With the introduction of the Race Face oval chainrings, you can now have a 1x narrow-wide oval chainring from and for just about any brand of cranks or chainring. One of the last to the game, they bring a nice innovation to the bike with the ability to flip-flop to provide proper chainline offset for both Boost and Super Boost bikes. Markings on both sides show where to position it so it’s clocked in the correct position to maximize traction. And traction is what it’s all about.
Other brands have laid the groundwork, promoting the traction enhancing benefits of oval chainrings, of which I’m a believer and fan. Now, if you want to keep your Race Face cranks running same-brand rings, you can…as long as you’re cool with black. For starters, that’s the only color it’ll come in.
Race Face is using a 10% ovality (meaning 95% round in the flat part, and 105% round on the tall part), clocked to 112.5º (tallest part behind the arm when pedaling forward). They say this provides the optimum balance between power and traction, particularly when grinding up a climb at low cadence.
Other specs include:
- Material: Wear resistant 7075 Aluminium
- Use: XC/Trail/AM/Enduro
- Compatibility: 10/11/12 speed
- Sizes: 28t, 30t, 32t, 34t
- Weight: 72g (32T)
- MSRP: $64.99 USD / $81.99 CAD
They’ll fit the Race Face Next SL, Next R, SixC, Turbine, Atlas, Aeffect, and Ride cranks. Basically any of their cranks using their CINCH spindle/arm interface, including the power meter spindles.
