It's a special kind of upgrade on the bike for me as I had my eyes on these oval chainrings for a while. Thanks to my good training mate I managed to get one fitted and I'm after my first test ride with this setup.
Where should I start? I think we can skip the introduction part, I'm sure we all know the benefits of the oval chainrings by now. Got the ring last night, got it fitted and I was full of excitement this afernoon when I left the house.
The details:
It's a Snail Oval Chainring with 104 BCD, 34T and Narrow Wide profile. I was running 36T normal ring on the single speed bike and based on many articles and advice I've decided to pick a size 34T. The ring looks sturdy yet still light. Good looking design and a small indicator mark that helps before mounting. It's a nice piece of bike part with a nice finish!
First impressions:
The first test spin was only a 30 km long ride with a few kicker climbs on the local hills. The first thing that popped into my mind was that there is no difference on flat. Didn't feel different at all compare to the normal chainrings.
But this feeling has changed pretty quickly as soon as I hit the first climb. The difference was quite remarkable I have to say! The climb felt definitely easier on a weird and unusual way. It is hard to describe... it feels like the pressure of the climb gets less for a short amount of time and it repeats itself with each and every pedal stroke. It feels unusual but definitely good!
It was awesome to try this ring and I'm happy to experience the benefit that I was only reading about before. Although it was only a short test ride but I can definitely tell it'll be nice to ride with an oval chainring mounted on the bike!
Short and long term review to come, so stay tuned! :)
