Hey - loving the new upgrade quality in your videos - looks great and professional now, well done! I use Absolute Black Oval on my Surly Bikepacking Rig, noticed the difference within seconds and love the feel of always being "on the Chain" :)
Switched out the Sram 32T chainring for an AB oval. The biggest benefit I see is that my knees don’t hurt nearly as bad after a hard trail day. For me it is worth it
I be leave that, my knees were in agony, no longer the case with oval, I only get normal fatigue after a long ride, but my knees no longer hurt, it's my muscles that fatigue, but I don't get the I hit my knee kind of pain.
I typically try and run Wolftooth chainrings, primarily for chainline considerations and made in USA. I’d love to see a comparison between OEM and 3rd Party for chain retention, noise, wear…since each brand offers a bit different tooth design.
Yes Wolf tooth is awesome I can get 2500 miles from a stainless camo chain ring. Absolute Black is Absolute junk. Only last 250 miles under my feet. They do a awesome job at wolf tooth.
Great video as always! This is very useful information. I own three bikes, and I primarily ride AB ovals. On my full suspension, I have 32t (gold color!) with SRAM eagle XO1. On my hardtail, I use 30t on XTR crank and 10x45 XT cassette. On my gravel bike, I have 34t 96BCD (XTR M9000 crank) with 11-46 GRX (and Garbaruk long cage). They all work seamlessly, buttery smooth, and have no issues whatsoever!
I use the OneUp 32t oval on my Shimano 11spd Trailbike drivetrain since a bit over 4 years now. Dropped the chain once, as I forgot to switch on the clutch ;-) I just remember that I'm riding oval, when I hop on round chainring bikes and dislike it ;-)
Great information - thank you! Today I've just changed my chainring on new Fuel EX from Shimano SLX 30t to XT28t. Took me a while to figure out I had to upgrade to XT to obtain a Shimano 28t. After watching this video I reckon I'll next try a 3rd party Absolute Black oval 28t chainring.
Great videos! 🙏🏼 I wanted to move from GX to M8100, as the HG+ my shifting had a significant improvement, especially under pedalling power strokes!! But, I wasn’t aware that I needed a specific HG+ chainring 🤦🏻♂️ … and I’ve struggled to find one which is Oval. For years I’ve loved using AbsoluteBlack Ovals, so I had a very specific new Narrow Wide CX Oval 36T with a 6mm offset on my Sram cranks ready to use on my new M8100 drive train. Only to find out a need an HG+ specific chainring, which AB doesn’t make in either 6mm offset, or 36T 🤷🏻♂️ 7:46 I’ve watched many of your videos this week, in search for this, and altho I’m still searching, I now know I have options!! Thank you for these detailed chain ring & drive train videos, that seem harder & harder to get info for‼️
First heard about Garbaruk from you. Thank you for that. Great cassette to replace my worn XTR. I also got 26t ring to keep away from the aluminum cassette gear. The 7.5mm custom offset keeps my chain in line with my climbing gears. My hope is that it will keep my 12sp chain from breaking as often. Never had this issue w/11sp. Great vid as always!
Big fan of garbaruk. I’ve been running there twelve speed cassette and it’s great. Just ordered a round chainring 32t and derailer pulley wheels from them so looking forward to the instal and trying it. There stuff looks great and is really light weight. I’ve also tried blackspire snaggle tooth and that’s a great chainring , helps keep the chain on well.
After using Garbaruk and Absolute Black chainrings, found that Sram is producing their own oval rings, which are not so oval (lower percentage) which suits me better. Same on the other bike with Race Face cranks. Race Face produces their own oval rings too, with a lower percentage of ovality. The quality I perceived was a bit higher too, lasting longer (subjective opinion).
But in the past, I noticed Absolute black varied in the tolerances at the Cinch spline, some went on very snug, so had to press them on with some force, some not. But it seems to have improved, some chainrings were just unusually tight, but was not an issue. But not happen with the ones I got later, But only tried two later, one non boost and one boost.
8:42, I use a 6mm chainline for the sole reason I do dirtjumping and my frame is 135mm wide in the rear so those 6mm closer to the frame actually help my single speed config to be cleaner and straighter.
I run the oval chainrings on my bikes. Usually from Absolute Black The size is dependents on the max possible chainring for the frame. It is also depends on the type of bike- XC I will use the 32T and for 29+ I will use 28 or even 26
I just got a garburuk round chain ring for wife's transition patrol. I have used raceface, one up, blackspire in the past with no issues. Currently using an Ethirteen DM chainring on Trailcraft 152mm cranks. They all work great 🙂 BTW these are all round.
Thought Shimano adjusted chainline by spindle width. If you wanted a different chainline you change the cranks not the ring, which is annoying but still doable. I've been running a Wolftooth oval ever since my first swap to 11S conversion. Works great. Got a Absolute black for my FS X01 but haven't got around to swapping.
Really like the Garbaruk rings. They make a 32 oval and a 30 round that works with the power meter I use. I also like WolfTooth. I prefer ovals. Maybe a gimmick but for me, I can tell a difference when climbing with an oval vs. round ring.
So far Absolute Black oval, is the only oval I've tried, it made a huge difference for me, as the knee pain went away. I use Garbaruk 11-50T 11spd HG cassette, So far no issues with it.
@@LoveMTB I started with Race Face Atlas 175mm, but that's what I found at the time, but then later I got sb. offered the 165mm version, so I went for it, and have been using it since last year I think. I use Catalyst pedals, I use mid foot position, when not close to it, but I have long enough reach so I am am not to cramped on the bike, saddle is also moved forward so tip is above BB, Fabric Scoop shallow race, might be different on another saddle. I ride a Geometron G1. I've not noticed any negative effects, only noticed I don't crank as big, so as they are 1cm shorter I had to raise the saddle 1cm, so that means cockpit was even lower, I started with too low bar, but which got worse as I had shorter cranks, but eventually I found a high riser bar, it was Burgtec Ride high 38, which is 38mm tall, but was too harsh, but it fit me better than the 20mm Sixc35, when I saw One up carbon in stock I went for the 35mm. My setup is pretty much dialed now fit wise.
I use oval. What I like - increased traction on steep and/or slippery climbs. I liked also the first impression when I felt like someone pushed me uphill. Disadvantages: 1) you can bog down on steep climbs because you have the cadence resulting from the teeth count but you have to push on the power stroke like if you had the round chainring with the diameter like the larger diameter of an oval. 2) I find it more difficult to have high cadence on these, in my opinion they suite people who mash the pedals, not the spinners.
Thanks, for bringing this facts up. I did experience Biopace, and swore never to try oval again. Much time later, around 10 years ago, I went single speed MTB for 5 years, and tried ovals again, with much better results. Nowadays I'm the happy owner of a 32T 3rd party oval, with oil slick finish on 165 mm cranks. My 60 year old knees love it 👍
@@LoveMTB Yes, the knees are a concern for some of us "older" riders. While reducing crank arm length helped, the oval ring sealed the deal 👍 It's an Absolute Black. No dropped chain by the way.
I‘ve changed the pretty basic Shimano FC-MT510 crankset that came with the bike with a Deore FC-M6100 crank + Absolute Black oval 32 T. It makes a huge difference.
If it ain't broken, don't fix it. That's why I'm going to continue with my stock Shimano setup because it works and I trust it. Experimenting can of course be fun and all of that, but often times you run into compatibility issues. I would never start experimenting until I felt the need for something better, because if you just start changing something and then run into issues, you will have a hard time solving it because you did not have a real plan with it in the first place. So far I've only had issues with superboost on my bike where I ordered a bashguard and chainguard unit. No matter what spacing I used my chain would either rub on the chainguard or it would rub on the bashguard. The only solution was to just remove the chainguard and run it bashguard only because the bashguard was the main priority. The manufacturer did state that their product works with superboost which I checked before ordering, but for some reason it did not work on my bike(Pivot Switchblade)
Chain retention is also a benefit. I used SLX for awhile and was constantly suffering chain drops, switched to Blackspire snaggletooth and problem solved. I prefer WT camo which I am currently using for cheaper rings and easier replacement.
I’d have to say I’m really impressed by Passquest chainring. Before I was using Alugear as it was only option for my 165mm XX1 Quarq crankset (couldn’t get regular XX1 in 165mm) with 8 bolt configuration. Then someone introduced me Passquest. I was skeptical first but when I tried it blew me away. Longer teeth profile prevents chaindrop and it last me a long time without any issues. Kinda looks like Garbaruk in a way too
Looks nice, I''ve not heard of it, thx for sharing. But no tooth design will prevent chain drop completely. But good chainring design will reduce it and keep it more secure. but even with narrow wide design it will happen. But yes the teeth are longer than a regular chainring might be meant for multi chain ring setup. I've tested this. But teeth can't be much taller or it won't work, teeth are as tall as they can be, or could not rotate on to it. They don't look much taller if at all compared to what I've used before. I currently use Absolute Black. But it the Passquest do well long term, and price is good it might be worth a try.
@@9volker I don't speak your language, I translated it with google translate, but it did not make much sense. google translate: ''It's kind of a brand with Aliexpress, expensive, relative to their regular prices. 3-4 times more expensive than Decas''
I've used basically all of them over the years (except 5Dev - not too common on the European side of the pond I find), depending on purpose, economy, availability, etc. As you say: options... I've been very partial to Absolute Black ovals in the 10 and 11 speed days, but I've run SRAM XX1 oval, have a Wolftooth oval now, and a Blackspire oval in the parts bin, daughter is currently on a regular SRAM aluminium ring, but have been running regular Shimano round - but is going to an SLX crankset with Alutech chainring to cut weight and ensure compatibility with SRAM chain/derailleur/cassette in a Frankenstein setup to get compatibility across the bikes in the household (all on SRAM) while optimizing weight on a (decent) budget (as you've so excellently illustrated an SLX crankset with an aftermarket chainring is in the same weight range as SRAM X1 Carbon cranks for instance, but at almost halft the price).
I built up my 2 bikes…on my trail bike I purposely swapped out the chainring on the GX Eagle cranks for the NX stamped steel version. I’m just not a big fan of how the higher end SRAM rings look. Yes the stamped steel is heavier but I also ended up going from 32T to 34T. On my XC bike, I swapped out the super light chainring from the XX1 Eagle cranks for Absolute Black 34T. Works great but ended up selling cuz I didn’t like the design and the funky wave pattern of the machining. Ended up trying WolfTooth 34T and ultimately settling for WolfTooth 36T. Love the clean, simple look of their lightweight machined rings. But honestly in terms of performance, I felt no difference with SRAM or any of the 3rd party brands I tried. In terms of color, I prefer the ring to be black.
As said in the video, when you want to use oval rings you can't use Shimano or most of the SRAM rings and I prefer oval rings over round ones. I'm a fan of Garbaruk rings. They come with 12% ovalty and I like that number more than the 10% ovalty of Wolftooth rings. You can also order the Garbaruk rings in multi colors, there's always one that makes you bike look more pretty. For my gravel bike I use a 44 tooth Garbaruk ring in purple combined with a purple Garbaruk derailleur cage. Absolute Black would also be an option but they still don't offer oval rings for Shimano GRX (?). I found out that the teeth of the Garbaruk rings are larger than all the other rings I used before, resulting in the fact that the chain has not come off the ring till now. For my MTB with a 10-speed Deore groupset I use a 32 tooth Garbaruk ring as a bigger one does not fit on my bike, there's not enough space in the frame. For use in the flat area where I live it's just big enough.
@@LoveMTB I really like the look of the Garbaruk oval chainring - I'm thinking of getting the 32T version - I have a Shimano HG+ 12sp drivetrain - does the Garbaruk work ok with that?
I just upgraded my BB and crankset (to SLX) matched with a Garbaruk 32t round chainring in the amazing purple colour, looks great and shaved about 300grams total (thanks to your videos). I would like the matching Garbaruk purple cassette (lighter than XTR) but is still pricey, current SLX is still running fine.
I use the GX 10-52 cassette and stock 32t chainring. I had an AB oval 34t that scratched my frame barely and decided to go back to stock. If I were to update I would o color matching if I can find the parts in my desired color. I don't consider these as too much of a weight penalty so I don't buy the lightest drive train items.
With a modern steep seattube angle and slack headtube angle, I can definitely appreciate riding 28t A.B. oval with a 10-50t XO1 cassette. This is great for tough singletrack climbs in AZ. *Virtually leaves the 50t as a last resort on the super steeps.* Generally, the 30t Oval seems to be the best singletrack for using all 500% of my gearing while traveling to virtually any trail.
I have been using Garbaruk oval chainrings for around 4 years and I have nothing but good words about them. Where I’m from they are also a bit cheaper then shimano original ones.
First thanks for the video!!! Was uber interesting and informative as usual!!! And for your question I run Shimano "mix n match" drivetrains on my bikes with SLX Cranks with Alugear Chainrings... One reason is the weight with the Alugear Chainring the SLX cranks are relatively light for the price and the color... I got it in silver which matches my bike and I do think the CNC machined look is cool, maybe I'm a little bit vain but I like it... ;-)
On my 36er 1x12 I have a Race Face 26 tooth chain ring in Green and at the back I have a 9-50 cassette in Oil slick (not sure who made it). My SRAM Eagle AXS X01 rear derailleur has Garbaruk Green OSPW cage and pulley wheels.
Oval would be the reason I swap it out first. Availability of aftermarket has more available. #2 Reason is the the Wolf Tooth rings are absolutely absolutely beautiful! For me though, living in Belgium...the WT are harder to get, Absolute Black and Gabaruk are much more readily available. The eThirteen Helix cassettes are amazing w/ Gabaruk cages/jockey wheels proviceds a silky smooth shifting experience. I personally use SRAM 11sp. All of my bikes are 11sp....w/ 12sp you're not getting more gear range, just a smaller step in only one place lower in the cassette where it actually doesn't matter as much. If they added the gear in the 40s, it would be much better.
On my bike I have a weird combination which works perfectly. Cranks are Shimano Deore M5100 with AB oval 34t and spacers to get 49mm of chainline. In the back there is Shimano Deore M5100 big cassette 11-51 11s with Shimano Deore XT M8100 SGS mech. Shifter is Shimano Deore XT M8000 11sp and the shifter cable is Shimano XTR with litlle thinggy on th end, that combo works perfectly for me. But as I am planing replace cranks with Deore XT M8100 I ordered spider from ebay and Garbaruk chainring with 34t oval but with 104bcd so I can play with cainline and set is perfectly as I need.
Used both an early ovanl from Blackspire that was SHIT. I switched to Garbaruk and it was great untill it wore out and started to act really weirdly. Than I testet the AB oval and worked the charm as well. i did not use it for that long so I cannot say alot about longevity but it felt on par with the Garbaruk.. But in all honesty I am starting to like steel chainrings (or at least steel teeth) for durability reasons. I don't know if there are any oval ones in steel or with steel teeth? I changed frame to a Kavenz VH16 and can no longer use an oval chainring as the timing will be quite off and durability - again - is my top priority.
A chinese brand called pass quest who mainly makes knock offs of Garbaruk chainrings is making 0mm off-set chainrings for shimano which makes my 7100 crank works like 7120 crank (52mm chainline to 55mm chainline), and quality of these chainrings are also very good, both finishing and design (although they dont have to design much).
Blackspire (made in Canada) makes a bolt on Shimano 96bcd asymmetrical with 49mm chainline for non-boost setups. This should be compatible with Deore cranks that only come in 52mm chainlines.
Hi, I’m the happy user of a Garbaruk 6mm custom offset chainring since I wanted to keep my chain line for my non-boost frame mounting a 12 speed cassette. (Shimano HG)
Absolute Black Oval 28T Chainring with SRAM GX Derailleur / Chain / Casset. Works perfectly. Oval is damn great, im riding a lot my MTB and my Citybike ( with usual chainrings ) and often thought "damn i need a 3by oval chainring for my citybike"
A thing to note, if you do gnarly techy riding, And want to use Absolute black, you need a bash guide or you will destroy it. At least that's what shows. Several people have smashed it so hard it bent, snapped. I've never had any issues with that. But I use a bash guide. Some even did it on XC bikes. but that's what you get for using super light chainring, unprotected, even if you like to go gnarly on a XC bike, you still sohuld protect the chain ring, chain. I think I read the Sram, Race Face Chain rings did not do that. But they are heavier, and harder to get.
@@LoveMTB The absolute black chainrings seem to be made for maximum weight reduction while still being strong enough. but then there are titanium options that are even lighter, but forgot the names of those brands. But those are a rare sight, and only sold by the manufacturer. But only Absolute Black has built in bottle opener. 😛 That's not even a feature they advertise, but actually 34T and 32T can work as a bottle opener, so if you can't open a bottle with any method, this will do it.
The big-name brands are great but never undermine the chainring you showed at the end. The company "Decaks" makes great chainrings and the value they offer is unbeatable.
it's Deckas, and the timing of the ovality is not optimal, so won't be the same effect, it gets the ovality later in the stroke, than with Absolute Black for example. For maximum relief you would want same ovality and timing as Absolute Black, but how much ovality and the timing is something you have to figure out, but if you want the easiest possible, most relief Deckas is not the right choice. But as I use Cinch cranks I can adjust the timing by few degrees at the time, but I like it how it is, so not touched it. But this is feasible with BCD chainrings that offer this, I know Rotor offered such chain rings. they had 3 spots in each hole, kind of like 3 holes in one, kind of like Audi logo in form of holes, but with one less hole.
My bike came with a SRAM 28t steel chain ring. I swapped to a Hope 32t. It worked perfectly and looked great! But damn it didn’t last long. 😢 Yesterday I bought a SRAM 32t steel chain ring. It feels as good as the Hope one but it looks a bit boring!
shimano ，shimano use crankset space to get the right chainline，shimano have 7100，7120，7130crankset for non ，boost ，superboost，same as 8100，8120&8130 crankset。
I use the OneUp switch system. I’m currently running a 32T oval, but I’m considering sizing down to a 30T to make winching myself up the climbs that much easier.
of course 3rd party chainring, but from Chinese Aliexpress stuff with blink blink color. ZTTO, Zrace, Deckas etc you name it Even though I don't know it will last or not because I just started cycling less than two years ago
I'm using garbaruk chainring for my classic 135mm frame and 12 speed slx drivetrain and cranks. They are better then Shimano originals because they produce 6 mill offset. I can pedal back on the biggest cog how ever fast I want and it won't fall.
Ovaltine FTW!! 🤘 AB or Blackspire 👌 Usually 30 tooth... although my 29+ rig has a 28 tooth oval CR on it 🤔 Usually color coded... sometimes plain black... more an availability thing 🤠
I like the oval, I think it helps with steep technical climbing. I'm running a 30t absolute black with my Shimano SLX 12 speed, Sunrace 11-51 cassette. No chain line issues, but I can't back pedal more than a 1/2 crank when in the 51t gear without the chain popping on to a higher gear. Annoying, but that happens on my stock eagle SX too. I understand that's pretty common for 12 speed.
I've tried to run ovals on my Single Speed but it was too hard to get the chain tension dailed (on a vertical drop frame with rear tensioner) I'm running a direct mount raceface 30t steel chainring, it has been working great Might get a wolftooth someday, I really like their stuff 👌
Nice video! As a suggestion, it would be nice to have a follow-up video for 3rd cranks :) I got a WT oval 36 with a 51t rd it helps majority for up hill for me. :D
I started with AbsoluteBlack oval 104 BCD after 3X Chain drop I switched to OneUp. Never had a single problem since then. I just purchased the OneUp Switch 30 Oval for my Sram. Can't wait to try it soon.
I go with 30 teeth up front and 11-48 cassettes with 10 speeds in the back. Nice hyperglide hub compatibility for me. No need for 11 or 12 speeds, I am not that fast.
Tengo una Canyon montada en sram gx con plato sram de 34 dientes me gustaría saber qué plato Garbaruk me vendría bien el ofset del plato sram es 3mm los ejes son boost.Gracia por tus vídeos.Tengo el cassette 10-52 de Garbaruk hace 10 meses y va de lujo.gracias
I have a Specialized Kenevo SL emtb. Do I have to stay with the chainring that comes with the bike due to it being an e-bike? I know I can't use an oval chainring but I don't know if I can use a 3rd party chainring.
The Kenevo SL has a low power motor and at 71 years old I am starting to get weaker. I was thinking of going down to a 30 tooth sprocket to get better climbing ability.
