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Absolute Black Oval Chainring

174K views 795 replies 210 participants last post by  wayold 
#1 ·
#691 ·
I don't like posting to forums with any form of negativity, but I also don't appreciate being directly libeled by another company. In the last few weeks absoluteBLACK has publicly stated that we have copied their designs, produced parts using poor quality material, and insinuated that we would intentionally sell out-of-spec parts. I'm not looking for an argument here; I just want to present some facts.

tehan said:
Absoluteblack chainrings use a lot "harder" alloy that does not deform under pedalling so easily.
I hardness tested an AB ring in-house. The Rockwell B hardness was 93.5 for AB and 94 for OneUp. Both are well within spec for the 7075 aluminum used commonly in the bike industry.

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Our oval rings are as different to AB as AB is different to every other oval ring on the market. Non-biopace oval mtb rings have been around for a long time (Most notably from Rotor as far back as 2009 - here). It's the 1X revolution that has led to the spike in oval popularity (no need for FD compatibility) not the slight tweak to the design that any one company has made.

We were not aware of 77designz when we designed our chainguide. You may notice the height adjustment system and chainline adjustment system are completely different. Our guide also has more chainline adjustment and was the first to be specifically designed for both Boost and Oval compatibility. No other guide that I'm aware of could claim this much compatibility at the time we launched.

tehan said:
We do best products we can, with best quality possible. We DO NOT make our products in Taiwan like Oneup. We take time sourcing best material possible from Germany, Produce them in our manufacturing plant in Poland (where we check quality of every single piece) and then anodize them in UK just because this is the best anodizer in entire Europe with all environmental certificates. This takes time. But we do this because we believe in quality…
I have nothing bad to say about the quality of AB rings but take exception to the idea that parts manufactured in Taiwan are by default a lower quality product. We have a collective 26 years of experience sourcing products from TW so have a network of very dialed, very quality conscious vendors.

tehan said:
We could bring them by containers to Europe, and then realize some of them are made out of spec (this always happens in TW), but still sell them to customers because you can't ship them back once landed....
In the rare case of issues, defects are caught and corrected on the factory floor by our inline QC. Small shipments arrive in Canada and are double checked in-house. We would never intentionally ship a sub-par product to a customer and stand behind everything we sell.

At the end of the day OneUp Components is five friends that love to ride bikes. We're dedicated to offering great products and genuine value to other mountain bikers. We'd love your support, but recognize that having so many small companies making great product can only be good for the industry. Get outside and enjoy the day, adventure is only a pedal away.

Jon @ OneUp
 
#377 ·
This review is a MUST Read! if you think about OVAL but you are not convinced yet.
BikeJames is a quite a figure and I am flattered with such good write up out of the blue.

http://www.bikejames.com/strength/why-ive-switched-to-an-oval-chainring/

It starts with " I'll admit that I wanted to hate it...."

and half page later

" That was a few weeks ago and I've still got the oval chainring on my bike. "
 
#697 ·
There's enough room on my bike for both AB and OP products on my bike. The AB chainring is definitely a work of art. I have a 30t and a 32t that look like they will last forever. I also have a OP 45t kit on my cassette and OP bash guard/chain guide up front and it all works great together.
 
#711 ·
After almost 4 weeks of using, it seems this oval ring really helped me to get faster. I can say now, I definitely get used to it. First time it seemed this took half an hour or so but in reality, it was two weeks to feel it really comfortable both in low and high rpm cadence.
Last Saturday I was able to test it on a hardcore race as well. Salzkammergut-Trophy, extreme distance. :) (211 km with 7109m ascent - ~131 miles with ~23300 feet)
I decided to go with the AB 32t oval and it was a good decision. The 34t would had been definitely too big for the steep and sometimes quite technical climbs. Log, if you are interested: https://www.strava.com/activities/635462814

Absolute Black, great product! ;)
 
#713 ·
I just want to post a perhaps unpopular but valid opinion about Absolute Black Ovals. There are potential downsides to oval rings that are never pointed out from a biomechanical standpoint, that I have unfortunately experienced.
I've been riding on an Absolute Black oval ring on my mountain bike for 2years. It is my only bike, so its been a full commitment to Oval. There is a lot to like about it in use, and I drank the kool-aid in a major way. However I developed really bad knee pain in my patella region. Something that has never happened to me in my lifetime of cycling. My knees have always been rock solid. What makes the oval ring seem so great and appealing is that it fatigues your quads and leg muscles less, and gives you a perceived resting phase on the downstroke. However it is this "resting" portion of the stroke on an Oval that transfers way more load to your knees on the downstroke, especially when standing and pedaling. You can vaguely compensate for this by shifting your hips further back behind the bottom bracket when standing, but this places you in a weak position. I switched back to a round ring, and within a few weeks, along with some rehab protocol my knees where back in A-1 shape.
I miss the oval sometimes, but joint health trumps any advantage it offered me. I just wish I would have realized this sooner. Other people might not experience this. But after 2 years I think I can make an informed assessment, and I believe the Oval ring while it takes pressure off one part of your body, places undue strain on other parts and potentially more vulnerable parts in order to do this. I would rather have sore Quads than bad knees.
 
#764 ·
Thanks morandi, i started reading 2 hours ago so many posts but i jumped some, i read 1 user(if my memory is OK) that by instinct he raised his saddle a bit, maybe that might help? Like you my knees come first at 59, hoping to pedal daily 30 or if lucky next 40 years.
 
#770 ·
+1 for the positive changes during climbing. Especially on technical and steep climbs.

During the 1.5 years I noticed only one strange thing with Absolute Black chainrings. During pedaling, the rear derailleur's cage moves back and forth a bit and now I killed the clutch mechanism of my 2nd Shimano XTR derailleur...
(I have adjusted the clutch mechanism and it was fine for a while. After ~1000 kms I'm facing with chain drops again...)
 
#773 ·
Mine were back to back. I was able to swap the ring at the trail head. In my area we don't have many long climbs but would say I would agree with your assessment. The area I really see the benefit is when the trail transitions from level or DH to a steep climb. It just gives a confidence without the need to shift to a lower gear.
 
#774 ·
[Jump to bottom for solution! The powerlink wasn't fuly clicked!]
Been a happy user of AB 32 oval on my Epic FS....I'm building up an Epic HT with 148 boost. Had a bike shop install Raceface PF30 BB, Raceface Cinch Powermeter spindle, and Raceface Next SL G4 cranks, with AB 32t Boost Oval Cinch ring for an Eagle drivetrain. Had chain length set to overlap two inner and two outer links (barely) (in other words, to overlap 4 links) while chain was on 50t cog and the AB ring with the wide sides up and down (major axis vertical).

But as soon as I turn the crank forward, the chain comes off the ring, when the chain starts to engage the flat part of the 32t.

Anybody have any thoughts? Much thanks in advance!

[Solved!] :madman:I just realized that it was coming off where the powerlink was and seemed like as if the chain was too short. Turns out that the powerlink wasn't fully engaged or clicked in! No problem now!
 
#8 ·
hey guys. If you are interested about reading more in details why this ring is NOT biopace and what benefits are then I am taking active part in SS forum thread on this:

http://forums.mtbr.com/singlespeed/...antage-singlespeed-932469-6.html#post11468770

Have a read if you are interested. Worth!

Shipping- 16.9$ is actually a steal:) We ship from UK and 16.9$ for tracked parcel is actually less than Royal mail charge + envelope +stickers and fuel to the post. It costs me 19...

My ring itself is 50% cheaper than Rotor one so this should not put you off. On top of that to use Rotor you need to buy 70$ spider.I charge for my chainrnig less than Rotor for a spider! So compare 200$ Rotor solution to my 66$ chainrnig. Suddenly postage is a wash:)
 
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