Hello all,

Fairly recently swapped an old 32T narrow wide ring for a 34T Blackspire oval ring. At it is SO noisy. In every cog, there are two “crunchy” spots on each revolution, which coincide with the greatest force.  The fact that it’s every cog makes me think it’s not a chainline issue. And it’s definitely a merchanical, metallic crunch, not grime or grit.  And I can feel it being transmitted through the frame.  Even with a brand new chain and cassette I get the same thing. It almost disappears when spinning with little force going through the pedals, but with any kind of load it comes back again.

I was hoping it would get better as the ring and chain wore together, but if anything it’s gotten worse.

Any ideas?

JUST HAD THE SAME. BUT IT WAS SLIGHTLY WORN.

Has it caused you to go deaf?

no offence, but:

are you sure you’ve got it on right – narrow to narrow; wide to wide ?

you sure the oval “pointy bits” aren’t fouling the frame or chain device, especially if it flexes under pedaling loads

There are no stupid questions, but yes, I do have the narrow/narrow wide/wide bit right. I will check the fouling, but it seems unlikely since a 34T is not really that big.

Different brands different results.

My rotor q ring was awful. It was only quiet for about 10 mins with fresh lube.

Absolute black much better.

There are clearly tolerance and offset differences.

I’d been using an AB oval on my 10 speed setup. Just switched to 11 speed, chainring not particularly worn so carried on using that.

Out for a ride and the grinding noise was hellish. I put it down to it not being 11 speed compatible, but it coud just be that it’s too worn for the new chain and being a NW design behaves differently to a non NW which has worn.

I’ve just taken delivery of a 9/10/11 speed comatible superstar chainring so will give that a go and see if the noise stops.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll try another brand. FWIW this was a Blackspire Snaggletooth.

If the oval ring is a 34t are the diameters effectively 32t / 36t depending on orientation? This may be fouling the chain stay depending on frame type.

I recently put an oval ring on my 2015 TR Scout. The maximum chain ring size allowable is 34t. As a result I am restricted to using a 32t oval as has an effective diameter of 34t / 30t.

I went for Absolute Black chain ring and to be honest, I don’t even notice it. I guess it is helping my climbing but I am not sensitive enough to tell. Runs lovely though and its quiet.

If the oval ring is a 34t are the diameters effectively 32t / 36t depending on orientation? This may be fouling the chain stay depending on frame type.

Actually got my records wrong. It’s a 32, so diameters are 30-34t

I’ve ordered an AB, so will see how that sounds when it arrives.  I have definitely noticed the difference from running the oval, but only when at a slightly lower cadence – spinning away feels no different at all.

Let us know if it’s any better.

The Rotor Q-rings do have a different chainline – so I put it down to that. So the swap to AB was a painless improvement.

I also suppose the teeth could have slightly different profiles.

2 rides into my first oval setup. Gone with a Superstar Sram direct mount, new KMC chain and Sunrace mx8 cassette. No problems at all, shifts as well as anything Ive had on an XT rear mech and no noise at all.

It will be interesting to know if there’s a marked difference between brands.

I’m a ‘sit and spin’ on the climbs rather than a grinder. I will stress mine next time I’m out with some heavy gear choices and see if I can get mine to create noise..

So, an update which I hope is useful to somebody out there.

I shortened my chain by 1 link because it seemed a touch long, shifted my chainline right by 2mm to account for the built-in spacers on the ring, and also slathered the whole thing in lube, and it seems the noise has gone away, without having to fit the new ring.  Not sure which of those had the largest effect, but all things to try if you’re having similar problems.

Never had any noise issues with my Rotor QCX1 ring.

I too had noisy Snaggletooth oval rings a 30T and a 28T – seemed to be noisiest when in the larger portion of cassette (50T end) on a GX eagle cassette. Tried all sorts of adjustments but could not get it silenced.

Swapped to round SRAM eagle chain ring – eh voila – silence. The SRAM chain rings seem to be more profiled to allow for the cross chaining – I think. Oh and I do not notice the ovality or lack of. But that’s a separate matter.

No idea if it’s a Blackspire Snaggletooth thing or not, an oval thing or not – but if it’s making a noise it’s not right is it?