2018 seems a long time ago now but it was then I wrote an article arguing that a 50T+ chainring is too big for your average cyclist and a 46T (or maybe a 44T) is better, which is what I ride. In total it’s been around 12 years since I switched all my chainrings to a 46 outer setup and oval. I even raced on them. It was an idea one of the lads that used to ride from my shop had. He was an engineer and his 1x46T race setup was way ahead of it’s time and it intrigued me. I did my own research, tried it and I’ve done it ever since. It just works.
Why did SRAM make 46/33 and 48/35 chainring combos available? Did they read my blog? lol …or is there something in what I say?
Why?
Without rehashing an old article, my reasoning is simple. Average cyclists need lower gears more than super high. It’s an inconvenient fact. 50×11, 12, 13 & 14 are massive and rarely used in my opinion. In fact riding my new Planet X Pro Carbon recently with it’s stock 105 50/34 compact chainset, the top 4 gears (4 smallest cogs on the cassette) haven’t been touched. They are effectively redundant. 46×11 @ 90rpm on a 28mm tyre will give me 30mph. More than enough but that’s not the main benefit. It’s the fact you can ride much more hills in the big ring, no need to change down so often. It’s like having a part-time 1x setup. I can ride 10% gradients in the big ring, no problem. 46×30 is the same size gear as 34×22. Pretty low not withstanding you have the small ring as your get out of jail card.
Riders often say they need big gears for downhills but often they’ll be freewheeling beyond 30-35mph, so actually they don’t.
Oval rings for 105 12spd chainsets don’t seem to be available yet so I had to source some round ones for my Planet X and they arrived earlier this week. The added benefit of going for after-market chainrings is that you can usually get much smaller inner rings too. My setup is now 46/32 with an 11-34 cassette on the back.
I got my STONE chainrings from djcbikes.com. Awesome service. I originally ordered the wrong rings and got in touch. The guy from China was straight on Whatsapp and sorted it, no quibble and double-checked everything with me before shipping. They took about 10 days to arrive. Fitting them was really simple. Just a straight swap and drop the front mech as close as possible to the outer ring.
I took them out for a spin up a local steep climb with gradients around 1-in-4 or 25% this week. The 32/34 combo was a dream. I can now just sit and twiddle away up any gradient without blowing out my arse. 32/34 is 2 inches smaller than a 1:1 34/34 ratio. Quite a difference.
And for any wannabe mechanics getting a bit twitchy about the gap between the front mech and outer ring not been 2mm. 1. The shifting is honestly tip-top at speed and under load 2. I did purchase a front mech hanger extender just in case, as I questioned the gap, but it wasn’t needed.
Try it
My unqualified advice based on simple maths and experience is if you don’t race, maybe struggle on steep hills and want a better riding experience. Ditch your stock chainrings and get smaller ones. You won’t compromise your top speed, you’ll change less and get up hills easier. And for that reason, it’ll probably be one of the best upgrades you do.
Adios