Biopace renaissance

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Alembicbassman

Alembicbassman

Confused.com
Going to swap my Sakae steel 42/52 for this Exage 300EX 40/52 set. The Claud Butler should look a bit more chiq now the groupset has matching chainset and mechs.

Should be fun.

The crank is in the wrong orientation so will have to remove bolts and reposition before installing.
 

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e-rider

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
biopace chainrings seem to be re-appearing at an alarming rate - saw a few guys on the club run using the modern version - same as Wiggo.

why has it suddenly become acceptable again? In the early 1990s after it had already 'been and gone' club riders would piss themselves if some new guy turned up and had biopace rings.

Now it cool again or what?
 
N

Norm

Guest
Much as they were the last time you commented on them, tundragumski, there is very little wrong with Biopace for any rider and some that is very right with them for casual riding.

The misguided club snobs rubbished it without really knowing what they were talking about and, sadly, the effect they had removed Biopace from the market for everyone.
 
OP
OP
Alembicbassman

Alembicbassman

Confused.com
The granny rings on MTBs seemed to be singled out for bad knees, a Biopace road double shouldn't be much different to a standard double.
 
guitarpete247

guitarpete247

Just about surviving
Location
Leicestershire
tundragumski said:
I'm sure the old Shimano biopace rings were well known for giving people bad knees!
Click to expand...

I've been using Bio Pace for 22 years on the MTB and don't have bad knees. They do feel different to the round rings which I have on the road bike and I would like to get some for it but can't afford it at the mo.
 
mickle

mickle

innit
Location
53.933606, -1.076131
Oval rings make an appearance every decade or so and never stay around very long. If they were any damn good we'd all be using them. Shi**no trialed Biopace on a few hundred American leisure riders, and on the basis of their feedback rolled it out across the world. At one point it was impossible to purchase a round Shi**no chainring or chain-set at all. Complaints from the cycling community eventually resulted in the release of Biopace II, a compromise of less ovality which in turn didn't last very long.

The punch-line is that Shi**no got the alignment of the ovality wrong, for it to do what it claims to do the longest axis of the oval should be at ninety degrees to the crank. It can be easily achieved by unbolting the rings and rotating them one or two bolt holes along. I cant remember if it's anti or clockwise but it's obvious when you have the chain-set in front of you.

Round rings are the future.
 
OP
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Alembicbassman

Alembicbassman

Confused.com
All fitted

When I took the old set off the bottom bracket felt a little dry. LBS gave it a service and new bearings for £10 (Bargain !)

Going to road test on Sunday

Non-indexed front mech seems to work fine with no adjustment necessary.
 

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Yellow Fang

Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
I bought a Biopace chainring because it was cheap, without realising it was elliptical. I can't say I noticed any difference cycling, but it was offputting to see the chain ring move forward and back. I didn't like it and replaced it.
 
oakroyd

oakroyd

Active Member
Location
Wishing to be in the North East
I used a biopace double on my road bike everyday for three or four years (before wearing it out, and a line across the other crank). It was only when I switched back to circular cranks that my knee problems started.
 
S

samuel chilbolton

New Member
mickle said:
Oval rings make an appearance every decade or so and never stay around very long. If they were any damn good we'd all be using them. Shi**no trialed Biopace on a few hundred American leisure riders, and on the basis of their feedback rolled it out across the world. At one point it was impossible to purchase a round Shi**no chainring or chain-set at all. Complaints from the cycling community eventually resulted in the release of Biopace II, a compromise of less ovality which in turn didn't last very long.

The punch-line is that Shi**no got the alignment of the ovality wrong, for it to do what it claims to do the longest axis of the oval should be at ninety degrees to the crank. It can be easily achieved by unbolting the rings and rotating them one or two bolt holes along. I cant remember if it's anti or clockwise but it's obvious when you have the chain-set in front of you.

Round rings are the future.
Click to expand...

Maybe. Maybe not though. Its possible it was a pointless marketing gimmick and a terrible engineering mistake. Its also possible that it was a very good idea that wasn't marketed well and was resisted because of stubbornness and misunderstanding on the part of consumers. At the end of the day Shimano are a very successful company who make some excellent product and they spent a lot of money studying the biomechanics of pedalling before designing biopace. They knew perfectly well that they were using what would seem like a counter-intuitive orientation that was a departure from previous conventional elliptical chainring theory. Clearly you have an "anti-shimano" attitude which is up to you but plenty of people really like Shimano. Your punchline argument suggests that you haven't properly read and considered the argument put forward by Sheldon Brown which discredits the conventional elliptical chainring theory. At the end of another day there is plenty of room for a range of different chainring shapes in this world, and serious cyclists should probably try at least once the different types available. CHOICE would be a better future than just round.
 
Y

yostumpy

Veteran
Location
Gravesend
I was always under the impression that biopace was a specific design for a specific purpose, initially. IE triathalons, the purpose was to ease the transition from running (a very long way) then jumping on a bike and having to rotate a round chainring, so they came up with the eliptical design to mimic the stomping action of running without having to spin smoothly. I've still got a slightly used 42/52 biopace set on shimano 600 170mm cranks, languishing in the shed. Set on e-blag was snapped up for £20 last week.
 
B

Brahan

Über Member
Location
West Sussex
I have Biopace on my commuting bike. I don't really notice any difference when I'm on the big ring but when I drop it in to the smaller one there's a notable change in resistance throughout the points of revolution.

It's feels great on high candence going up hill aswell.
 
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