Need to replace a worn chainring, standard Shimano 105 52t. Nothing fancy at all. Price for one is about £80 where in stock. Most places they're out of stock.
I know everything is going up but jeez!
I paid £90 for a pair of chain rings the other day (only came as a pair). Nothing is cheap right now.....
Yeah Ultegra were a similar price a few years ago when I needed one, it was cheaper for me to sell the existing chainset and buy a new one.
Stock issues and price rises mean that might not work for you though.
£50 for the non series version
https://www.bikeparts.co.uk/products/shimano-fc-rs500-chainring-36t-mj-black?variant=41916377727133
Add it to a wish list on Amazon if you can wait, the prices fluctuate from £45-80. I ended up getting on on Mantel in the Netherlands. Set up a stock alert as the one I needed came into stock much faster than it said when I set it up.
Which version of 105 are you looking for?
FC-R7000 52t for £60 in stock in the next two weeks at Sigma.
I can't remember the last time I just replaced the chainrings. There is always a complete crankset on offer somewhere that is cheaper than replacement rings.
Or at least that was the case up until a couple of years ago.
Yep, it's an absolute travesty, always has been.
I recall being told by bike shop about 24 years ago just to buy a new chainset.
Absolutely shocking given where the planet is heading to.
Is this any use to you?
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/shimano-105-fc-r7000-chainring-mt-for-52/36t-1
Assuming bike-discount are still sending to the UK.
Absolutely shocking given where the planet is heading to.
Someone will pay good money for the old crankarms, you don't put them in the recycling.
Someone will pay good money for the old crankarms, you don’t put them in the recycling.
Really?
Most bike shops have got a box full of crank arms in the workshop and I would say even most individuals who have been riding for any length of time have a box of crank arms that they are keeping in the hope that new cheap chainrings will magically appear and they might actually be able to sell the bloody things (or maybe that's just me).
I would say even most individuals who have been riding for any length of time have a box of crank arms that they are keeping in the hope that new cheap chainrings will magically appear and they might actually be able to sell the bloody things (or maybe that’s just me).
Not a single crank arm in the workshop here - I just buy new chain rings.....
£175 minimum order for UK customers at Bike Discount 🙁
Managed to find one at bikester. £45 plus shipping and its silver which is not great but will have to make do
Wonder if the shortages are related to the top story here - https://www.pinkbike.com/news/slack-randoms-road-rage-carnage-shipping-delays-exploding-drill-bits-and-more.html
Yeah I am in the same boat for my sons racebike. I have a Ultegra 6800 one as a spare I bought a few years back, for my winter bike. Its now worth double what I paid for it (not that I am selling).
I keep looking for Ultegra 6601 cranks in good nick as you can run normal TA/Middleburn CR's
To be fair, road chainrings have never been particularly cheap especially in comparison to MTB ones
Really?
Yes.
Not a single crank arm in the workshop here – I just buy new chain rings…..
You're richer than me then.
Yes.
Thanks. So my next question is, who is going to pay for 2nd hand crank arms without chainrings? I know some people wear through the arms with their feet rubbing as they pedal but I wouldn't have thought that they were wearing through the arms before they'd worn out the chainrings.
Er, I did / do. I've bought two pairs of Octalink (shh!) 105 cranks over the years. one for a singlecross bike that I no longer own, another for my Brompton. In both cases I stuck a single aftermarket chainring on them. The only downer is / was that the cranks were peanuts but the BB enormously expensive. I think I got one pair for £12.50, but the BB was in the region of £30.
You’re richer than me then.
I've never found chain rings to be particularly expensive before - however right now, everything bike related seems to cost a small fortune.
Thanks. So my next question is, who is going to pay for 2nd hand crank arms without chainrings?
I didn't ask, I just bagged them up and posted them out.
£50 or £60 IIRC.
I've a pretty much as new Black 52t shimano ring here, think its 130bcd. Its got some marks on the teeth but only on the inside, I'm not sure if those are from storage though.
Actually it says 52 and theres a small S in a circle beside it. Could that be for a single speed or something. Got it in a pile of bits yonks ago, i dont know anything about the roadie side of stuff.
I’ve never found chain rings to be particularly expensive before – however right now, everything bike related seems to cost a small fortune.
I've never found them to be a bank breaker. However, whenever I went looking for chainrings I would always be able to find a new crankset with 50%-80% off RRP whereas chainrings seldom had much of any kind of discount. I guess it makes sense. Manufacturers would order complete cranksets and then flog the excess to CRC and the like. Chainrings were always going to be replacement parts so little chance of discounts
This was all pre-parts shortage, of course.
Before the pandemic, I was always under the impression that two official Shimano road rings cost more than a complete crankset. I "got lucky" and bought 34/50 6800 rings that fit my 5800 crankset for ~£90 iirc from Merlin in a sale as the pandemic started, by which time 105 cranksets had risen from ~£95 on a good day to ~£120+, now it's rare to find 105 cranksets regularly under ~£140.
However, PBK do short promos every now and again, for instance right now 36/52 172.5mm R7000 is ~£128 and the 34/50 variant is ~£115 https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-cranksets-and-chainrings/shimano-105-r7000-chainset/11746895.html
Cycle bits Brexit/pandemic-flation on some bits has got silly, you could get GP4000S IIs for ~£25 each from Halfords with BC discount in '18, now the GP5000s are often out of stock and wider variants go for ~£40+ each! 😮
Thanks. So my next question is, who is going to pay for 2nd hand crank arms without chainrings?
Not road but MTB.. I've never bought a new set of cranks (ever) and I have 8 bikes in the house.
Only the commuter hybrid thing has the original cranks and I should get rid of it or replace the cranks as I don't ride it because the cranks are the wrong length.
GP5000s are often out of stock and wider variants go for ~£40+ each! 😮
The New GP5000 Tubeless ones are £75!!
So my next question is, who is going to pay for 2nd hand crank arms without chainrings?
I've done it a few times, you can normally find and fit non-shimano rings...
I'll give you a tenner
The New GP5000 Tubeless ones are £75!!
Yes, quite incredible!
Do AliExpress etc do compatible chainrings for road bikes? Can't be that much difference between genuine and copycats (compared to other bike parts with moving parts etc)
I bought new cranks without rings recently they were the non series Shimano road with a standards 110BCD. This meant I could still use my 105 power meter but use cheap easily available 110BCD NW rings. The whole thing cost less than a replacement GRX chainring.
Do AliExpress etc do compatible chainrings for road bikes? Can’t be that much difference between genuine and copycats (compared to other bike parts with moving parts etc)
They do. When I saw the cost of replacement Ultegra chain rings I thought it was worth a try. I've done a couple of thousand km on one of these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002823779384.html and it works fine.
I'm still running Shimano 600 from 1986 and Dura Ace 7400 (1990) cranks on my road bikes - original cranks with Stronglight chain rings. Unfortunately, this was before the days of compact chainrings, and I'm 30 years older now ! 🙂
Unfortunately, all these hollowtech chainrings are spendy. Fitting 'normal' ones looks weird as the cranks are designed for OEM replacements.
At least the OP has 105. Ultegra cranks separate before the chain rings wear out.
stealth ad, I have a more or less perfect set of 50/43 ultegra rings ( ovalised fanboi so swapped out) and a set of gravel rings 48/36 that will come on an ultegra rx crank to go on the classifieds in a couple of days.
Assuming this is for 110 BCD/4 arm asymmetric:
If you can stomach a compatible option:
Inners can be found from all the same brands from between £20 and £35. So it's possible to replace both rings for circa £80, but is that still close to the tipping point at which you just start looking at a whole new chainset? (~£130ish for R7000 or RS510) there's about £50 in it, obviously Shimano would rather you buy a whole new chainset (or groupset, or bike ideally) it's up to you if you let them herd you down that route or not...
The other way to look at it is that some people don't even blink at £100 for an MTB cassette these days, you're probably going to get more miles from a road bike chainring so perhaps the value proposition isn't quite so barking mad as it first appears?
Inners can be found from all the same brands from between £20 and £35. So it’s possible to replace both rings for circa £80, but is that still close to the tipping point at which you just start looking at a whole new chainset? (~£130ish for R7000 or RS510) there’s about £50 in it, obviously Shimano would rather you buy a whole new chainset (or groupset, or bike ideally) it’s up to you if you let them herd you down that route or not…
It's a brave new world now though. My previous tactics of checking the price of replacement chainrings and then going to CRC and sorting by 'Discount first' no longer works. No more cranksets with 50%-80% off and so no more paying less for a crankset than I would for rings.
I think the upshot is that there is no cheap way to replace your chainrings anymore.
I think the upshot is that there is no cheap way to replace your chainrings anymore.
There is. The aliexpress ones are ~£25 for the pair and work. They don't look as nice but I'll put up with that for the cost saving.
There is. The aliexpress ones are ~£25 for the pair and work. They don’t look as nice but I’ll put up with that for the cost saving.
Fair enough.
I guess you just have to hope they're not being shipped from Shanghai.
I bought a complete 105 chainset for £85 3yrs ago after the more expensive cheese variety failed.
