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Rotor
Q-Rings are a set of ovalised chainrings that claim to give bio-mechanical
advantage to a rider's pedaling efficiency compared to the "regular"
round chainrings. Of course, the concept of an ovalised chainring is not
new. A famous example is the Shimano Biopace which was introduced during
the 1980s. It eventually died out due to imperfect shifting (according
to Shimano).
So does
ovalised chainrings provide any real bio-mechnical advantage? The debate
is still on-going. I had a chance to acquire a set of Rotor Q-Rings and
try it out myself. Here's my personal review of the Q-Rings after some
miles under my legs.
The
theory is based on the concept that when the leg is at the up stroke,
it creates a "dead-spot" where theleg has the least ability to exert power
onto the crank. Therefore there is a need to get over the dead spot as
quickly as possible by having the smallest possible equivalent chainring
size. However, when the leg is at down stroke or close to down stroke,
the leg has the maximum leverage to exert power to the crank. By having
a maximum possible chainring size, power exertion to the crank is maximised.
Q-Rings
also allow you to fine tune where you want the dead spot and where you
want the max spot, since every rider could have different dead spots and
max spots.
Short
term report: Installation is not difficult, but getting the shifting
perfect is quite impossible. It took me three evenings to adjust/re-adjust
the front derailer position to get it to shift the Q-Rings acceptably.
Still, certain gearing combinations will result in the big ring slightly
rubbing the front derailleur plate. You need to keep trimming the front
derailleur to make the noise go away.
So how
does it ride? Well, I expected it to have some kind of oval effect on
the pedal stroke, however, it turned out to ride just like a round chainring.
It felt like spinning a perfectly round crank. There also isn't any break-in
period.
On the
first day I test rode the rings on a hilly TT event that I'm familiar
with. With the same effort I normally put in on the same course, I did
not notice any improvement on the time split. Still slow as a slug on
the hill and the time split is probably at the bottom end of the pack.
However, I did notice something different in my legs... they were not
as sore as before and I felt less of a lactic acid effect/build-up as
well. I'm going to give it some time to verify the reduction in leg soreness
and the lower lactic acid effect.
The rings on the
power phase/spot with the maximum tooth (equivalent to a 56T).
Mid
term report: After close to 3 months and several hundreds miles
of riding the Q-Rings, I think the Rotor people is definitely onto something
here. The leg soreness that I associate with prolonged climbing is felt
less now. I am still wasted at the end of a ride, but I feel I am recovering
better to continue riding the next day.
The
next day, the lactic acid accumulating effect due to prolonged climbing
prior day is also less. Do I climb faster now? Absolutely not. Do I get
less tiredness in my legs after the ride, yes. Recover faster, more or
less, yes. I'm glad that the Q-Rings do provide some benefits to me, not
on the performance enhancement part, but on the recovery part.
Kwan,
reporting from San Jose, California.
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