bellullabob said:
How do you like those Rotor Q rings???? Is there is a real difference?
I've done a few rides with the Rotor Q-Rings now. So far they actually seem to be doing what they're claimed to. At the very least they aren't any worse than round rings.
Both today and yesterday I managed personal best times 3-4% quicker than previously for the same routes. I was particularly pleased with the main climb today which is a granny ring climb and quite bumpy so you're basically using strength and mashing just to force the bike to keep going forwards through the bumps: I improved my previous best for the climb from 8min40 to 8min12 which is a 5.3% improvement.:eekster:
The chainrings seem particularly good when you just need a little extra to keep in a higher gear up a drag and for short bursts of power and acceleration. When my pedal gets to the bottom of the stroke it does seem smoother pedalling also. My knees have been fine. It's difficult to say if they feel better than with normal round chainrings. From the recorded data my pedalling cadence appears to have stayed exactly the same as when riding round rings. Exercise heart rates seem very similar with no major differences when the data is overlaid.*
The front shifting isn't as good as Shimano rings. I've had a few crunching upshifts going from the 23T granny to 33T middle ring. You have to really hold the trigger in until it shifts up to stop the chain falling back off the pins. With Shimano rings I'd press the trigger once and that would be enough for a clean upshift on the front chainrings. Going from the 33T middle ring to 44T big ring seems ok.
There are quite a few qualifications to the paragraphs above of course.
- The change from 22T/ 32T round chainrings to 23T/ 33T oval chainrings means that the gear ratios on the granny and middle ring have increased. Pedalling at the same cadence with a higher gear means you'll be travelling quicker regardless of whether the chainrings are oval or round. It makes it a bit harder to compare riding on those two chainrings fairly with round rings of a different size.
- In terms of my riding I'd expect to be going quite well this week with any chainrings. I had a solid July and most of August followed by a five day period off the bike last week whilst my Epic's shocks were at Specialized UK. All I did until Saturday last week was some weight training (mostly focusing on grip strength, forearms, shoulders and core work) so I should be well rested. I had good pace on Tuesday's ride using round chainrings and there's a good chance I would have improved on personal bests dating from May and July with the round rings also.
- This five day recovery period last week also gave my right knee a rest. When I fell off in July I bruised the knee cap. It was a tiny bruise on the side but it must have bruised underneath the knee cap itself and it never really settled down. Having that time off makes it difficult to say if it's the rest or oval chainrings helping it feel better.
- My pedalling style is fairly high cadence (95-100rpm average) but has been described as "stabbing" down at the pedals. When you read the comments about oval chainrings perhaps they suit some pedalling styles more than others?
- I've only done three rides on the Rotor Q-Rings. That's not really enough to get a detailed feel for them. I think there must be some specificity in muscle use as the top of my calves just below the knee and some different parts of my thighs have been feeling a little sore. It has been settling down a bit though.
* - Although exercise heart rates appear unchanged my Polar OwnOptimizer orthostatic index has shot up since I swapped over the chainrings. This test is essentially the difference between your resting and standing heart rate (See note with explanation at end of this post). The higher the score the more tired and less well recovered you are. I've been doing the test each evening for the last few months (post ride with a gap of 5+ hours from getting in). The report below shows how it has compared to my previous training hours during August. I've mostly been getting a mixture of 2 and 3 scores (including for the 4h10 ride on Tuesday) until 26/27/28 August using the Rotor Q-Rings when the scores were 6, 7, 7.
The green Time bars on the report below are only cycling. It doesn't include weight training.
The other scores on the report are the Polar OwnIndex and Polar HRmax-P. The OwnIndex test is an estimation of your VO2 max whilst the HRmax-P is an estimate of what your maximum heart rate is. In terms of tracking recovery there appears to be a clear pattern where the OwnIndex score drops and the HRmax-P score increases when I'm tired. You can see how the OwnIndex score varies in relation to how much riding I've done during the day. Along with the OwnOptimizer scores the OwnIndex score has been low since I got the chainrings suggesting that I'm tired.
Orthostatic Heart Rate test:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrtest.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.polar.fi/e_manuals/RS800CX/Polar_RS800CX_user_manual_English/ch09.html#OwnOptimizer
Polar OwnOptimizer Scores:
Good Recovery (1)
Your heart rate is lower than average. This indicates that you have recovered very well. You can continue training, including intensive exercise sessions.
Normal State (2)
Your heart rate is at a normal level. Go on with your training; include both light and intensive training sessions, and recovery days.
Training Effect (3)
Your heart rate is higher than average. You may have exercised intensively in the previous days. You have two choices: 1) rest or train lightly for one or two days, or 2) continue intensive training for one or two days and then recover well. Other sources of stress such as the beginning of a fever or an attack of the flu can result in the same kind of response.
Steady State (4)
Your heart rate has continuously been at a normal level for a long time now. Effective training requires both heavy training and good recovery, and this should cause variation in your heart rate results. Your OwnOptimizer result indicates that you have not had very intensive training or good recovery for a while. Perform the test again after a rest or light training day. If the recovery is effective, your result should show Good recovery.
Stagnant State (5)
Your heart rate is still at a normal level, and this has continued for a long time. The result indicates that your training has not been intensive enough to develop optimally. To improve your condition effectively, you should now include more intense or longer exercise sessions in your program.
Hard Training (6)
Your heart rate has been higher than average several times. You may have trained hard on purpose. The result indicates overloading, and you should try to recover well now. To monitor your recovery, perform the test again after one or two resting or easy training days.
Overreaching (7)
Your OwnOptimizer result indicates that you have had a very intensive training period for several days or weeks. Your heart rate has continuously remained at a high level. This seriously indicates that you should have a complete recovery period. The longer you have trained intensively, the longer the recovery period required to recover. Perform the test again after at least two days of recovery.
Sympathetic Overtraining (8)
Your OwnOptimizer result indicates that you have had a very intensive training period for several days or weeks, and your recovery has not been sufficient. This has resulted in a state of overtraining. To return to a normal training state, rest for a carefully monitored recovery period. Follow your recovery by performing the OwnOptimizer Test 2-3 times a week.
Parasympathetic Overtraining (9)
Your heart rate has stayed at a low level, which is generally interpreted as a sign of a good recovery. However, other parameters indicate parasympathetic overtraining. You may have trained with high volumes for a long time, and recovery may not have been sufficient. Check for other signs of overtraining, such as decreased performance, increased fatigue, mood disturbances, sleeping problems, persistent muscle soreness, and/or a feeling of being burnt out or stale. You may also have been subjected to other stresses.
In general, the development of parasympathetic overtraining requires a long history of heavy training volumes. To recover from a state of parasympathetic overtraining, you have to recover body balance completely. Recovering may take several weeks. You should not exercise, instead rest completely for most of the recovery period. You can possibly have a few days with some light aerobic training in short sessions, and only occasionally include short, high-intensity sessions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pictured below: Polar Protrainer 5 report showing exercise time, OwnOptimizer, OwnIndex and HRmax-P scores for August 2009 - Results 26 August 2009 onwards are using Rotor Q-Ring Chainrings
