Osymetric chain rings. Is there any advantage?

[gadget]

I have them. They work for me. I dont have stats to back it up but for a TT rig they make a difference imho.

 

I have them too. I am quite a bit faster than Garfield on the run, so I guess they work.

 

In all seriousness. They are not a company with big budgets, so won't pay athletes to use their stuff. The current Tour de France and Ironman Kona champ uses them. They work for me as well. I have them on TT and road bike.

 

Edit: Just to make sure everyone understands: I'm MUCH faster than Garfield...

Edited January 9, 2014 by gadget

[TopFuel]

It's not my first day on a bike. I know what asymmetrical chainrings are. The other people here are talking all different brand names.

Brand names as in:

 

 

 

But "osymetrical" isn't a word.

 

Really? So you knew exactly what he meant, right? Why did you feel the need to point that out to everyone? Everyone knows that Loctite is a brand for thread-locker, but everyone also refers to it colloquially as Loctite. Is it strictly correct? Nope, but everyone knows what you mean if you say Loctite. Seriously bro, that has gotta be one of the most pointless posts on the Hub, and that's saying something.

[ThePubSA]

They make that in a N/W ?

[JFK]

Really? So you knew exactly what he meant, right? Why did you feel the need to point that out to everyone? Everyone knows that Loctite is a brand for thread-locker, but everyone also refers to it colloquially as Loctite. Is it strictly correct? Nope, but everyone knows what you mean if you say Loctite. Seriously bro, that has gotta be one of the most pointless posts on the Hub, and that's saying something.

OK guys. Sorry about the grammatical error. I've edited my topic accordingly. I was actually referring to the brand Osymetric as I'm interested in teir specific "asymmetric" shaped rings.

[BarHugger]

For those of you who are technically superior and understand engineering vocabulory the following:

 

http://www.me.utexas.edu/~neptune/Papers/job41(7).pdf

 

.....but then there is also no problem in just increasing the strength, endurance and power capabilities of the two lower body attachments responsible for turning the crank and developing extra torque. Nothing that a few well developed resistance training exercises at the "ego palace" and hill climbing can't fix.

Edited January 11, 2014 by BarHugger

[Wheelsuck]

Also from Slowtwitch http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Components/Rotor_long_term_test_4118.html

Do they work? Only from personal experience I have Rotors on my TT and MTB bikes. Love it on the MTB as it makes the pedalstroke smoother through the terrain. On the Tri Bike I feel that I get off the bike with not as much stress on the legs. I have no data to back this up,this is purely anecdotal but it makes sense if you can optimise the dead spot on a pedalstroke.

[Paulst12]

I Had the "Osymmetric" blades on. They are not great with a standard cable setup, but work well with an electronic groupset. There is a lot of rub on the front derailer, and changing can be difficult. The electronic minor adjustment allows for this. The Sky team has electronic, hence they have no issues.

 

On the power and pedal stroke side, you will get used to them pretty quickly, but expect some muscle fatigue for the first few rides as you pedal stroke becomes more efficient, so you will use different muscles.

 

I personally found climbing easier with the Osymmetric, but in the end the hassle i had with changing the chain, and noise due to rubbing the front derailer, i went back to the standard oval rings.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Paulst12

[Cav']

Agree with paulst12, the front der. is the only hassle if any.

 

Using Di2 but with a normal gruppo there might be a little chain slap if you drop from the big chainring down to the small one. (because the chain drops/skips about 4 teeth when dropped as to a normal chainring)

[Garfield2010]

I Had the "Osymmetric" blades on. They are not great with a standard cable setup, but work well with an electronic groupset. There is a lot of rub on the front derailer, and changing can be difficult. The electronic minor adjustment allows for this. The Sky team has electronic, hence they have no issues.

 

On the power and pedal stroke side, you will get used to them pretty quickly, but expect some muscle fatigue for the first few rides as you pedal stroke becomes more efficient, so you will use different muscles.

 

I personally found climbing easier with the Osymmetric, but in the end the hassle i had with changing the chain, and noise due to rubbing the front derailer, i went back to the standard oval rings.

 

Indeed. I had to change my one shifter as you have to change the front gears carefully. Don't change when pedalling hard.

 

These rings make you faster but also tire you out more as your legs was used to resting that split second when the deadspot would have been there.

 

As all other things it makes a small difference. But that's TT for you. A few seconds here and there and suddenly you save 2-3 minutes per 30km!!

[argie1]

They worked the best for me on climbs in the 80s but I just can't recall the name. That's when Ertjies Bezuidenhout (RIP) managed to beat me in the '86 Argus by only 10 mins and I was just a student.

 

I still have them fitted to my old Tange 2 Peugeot Rapport which sits on the indoor trainer.

No issues with shifting from the down tube in those days nor rubbing the chain. There might have been some rubbing but it would have been off the bike.

 

I would also agree that you can't go for one ride but would have to train on them for a few weeks. In fact, maybe I should unhitch the old girl and take her out, just like under a Scotsman's kilt, nothing is worn it's all in perfect working order.

 

Having said all that, I don't have them on my current road or mtb bikes ......... upgrades

[droo]

Yes, it's a BRAND NAME, not a generic asymmetric ring. They can jazz it up with all the marketing double-speak they like, it's still a design that rotor brought to the masses. And osymetrical is still not a word.

 

Almost. Shimano beat them to it by about 15 years with Biopace, which sucked golf balls through a hosepipe. Maybe the new designs are better, but as a weekend warrior I'm unlikely to find out. The Interwebs say they're amazing though.

[Donovan Le Cok]

I used to ride with an asymmetric on one of my road bikes. Not really sure if it improved my power, but they killed my knees. I had horrible knee pain every time I rode the bike. I eventually did some investigating on them and apparently it is quite common for them to cause knee pain. I replaced mine for a standard chain ring and it was immediately better.

[RossW]

Interested in chainring clearance. It looks to me that when pedals are level (parallel to the ground) the chainring is at it's lowest point. Anyone getting noticeably more strikes with logs and rocks? I know it's normally not a common problem but I am curious about it.

[JFK]

I Had the "Osymmetric" blades on. They are not great with a standard cable setup, but work well with an electronic groupset. There is a lot of rub on the front derailer, and changing can be difficult. The electronic minor adjustment allows for this. The Sky team has electronic, hence they have no issues.

 

On the power and pedal stroke side, you will get used to them pretty quickly, but expect some muscle fatigue for the first few rides as you pedal stroke becomes more efficient, so you will use different muscles.

 

I personally found climbing easier with the Osymmetric, but in the end the hassle i had with changing the chain, and noise due to rubbing the front derailer, i went back to the standard oval rings.

The short ride I mentioned in my original topic post, was with Sram red 22 and the chain was constantly rubbing against the front derailer. I think your comment is probably my answer. The noise and awkwardness will override any gains for me. I like a quiet, smooth drivetrain and any rubbing, clicking and changing trouble drives me up the wall. Thanks for your post.

[T-Bob]

simply love the smooth stroke they give. Am I faster or stronger I dunno, but the ride is more fun and smooth.

 

Don't we all... Oh, are we still talking about cycling here? My bad.

[Mongoose!]

.

 

Edited January 10, 2014 by Mongoose!