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  • @bertocq, how are you getting on with your doval rings? Tempted to try a pair, and looks like they can be picked up on ebay for about £35 new.

    From what I've read and based on what I'm currently running (52/36), it's sounds like a 50(16%)/34(12.1%) might be best/equivalent and might reduce the difficulties of low cadence steep stuff in the small ring.

    Does that sound like it makes sense?

  • They are sold through ebay, but take some time to arrive to Europe (no pun intended), but @CarlosBI have some in stock to ship right away from his home (although he's living in UK now).

    I've used 110BCD 52/36 16% (both) for about 9000km, and on the previous bike got 50/34. I feel like I can ride the same, but feeling less strain on the legs while climbing on the saddle at low cadences and also a bit easier to spin the pedals faster while out of the saddle.

    Can't compare sensations with Rotor or Osymetrics, but learned something buy mistake: while cleaning the bike for the 1000km brevet. I was a bit sleepy and mounted the rings on the wrong position... meaning that at the point that I could deliver more power, the chainring was in its smallest size (instead of the biggest).

    That was funny because when I started riding the bike I felt something was wrong, like if I had a lenticular wheel installed... but since I hadn't ridden that bike in almost a month... I supposed it was just me getting used to the Doval's again (my commute bike is a brompton).

    At the first brevet stop (119km) I was feeling ok again, my legs had settled in with it, but I took a look and realised my mistake. After changing the rings position, it took me another 4 to 5 hours to get my legs again feeling normal in the "new" position :) really strange feeling while riding at night. No muscles or tendons where hurt... I finished in 55h (37h of pedaling) but for other reasons (I'm from the north and the heat kills me from the inside out, and guys riding with me where from the south, thus at night where slow as hell and when sun was hitting hard they didn't want to slow even a bit for me)

    But that may not be your case, maybe your legs will feel a bigger difference or not get used to it as fast as mine, using a lower asymmetrical than 16% could help. But being so cheap I just thought "lets get the most of them, or nothing :D" So 16% should be!! Also cassette is 11-28, not sure what you got and how stepper your climbs are, but I got less problems with 36-28 than with 34-29 past year (maybe because of the increased physical form).

    So, I'm not sure going smaller would help more than going smaller with circular chainrings, I would get the 52/36 16% and feel the difference just from the change of shape. It doesn't get harder, or easier, it just gets faster when you can't make much force, and slower when you can deliver most of the power



  • Ah berto, love your comprehensive replies! Cheers for all the details :) I too am cheap, so I've gone for your recommendation of 52/36 16%. Go big or go home, right?

    I'll let you know how I get on when they turn up and I get around to fitting them... Cheers!

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