Rotor Q-ring question
Moderator: robbosmans
Again this question pops up in my mind, if these oval chainrings bring such advantage why we don't see more of them in the Pro peloton?
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Tinea Pedis wrote:I have just gone back to round rings on my road bike - but keeping QXL on my TT rig. Run P2M on all my bikes. Have found a slight power difference between the Q-Rings and round (same as found in the Twitter link). I liked the q-rings, just gone to round rings to see if I can feel a difference. So far...not. But would not be without them on the TT bike.
I'm really interested to hear your personal results on this... as the osymetric guy is all about using round rings for training and oval for racing (I've heavily paraphased of course)
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muntos wrote:Again this question pops up in my mind, if these oval chainrings bring such advantage why we don't see more of them in the Pro peloton?
Sponsor issues. Shimano, Campa and SRAM will not accept having their sponsored riders using non-sponsor material, as they pay a lot to have the teams use their stuff. So it's not a choice.
It's not a sponsor issue at all. The fact of the matter is that they don't actually offer an advantage over traditional round rings. Froome would have all the same results and ITT times regardless of which rings he used. It's simply a matter of preference and as pros are given equipment, they see no need to pay out in for a lateral move. Even on Rotor sponsored teams there are more pros using No-Q's than Q or QXL rings as they don't see the benefit and simply prefer the action of round rings.
I work with teams all the time. Trust me, there's a lot of sponsor considerations... Just in the three best Conti teams here, two of them don't allow the riders to use other cranks/rings than the sponsor supplied stuff.
Also, we are having pros in the house regularly for bike fits. Many of them don't want to try oval rings for the reason, that if they ride in a team where they are allowed to use them or are even sponsored, they don't want to bother anyway or risk getting fond of them if they are in an other team next year where this is not possible. This you would know if you had spend time with the pro riders. I have.
If we do a session with elite riders where we get the OCP position right with the INpower cranks, most of them keeps them on the bikes as they prefers the feel. So the number of elite riders using oval rings are increasing here at least.
I'm impressed that you seem to know Froomes numbers with and without oval rings.
Oh, and let's not forget that pro riders are the most old fashion and stubborn demographic I have met. Luckily, this is slowly changing.
Also, we are having pros in the house regularly for bike fits. Many of them don't want to try oval rings for the reason, that if they ride in a team where they are allowed to use them or are even sponsored, they don't want to bother anyway or risk getting fond of them if they are in an other team next year where this is not possible. This you would know if you had spend time with the pro riders. I have.
If we do a session with elite riders where we get the OCP position right with the INpower cranks, most of them keeps them on the bikes as they prefers the feel. So the number of elite riders using oval rings are increasing here at least.
I'm impressed that you seem to know Froomes numbers with and without oval rings.
Oh, and let's not forget that pro riders are the most old fashion and stubborn demographic I have met. Luckily, this is slowly changing.
It's sponsorship, but mostly you can't just install q-rings and get benefit from them the next day. You have to train with q-rings and if your team suddenly loses Rotor sponsorship or another vendor says you gotta use their standard circle cranks+rings then you need to re-train. Muscles & technique need to get used to it to get see measurable results. Maybe 15-20s faster after 4-5 months of conditioning? That's extremely time consuming, and no team would be willing to put up with that, and it's dependent on your sponsor allowing you to use Rotor products. Cycling sponsorships are already unpredictable as it is, and Rotor isn't exactly rolling in cash to sponsor teams.
I gotta say though, I did see a next-day benefit when I got my q-rings installed, I wasn't as tired on a multi-hour ride and my chronic knee aches were nowhere near as bad with standard rings. Pros obviously aren't concerned with these issues though!
I gotta say though, I did see a next-day benefit when I got my q-rings installed, I wasn't as tired on a multi-hour ride and my chronic knee aches were nowhere near as bad with standard rings. Pros obviously aren't concerned with these issues though!
I would personally like to see independent scientific research on pros and cons of oval chainrings. That kind of research which does take into consideration possible false power data from power meters when using oval chainrings.
Stanga Racing
http://www.tonitoni.fi/
http://www.tonitoni.fi/
nga: i found something that might offer some support.. but i'm taking it with a grain of salt.
http://cyclingcenterdallas.com/blog/201 ... s-q-corner
http://cyclingcenterdallas.com/blog/201 ... s-q-corner
The article linked on page 1 of this thread refers to this study:
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/v ... t=kine_fac
They found a ~26 Watt increase in a 1 km time trial. Power was measured with a Computrainer so the chainring ovality would have no effect on power measurement, unlike a crank-based power meter.
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/v ... t=kine_fac
They found a ~26 Watt increase in a 1 km time trial. Power was measured with a Computrainer so the chainring ovality would have no effect on power measurement, unlike a crank-based power meter.
Krackor wrote:The article linked on page 1 of this thread refers to this study:
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/v ... t=kine_fac
They found a ~26 Watt increase in a 1 km time trial. Power was measured with a Computrainer so the chainring ovality would have no effect on power measurement, unlike a crank-based power meter.
This study is a joke. Show me a kilo rider using these. Loads more studies show no gain.
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7377&context=ecuworks
http://www.jssm.org/volume08/iss3/cap/jssm-08-463.pdf
It's such a personal thing. For me, they work - I wrote a blog post some years back with my findings.
Shifting is fine once you learn the optimum spot. O.Symetrics are worse than Qs, and I sorted that OK - and did a little video to show when to shift.
Shifting is fine once you learn the optimum spot. O.Symetrics are worse than Qs, and I sorted that OK - and did a little video to show when to shift.
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