Oval users...came forward!

I have one, you definitely get a smother pedal stroke and I appear to not have as many issues with my knees since changing to one, however I don't think it's as good as they rave about in the reviews, it certainly doesn't make you magically get to the top of a hill any quicker

yes...but at that price it had to be...hopefully the younger sister will look sweet too!?

Im quite oval curious...
thanks Kirky

Looking forward to hear your honest thoughts!
I was having some lower back pains and Glynn suggested lowering the saddle by a few mm...I did around 5mm...couldn't believe the difference it made! Sometimes having the legs that stretched is not that good even though easier on the climbs! Just makes your hips bounce too much without noticing like Glynn said! Thanks pal!

Hubby has a 36 tooth absolute black chain ring and loves it. He said it felt a little strange at first but not in a bad way. He said his knees don't ache as much after a ride (he has a bad knee). I am considering getting an absolute black 32 tooth for my bike, but think I may wait until all the shitty mud has cleared up first. I would need an expander to and was looking at the hope 40 tooth or I admit it the e13, 42 tooth expander ( I have girlie legs).

Aye, looks like we all agree that we have less aches and pains with the oval, for that reason alone is why I'd buy another one

OK I think I've put the link below for the absolute  black youtube video about their chainring.  At about 7 mins in he starts to talk about knees and oval chainring.  It's something  to do with distribution of power through the ring. It takes away the dead stroke / wasted effort when pedaling .

So back to the leprosy and bad breath - will it cure that too? Not for me, it's for a err mate.

Kin ell - glad I don't need it to cure my piles as well!  

if you stick around until about 11minutes he talks about the Biopace oval. Apparrantly after all the research Shimano must have done they managed to position the oval in the absolute least efficient place with the narrowest diameter at the point you put the power down so then you battled the larger when your feet are in the weak zone. it should be kind of tallest when you start to come down from 1 o'clock through four o'clock. (that's the pedal position I mean not the time its taking Hodgy up the hill)got that in before he did)).

Tested the oval one a few familiar climbs.

I'm running 1 x 10 with a 40t praxis cassette on the back (which is miles smoother than a cassette and extender combo by the way).

I replaced a race Face narrow wide 30t standard with a 32t oval.

First 5 to 10 minutes it didn't actually feel more circular as per the claims. It was difficult to judge if it made climbing any easier as I did a bit less than normal but most of climbs were very slippery Aith slush and mud.

It may be placebo effect however I did feel like the pedalling was more efficient with equal pressure through each rotation when sat spinning on the highest cog. Also it seemed to improve even more so climbing out of the saddle. There were odd times that I felt it was harder work than normal on the steepest bits so it may not be that 32 equals 30.

Even though I was pushing an higher gearing I seemed to winch my way up the infamous wisdom climb more comfortably than normal until I spun out on some snow

My knees are hurting already so unfortunately it doesn't seem like I'll get that benefit. Overall it's definitely worth sticking with it for now

Found it 

www.workscomponents.co.uk

It feels consistent on the flat and down. Same principal you've still got the largest diameter at the strongest part of your stroke. So more efficient down and flat. How much mire than changing into a lower gear I'm not sure.