Rotor Q Ring compatibility

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

swh1

Active Member
Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice! Thinking about upgrading my chain rings to try the Rotor Q Rings as I quite like the idea behind them!
But my question is... Do I need to get new crank arms to work with the Q Rings or will my current crank arm (shimano fc-r565) fit?

Also any advice on using oval chainrings would be much appreciated!

Thanks guys!
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
I've no idea about compatibility, but my neighbour is using Q Rings and he had a fair bit of trouble getting the front shift anywhere near smooth. The problem being that with the 53t outer ring the oval turns it into a 57 on the high point and a 48 on the low, with a similar difference on the 39t inner. Front mechs are designed to sit just above the outer ring to get the best shift and obviously with Q's that is only possible at one point in the revolution so most gearshifts are quite clunky and noisy with a few dropped chains (He's using Dura Ace, so it's not a problem with a cheapo mech).

He claims that they are better in use but he wasn't very convincing and I suspect he was trying to justify what he'd spent on them and regretted ever clapping eyes on the things. I'm just giving the one experience I know about however, so maybe someone who does actually use them will give a different perspective.
 
OP
OP
swh1

swh1

Active Member
That's incredibly useful! Thank you for that!
Although he has had problems, has he found them to be beneficial when riding without changing gears?
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
He claims they're better, but as I think he's trying to justify the price as much as anything. From what I've seen I personally wouldn't bother as whatever marginal gain they might give would be outweighed by problems they bring.

But as I said, people who've actually used them might think differently so you need to canvas a few more opinions.
 

derrick

The Glue that binds us together.
You have to be careful with the setup of the front deralier, but when you get it right it's no different to normal rings, Have been using them for about six months and will not be going back to oval rings. I am using them with a Campag deralier, Maybe shimano are different i don't know.:okay:
 
Similar question. Anyone know if the rings would be compatible with a campagnolo veloce groupset on a bianchi xr1
 
I've been trying the AbsoluteBlack versions on one of my bikes as an experiment. It's running Ultegra di2 50/34 otherwise. After some fettling with the FD the changes are now pretty smooth even under load. Not quite as silky as the stock Shimano but not at all bad. In use they do feel better and I'm starting to look forward to using that bike because of that odd 'rounder' sensation you get with them. I can't honestly say if there's a performance boost because I've only been riding a year and still managing to get improvements in most areas. To be clear I've absolutely no qualms about ditching a poor investment, lord knows I've made enough of them. Your legs do take a little while to adapt though, the second or third ride in a row using them feels noticeably better than when I alternate between bikes with round/oval.

BTW apart from the FD adjustments fitting them was an absolute doddle, no need to even remove the crank. Good luck, S.
 
Top Bottom