DO OVAL MTB CHAINRINGS WORK? Let's see!

Do oval chainrings work? I wasn't sure, so I tried one out and put it to the test!

Here's the results after 3 days of riding with one:

Day 1: The oval ring feels weird right away, but feels totally normal after about 3 minutes. I even forgot that he changed chainrings until I got to the top.

Day 2: After actually thinking about what's going on while pedaling, I can sort of understand how the oval ring works. You can definitely feel a difference when climbing up and over things, although not dramatically.

Day 3: I start to really put the oval ring to the test and starts to hammer over short, punchy bits of his climb. This is when the oval ring is at the biggest advantage.

Overall, the oval ring is actually pretty cool. After hearing mixed reviews the past year, I wasn't really expecting to feel much of a difference. There's no crazy dramatic advantage over a normal round chainring, but there is at least a little bit of a bonus. In my eyes, anything that can help on the climbs and help extend your ride is a no brainer in my book!

We initially did not have any oval chainrings for sale on our website, but after this test I was impressed enough to bring a bunch of Wolf Tooth Ellpitical Chainrings into stock and put them on the website!

Want to try one for yourself? Head over to the chainring page on our web-store to snag one!

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The Lost Co.

Bellingham, WA

360-306-8827

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#ovalchainring
#mountainbike
#ridelost

[outbackwack]

Just installed one on my Yeti SB5.5 and so far so good. Making climbs a bit easier now, which is my weakness. Thanks!

[thelegendmtb]

Love oval chainrings, wouldn't run an MTB without one. Like you mentioned not necessarily a game changer, but definitely helps in certain situations and also for me makes my legs feel less tired after rides compared to a round ring. My personal fave is the OneUp Switch DM system, makes changing the rings super easy without having to remove my cranks. Loosen 4 bolts 2 turns, remove ring, install new one and off you go.

[SF-wrzn]

Yes they do! I’m absolutely astounded by how well they work. Climbing my local steep trails that would normally gas me out with relative ease....I’m a convert ✌🏻

[hughclarke]

I love mine, and it looks sick too. Absolute Black 34t. Awesome for XC racing

[thundermota]

i watch the whole youtube in the seek of an explanation i finally got it, thanks my fren

[forondaj]

I have a classic road bike handed down to me by my father. Just lately realized that my chain rings are slightly oval in shape for a newbie like me i didn't notice a thing, just rode the bike like you'd normally would. Someone pointed out it's oval so that's how i knew. Also, i bought my GF a 2nd hand bike that has round chainrings and switching back and forth from both bikes I do notice the effects of the oval chainring on the round, it feels kinda flat, even thorough out and i find myself slower on rides with the round. The oval however i think it helps in a "huge" way because it causes the bike to catch momentum much easier than a round one which if you know how important momentum is to gaining speed then you would piece together the idea. If you took time to read my comment and deciding whether you should buy one, I'd definitely recommend you to buy one. I don't know how much of an adjustment it would take because it's like i have been on the assymetric chainrings ever since and just lately realizing i was.

[philputnam]

Thanks for the video. I've been considering trying one.

[stuartlarge]

I have bad knee joints and ovals definitely helped.

[RGCastro]

I use Absolute Black oval chainrings, and I'm super happy with their performance and durability. Something that they helped me out with considerably was knee pain. After long climbs on round chainrings, my knees used to get very sore, but ovals have delayed the timing of the effort and concentrated it in a narrower window, significantly reducing that discomfort for me.

[nanoadamxd]

Best way to see the difference is changing to oval for a month, use it in your everyday ride then switch back to round.

[mickpowell]

I fitted a 28T on my Scott Hardtail, hard to say if its a game changer as I'm a slow climber anyway but I got up climbs ok that my 28 YO daughter pushed up, I'm 61 so any help is great and there is a psychological edge also

[JonathanFisherS]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't your power stay constant but your torque increases (referring @ 0:44 )

[dennisthegrower]

Had one in the late 70s I put on as are replacement. asked about them a few years ago was told discontinued because they hurt the knees.

[Michel-hvdu]

Shimano was doing it in the late eighties with BIO PACE. They didn’t have it in the right orientation with the crank.

[callaway]

Don’t forget to add 2 links to your chain if you swap 32 round for 32 oval! Once you ride oval for a while (2-3 months), give the round ring a spin. I would be shocked if you stick with the round!

[peterchopelas]

everything old is new again! this concept has been around since at least the late seventies with the same debates. on road bikes the consensus seemed to be they worked well for grinding up steep inclines, but for spinning on fast downhill or level ground the round chain ring worked better for most people. For road bikes many riders would put an oval on the smaller chain ring hill climbing, and use a round one on the larger chain ring for level road work. For most mountain bike applications with a single chain ring, the up hill grind is the most important part of getting the most out of the drive train, so an oval single chain ring seems to be a good option. for road bikes and commuters, perhaps not so much.

[wessimpson]

good info I've never tried oval either. I just got a new full sup. bike with a GX Eagle with a 32 front. I love the Eagle but my last bike was 28 in the front. I was thinking I need a bid more since I've have bad knees and was thinking of oval do you think 30's would be ideal since I need a little more help on big climbs and seem to stay in my lower gear range more overall?

[athishmarutharaj]

Great vid I reralyy want to try one out! so if I want to calculate the highest speed I can get on a 38t oval, would I imput 40t or 38t in the calculation? THX

[best-sound]

Great Video! Would you need to adjust the tension on your derailleur?

[robertmizek]

I have oval chainrings on my Yeti ARC hardtail and love them for XC. I can ride faster and farther with less fatigue.