Bicycle Chainrings Explained

In this video I try to explain the different types of chainrings available to us cyclists and how they all have a different impact to our cycling experience.

Head over to The Bike Catalogue if you want to see more about how we can help you in picking your next bike!

[margallanti]

You have explained Chainrings in an easy and understandable way.
Yes, I subscribed. GCN couldn't explain it as easy as you did. 👍

[samyamaacademyofyoga]

Among the best explanations of chainrings anywhere. Gets to the point, easy and stays at it. Fantastic work.

[yugiohfanatics]

The channel Ive been looking for- as a cyclist and not a mechanic I need to learn these things somewhere

[laustenfound]

Thank you for the info!
Your 50-52-53 tooth comparison is exactly what I was looking for!

[daggsusa]

Watching this again, have had a couple weeks to digest things and almost ready for a switch.

[PhilOsGarage]

I’ve just done a service on a friends British Eagle mountain bike. It has a 4 by front chainring, never seen one before, or even knew they existed

[SSGrille]

Thank you so much for explaining all this and showing the chart. I just got a cargo e-bike, 52 teeth on the front, and finding that I am “over pedaling” when the motor assist is set to its lowest setting. The assist will only go up to 17mph / 27kmh in this mode. I am getting to about 14mph / 22kmh and start spinning out. Thinking of trying a 56 tooth and see what I get. I know I will lose some gearing if the battery actually dies on me, but if I can assist in moving the bike better, thinking I can get some longer battery life. Going to look now and see if you have anything on swapping out a single for a two or three ring, and need to check the bike to see if it can take it. Great job here.

[turtleman]

I have a mountain bike with a 1x 11 11 to 52 tooth cassette that I'm using to commute I'm finding that the top speed is just to low at a max of about 42km what size chainring do you think would improve my top speed without destroying the hill climbing abilities to much as i do live in a very hilly area

[gfysmiley]

Thanks for the info, I think you answered my question on should I change the crankset for my Aventon Level, It came with a 170mm 46T crankset gear, and a 12-32T 8 speed cassette in the back. I live in FL so no hills and use my bike as a cummuter, but I run out of usability of the pedals after about 23 MPH (37 KPH), my legs cannot go any faster. May try out a 52T as i just want a little more useability of the full transmission and more top speed, i start in 6th gear and never really go lower than that since there are not hills.

[ronnietan]

Wonderfully explained, clear and concise. I'm a novice cyclist.

[yengsabio]

Succinct!

Lots'a love, cheers, & Mabuhay, from your 290th subscriber from tropical Philippines! #KeepBiking

[PedroWessels]

quick question. after changing my chainring 34T to a 36T. do I need to change anything with the chain or gears?

[VladGoro]

i am in love with 50 and 46t chainrings. 46t is easier and feels better for a city.

[TheSingingCelebrant]

Chasing the crank is a real issue on an Hand Cycle. I am trying to upgrade from a mere 9 gears to a Single chainring so more Teeth makes real sense.

[nihonbunka]

I want to make my chainrings cheaper. When Shimano moved to 4 arm 110 BCD, the chainrings became very sophisticated 3D and expensive. I am not sure whether to move back to my 130BCD 5 arm for which there are lots of cheaper 130bcd flat chainrings. Or, should I try a cheap flat/solid 110 BCD chainring. Litepro makes one which can be used on both 4 and 5 arm cranks.

[kelseybishop]

Hi, l am touring using a triple crank, would it be possible to build my own crank using an osymetyric 55 chainring for speed, then add a lower tooth chainring for climbing?

[Ballistichydrant]

A challenging question about bicycles. I love cycling and I understand you do to. I’m currently riding a steel frame Bridgestone. Beautiful bike. This bike has a top speed of about 46km/h on a flat clean windless road. I understand that the rear wheel gains angular momentum as its velocity increases up to a point where the required force to increase velocity is outpaced by the resistance force of the angular momentum of the spinning wheel. I can produce a maximum 1200 watts of leg drive and at 46km/h this amount of power is insufficient to increase the speed of the bike. To be clear at 46km/h I am still at a reasonable cadence so adding additional leg drive is not an issue. I know that if I get a lighter wheel/tire system for the bike I can reduce the angular momentum of the system and therefore increase the speed of the bike. But I have not found any studies that show how much speed improvement I can expect by reducing the weight of the wheel/tire system. In order to do a proper cost benefit analysis on how much I should spend on a new rear wheel, I need to know the calculation for, weight equals how much angular momentum. If we assume an average strong male cyclist can produce max sprint 1000 watts then we should be able to rate wheel/tire systems by speed. No?
My second question here is how much if any does the overall weight of the bike contribute to angular momentum force on the rear axle? Do I need to reduce the overall weight of the bike if I only care about max sprint speed? Does the front wheel weight contribute anything to the resistance force of angular momentum at the rear axle? I feel like the front wheel and bike don’t contribute much to this analysis. I’m not at all worried about friction or wind because my leg drive is insane 😂 due to a ton of deadlifting. But when that rear wheel hits its angular momentum threshold, no amount of leg drive is going to increase the speed of the bike.
I hope that makes sense, the ideas are clear enough in my mind but I’m not sure I’ve expressed them clearly here. I know you like cycling and I know you have the brain to analyze this question. I live in saigon and lack Human Resources and technological resources to find an answer to this question. But I thought if you found the question interesting you might have the people and tech around you to find the answer. Or perhaps you already know.

[SmartfoolGB]

Need someone to help me with my 60/46/32 mountain bike project. Not sure of Front derailer that can take the range

[darkspace]

I had a 50t chainring it was so hard but good once I got it going lol

[CannondaleF]

Can anyone help me please.
Would a Single 40T front chainring and 11-40T cassette be ok for hill climbing and and going fast?
Thank you