Oval vs Round Narrow wide chain rings

Looking to convert a bike to 1x10
Should I go with oval or round
Also are the cheap Amazon ones ok or should I go with a brand name like race face
What size tooth should I go with

Thanks

Here’s the conversation from another time this came up;
Oval Chainring Question

If the price is the same or very similar for the oval, then that gets my vote. It’s a subtle difference but if you’re already upgrading it’s the perfect time to try one.

I generally go for a 32T, but it depends on the bike, where you ride, and your fitness. 30T - 34T would probably be the norm for a trail bike.

I usually go for good quality parts from known manufacturers. If the price of an amazon chainring is substantially cheaper than a Raceface or similar one, it may be worth the gamble to try and see how it works, but if it’s not that much cheaper I’d go for a known company.

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Thanks great info, Amazon has some for as little as $10.
Will try and upgrade to a race face at $45.

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45 isn’t breaking the bank, and the amazon ring may be fine, but for 35 dollars difference I’d go with a reputable brand. When it comes to drivetrain components the potential for something going wrong under power etc isn’t worth the gamble. My knees (and nuts) don’t like sudden drivetrain failures.

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I love the oval chain ring, I went back to a circle one for comparison and put the oval back on. My next bikes, if I can return to riding will also get ovals, I’m sold on them.

Amazon Oval Chain Ring sounds like a long walk back to the car to me.

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Was talking with someone with an oval chain ring the other day, they suggested heavier riders generally enjoy them while lighter riders like myself often don’t perceive a difference.

You’d be surprised…

Im 5’6" and 140lbs, I noticed right away. It felt like i would get a little more out of each pedal. Enough i certainly noticed.

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My experience: the more experienced the rider, the less likely they are to notice a difference. I attribute this to experienced riders having developed techniques to improve climbing and reduce slippage on loose climbs. I like my oval ring but didn’t notice a huge difference. @TamBan switched to oval after only a year of riding and saw a huge difference in her climbing.

TL;DR: I’m sold on oval.

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Can confirm, i consider myself a new rider after a 15 year hiatus. Certainly makes up for my lack of technique/knowledge.

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I ran an oval for a full season a couple years ago and can honestly say while I did notice a difference, it had such a small bearing on my riding that I wouldn’t care less about having one or not. A buddy of mine loves them and when he got a new bike that didn’t have one I swapped it to his bike because he liked them so much more than me.

TLDR: I wouldn’t take one off my bike but I wouldn’t make the effort to have one either

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When the biopace chainrings on my Trek 830 wore out I replaced them with round chainrings because that’s what John Tomac was running.

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You know what’s cool about my oval ring? The colour. Nothing more.

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If it’s snail zitto erace etc grab it. Never would I ever pay retail for a chain ring.

Depends on the brand.

I have ran numerous Chinese cassettes and despite out powering a set of SLX cranks, bending saints on greasy climbs, breaking chains and folding cassettes never had an issue with a snail e race zitto etc brand stem.

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Round rings mounted to Tioga Revolver cranks :wink:

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I use blackspire chainrings. They make oval and round. They were less than raceface at the time and work very well.

I have a ZTTO brand dropper post lever. Waaaay better than the OEM Ascend brand one, and almost as nice as my Wolf Tooth brand lever, but at 20% of the cost.

I didnt realize they had a whole range of components, I will have to take another look at Aliexpress!

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Stems, hubs, cassettes, break pads, bottom brackets.

Most things from them I’ve had have been good. I’ve not tried the hubs but have heard mixed reviews.