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AbsoluteBLACK crank out 2X Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring

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A 2X Cannondale Hollowgram-compatible direct-mount oval chainring, designed for the Hollowgram crank family, is now a reality thanks to specialist oval chainring manufacturers AbsoluteBLACK. Available in 50/34 and soon, 52/36, the two-piece direct mount oval chainring is said to be incredibly stiff and light, and offer super fast shifting owing to AB’s patented shifting ramp design. Let’s take a look at absoluteBLACK’s new Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring.

AB’s Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring

oval 2x chain ring for cannondale hollowgram
The AbsoluteBLACK Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring weighs a claimed 178g

Until now, owners of Cannondale Hollowgram cranks, Si, SiSL, SiSL2, wanting to ride AbsoluteBLACK Oval, were unable to unless they were willing to go back to a heavier “old school” spider + chainring combo. The new AbsoluteBLACK Spidering Road Oval Chainring is a direct mount solution.

cannondale-spidering-road-oval-chainring

Whereas Cannondale’s direct mount 2x ring is a true CNC-machined one-piece design, the AbsoluteBLACK Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring is composed of two individual chainrings, connected by five small titanium bolts.

2x-oval-chainring-cannondale-hollowgram-road

AbsoluteBLACK say CNC’ing everything from one piece has a lot of limitations in the design concept and machining process, especially in the teeth profiles and overall shape. Thicker aluminium plates, that you CNC the chainrings from, tend to have less strength because of the nature of how aluminium is hardened. AbsoluteBLACK believe that making two separate chainrings leads to the usage of much thinner plates maximizing the strength. Taking a different approach allowed the company to create a stiffer final product, utilising their proprietary shifting ramps, and to profile the teeth in a way that it is optimal for performance and not limited by machining constraints.

cannondale hollowgram 2x oval chainring

You’ll pay a 3g weight penalty for the AbsoluteBLACK Cannondale Spidering Road Oval Chainring, as compared to Cannondale’s direct mount 50/34, but you’ll have the benefit of a replaceable small ring, and the claimed up to 9% increased force effectiveness bestowed by the oval shape.

Pricing and Availability

For now, absoluteBLACK will offer 50/34T and 52/36T options, available in black and oval only, with sub-compact sizes coming soon. The 52/36T is available for pre-order with a wait of ~4 weeks. The 50/34T Oval is available now, weighs a claimed 178g, and costs £214.99 ($267.99).

absoluteBLACK.cc

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24 Comments
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Lasse
Lasse
4 years ago

Wonder if it does SRAM flattop chains.

sjacobthewriter
4 years ago

Could there be a added benefit to a synced up oval cassette I wonder??

iiwas
4 years ago

How would you keep the oval on the different cassette cogs in sync with your foot position?

christopher kay
christopher kay
4 years ago
Reply to  iiwas

Duh…..you just match it up to oval shifters.

edge
edge
4 years ago
Reply to  iiwas

don’t waste yur time explaining.

Dylan
Dylan
4 years ago

Oval wheels are where it’s at!

sjacobthewriter
4 years ago
Reply to  Dylan

Hahaha, now your talking!!

sjacobthewriter
4 years ago

Hmmm, I don’t think you could. But, would the detriment of the out of sync rotations outweigh the benefit of the synced rotations? Or would they tighten and slacken the chain too much if the rotation matched up just so at a certain time? Things to think about…I’m sure a brand like absoluteBLACK has pondered these same thoughts at some point as well.

Steve H
Steve H
4 years ago

(deleted)

Jonathan
4 years ago

great, now do gravel gearing! I need to replace the *RIDICULOUS* gearing that came on my Cannondale Slate.

Adam
Adam
4 years ago
Reply to  Jonathan

Get a 46/30 spidering, the one comes with the new Topstone

Jeff Servaas
Jeff Servaas
4 years ago
Reply to  Jonathan

Last paragraph: “… with sub compact sizes coming soon”. That’ implies several sizes of 48/32 and less.

ΝΩΝΤΑΣ
ΝΩΝΤΑΣ
4 years ago

Take an OPI direct mount chainring, problem solved.

Morten Reippuert
Morten Reippuert
4 years ago

When will premium product makers realize that their survival is not in providing 53/39, 52/42, 50/34 – its in 48/32, 46/30 and 42/26! Very few entuiast with suficiant income to to pay for those premium priced products has the the fitness due to age to turn those massive gears.

Its a failure,

Jeff Servaas
Jeff Servaas
4 years ago

Last paragraph: “… with sub compact sizes coming soon”. That’ implies several sizes of 48/32 and less.

RyanS
RyanS
4 years ago

Fitness isn’t everything. Not everyone lives in the mountains… Some of us live in relatively flat areas. I hate buying a 2x bike and being completely unable to use the undersized inner ring for 99% of my riding.

Jclaa
Jclaa
4 years ago

Weird, it’s like different people need different things. Who would have thought.

Shafty
Shafty
4 years ago

I’ll wait until the triple version. Nothing like oval half-step-plus-granny gearing. Still need to find a source for silk 19mm tires for my 40h custom carbon rims. Carbon compatible Mafac pads were hard to find.

Dominic
Dominic
4 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

Does anyone do a triple front deraileur anymore? It’s getting hard to find them even for low end mtbs

jasonmiles31
4 years ago

I wonder what the BCD on the 5 titanium bolts is? Maybe it is oval also?

Looks like it could have been quite a bit bigger and still fit the same size ring.

Greg
Greg
4 years ago
Reply to  jasonmiles31

It’s probably in consideration for the smaller chainring sets yet to be released. Then again, given that the outer ring IS the spider, the bolt circles don’t really need to be shared with any other sizes. They’re all matched sets anyway.

Andrew
Andrew
4 years ago

Hope there is an AXS compatible version on the way!

C B
C B
4 years ago

Like too many of AbsoluteBlack’s products, this would be of more interest to most riders if it was also available in a round version. The Shimano-compatible standard road chainring sets also come to mind. I don’t know many people who would pay more than $150 for a stock Shimano outer chainring, when one could be had at less than $100.

The oval chainring profile is still a tough sell for many consumers, and I’m personally not a fan, either.

Colin Perrin
Colin Perrin
3 years ago

I does not fit the small bolts catch the chain stay…!

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