New paper: Noncircular Chainrings Do Not Influence Physiological Responses During Submaximal Cycling

[PhitBoy]

Hi Guys:
There seems to be lots of interest in various shapes of chainrings these days. We just published this paper showing that they have absolutely no physiological effect. Importantly, we also show that they inflate the power values provided by power meters which may explain why some people think they work. Here's a link to the abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34911039/ If you want the full paper let me know.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[JayKosta]

The mention of differences in pedal 'angular velocity' is interesting because it indicates the desire of the rider to maintain a constant overall forward speed, which is good for efficiency and effectiveness. A pedaling technique that encourages (or demands) forward speed slow-down / speed-up on each pedal stroke is not desirable.