Rather than discuss week 15 of Ironman training (or not so much training…) I’d like to share a little secret, I’ve been “testing” Osymetric Rings for a little over a month now. I’ve kept quiet about it for numerous reasons, one of which is that I try not to share my opinion about something until I feel fully knowledgeable. Most the time anyway! Someone in the upstate, Robbie Di Giovine (phone 864-979-7380), was kind enough to indulge my curiosity fit my bike with it and make multiple fine tuning’s. For those of you who don’t know what Osymetric Rings are, the main difference you notice is your crank isn’t a circle anymore. Instead of a circle you have kind of an oval shape (even though one website says it’s not oval), in my opinion that’s what it looks like. The purpose of this oval shape is to limit the dead spot most people have in their pedal stroke. If you’re wondering what it looks like and can’t picture it, here’s a link to some pics:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=slv8-hpd10&va=osymetric+chainring
I’m just going to list out what I’ve noticed as pro’s automatically:
Rolling Hills- Wow! Smooth! This is the biggest difference I’ve noticed so far. It sounds so simple, but it is. The main difference is the pedal stroke feels seamless.
Climbs- One of our local climbs is Paris Mountain, and typically I really focus on trying to make my stroke a full circle focusing on pulling up and finishing the stroke fully to get the most out of each motion. I still do this with the Osymetric Rings but it doesn’t require as much focus. It’s almost like some of the thinking isn’t required on my part anymore, the pedal stroke is a little more automatic if that makes sense.
Flat Roads or Time Trialing- I’ve not really been able to check stats or compare same courses b/c I’ve been so sick and had some fine tuning (for that particular gearing) so for me I’m still testing this portion of the Osymetric Rings and does it really make a noticeable difference. What I will say though, watching the tour this year I noticed MULTIPLE stellar racers not just using the Osymetric Rings during the climbing stages but ALSO during the time trial phases so it must be working for them on flatter courses as well.
What are the cons? I wouldn’t really say I’ve noticed any cons so far, but I will give you some advice if this is something you are looking into. I am short, 5’3 to be exact, and I have a small frame. If you have a smaller frame (48-50 or smaller?) and choose to get the Osymetric Rings just know in advance that your bike will have to be “tweaked” a couple times to get it just right. If you are in the Upstate area or ever visit the area, Robbie (phone 864-979-7380) is the person to contact to do this. He’s been a pleasure to work with, wants it all to be perfect, and isn’t afraid to ask for help from other people to make things work. He even delivered my bike to work this last time. The other thing I’d mention is that I was using a compact crank prior to getting the Osymetric Rings. When we decided on size Robbie made the switch to the comparable compact crank size of Osymetric Rings, which for all the climbing I do wasn’t quite “easy” enough for me. It was like I was only missing one more gear, so I easily switched out my back cassette to make those accommodations and make things perfect. The best part of that, while out riding this weekend I never got out of the big ring but I didn’t feel like I ever was “spinning” out either. If I do a really flat course, like Ironman Florida, I will probably just put my old cassette size back on and it will be perfect if the wind happens to be blowing in the right direction that day:)
All in all, this process has been an interesting learning experience and well worth it. I don’t normally step outside the box, but am glad I took the chance and even happier that Robbie gave me the opportunity to really get a feel for it before I committed.
If you want some general information on Osymetric Rings I’m going to include a link I found just to give you some answers in case you are interested.
http://osymetricusa.com/site/?page_id=5
