... My only comment is that I do think round rings shift smoother... I certainly would not avoid them but I wouldnt search them out either...

Brian Terwilliger

tim cronk said:

I rode them for a few years... Going back to round rings I never noticed a difference in power, effort, cadence, feel , or anything... My only comment is that I do think round rings shift smoother... I certainly would not avoid them but I wouldnt search them out either...

Thanks.  I'm indifferent as I've never ridden them before.  The local bike shop bought a ton of P5 frames and built them up and is selling em off at a pretty good price.  The 1 they have left they put these on them with the PM included for a $300 up charge.  So I look at it like a PM for $300.  But I am very intrigued by the new Premier Tactical.  Tough choice on which way to go.

John Withrow

I have the wonky shaped Osymetric rings on my P5.  I really like them, but the shifting is anything but smooth.  I have the Rotor Oval rings on my road bike.  They shift MUCH better than the Osymetric, but not perfect like you'd get from a round ring.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's degree in Bioengineering.  I say that only because I'm an uber-nerd and did a ton of research on these several years ago when I went to them.  I actually buy into the "pseudo-science" as to why these types of rings are supposed to be physiologically better/more efficient than round rings.  But I cannot say with any degree of certainty wether they "actually" have any positive effect or not.  With that said, I'm almost positive that they don't negatively impact you.

If I were building a TT bike from scratch, I would still pay extra to have non-circular rings.

Seems to me that $300 for a Rotor PM with Oval Chainrings is a pretty good bargain!  Certainly don't avoid a bike because it has oval rings (I already said I'd pay extra to have them).  Also, the 52/36 is a really nice setup that is kind of best of both worlds between a compact and a standard. 

I also cant say enough good things about my P5.  I've had mine for almost 5 years now and have put thousands and thousands of miles on it with no issues.  It was the original "Superbike" and I'm not convinced that any of the newer vintage Superbikes have put any kind of gap on it...

Good Luck!  And share pictures if you buy it...

Brian Terwilliger

Well, I done went and bought the thing.  P5 Six with the Rotor Cranks, Q-Rings, and INPower power meter.  Now to slap on some pedals, a saddle, hydration system and see what this thing can do.

John Withrow

Now you must train harder on that bike to justify racing on it...   just sayin'

scott dinhofer

John Withrow said:

Now you must train harder on that bike to justify racing on it...   just sayin'

when i got my P5 the first thing I said was "now I need to become a worthy enough athlete to ride this bike"

Brian Terwilliger

Scott Dinhofer said:

John Withrow said:

Now you must train harder on that bike to justify racing on it...   just sayin'

when i got my P5 the first thing I said was "now I need to become a worthy enough athlete to ride this bike"

Geez, I got it to look faster in my race pics that I don't buy!  

Now to put some fancy shoes on it and take pictures of it leaning on things.  LOL