About AbsoluteBLACK

AbsoluteBLACK is devoted to extraordinary design, European manufacturing and production of parts that not only perform great, but also last.

They believe everything can be made better, including chainrings. As a result, they made it their mission to improve riders pedalling efficiency by changing how torque from the crank is delivered to rear wheel. This is how absoluteBLACK oval chainrings were born and have gained Worldwide recognition.

Why AbsoluteBLACK oval chainrings work

Absolute premium Oval chainrings work because riders do not produce power evenly through a pedal stroke – the musculature of human legs makes it difficult to maintain an even power delivery to a round chainring.

Believe it (or not), but a round chainring doesn't transfer torque to your rear wheel as smoothly as an Oval one. Oval rings work with the natural human physiology. Oval chainrings maximise the part of the stroke where power is produced and minimize resistance where it isn't. As a direct consequence, Oval rings enhance a cyclist’s ability to spin with a smoother power delivery and feel easier on legs while climbing. You will feel your pedal stroke to be more "round" with an Oval chainring than with a round chainring.

Why using oval chainrings matters

AbsoluteBLACK oval chainrings deliver power more smoothly to your rear wheel. This means you are better able to generate and maintain constant cadence. Because oval chainrings reduce the peak loads on knee joints, riders using them get less stress on the joints (knees) and therefore are able to keep certain level of effort for longer. This results in higher average speed. You don’t need to take AbsoluteBLACK’s word for it; 11 scientific studies by leading universities around the globe show that; in comparison to round chainrings, when using oval chainrings, human legs utilise more muscle groups - but each of them to lesser degree. The overall Load from pedalling an oval chainring is spread over greater muscle mass.

This has three key benefits;

Firstly, it gives you the feeling of fresher and more relaxed legs.

Secondly; it allows you to achieve higher average speed riding uphill.

Thirdly; spreading the pedalling load over more muscles reduces the risk of cramp, even when riding hard.

The compound effect of switching to oval chainrings; the relaxed legs, added climbing ability and reduction of cramp means your overall enjoyment of the ride is enhanced. On MTB side in addition rear tire traction improves greatly on loose and slippery terrain when using oval. Climbing becomes much easier in demanding terrain.

Other elliptical chainrings on the market

Clocking (timing) and shape of the oval are the most crucial parts of the design. Ride quality of AbsoluteBLACK Oval ring will be different to ovals from brand X or Y. 2 years of development of AbsoluiteBLACK ovals resulted in the most successful product of its kind. AbsoluteBLACK is the First company who managed to successfully popularize ovals in mountain bike sport.

Other manufacturers offer one timing and ovality setting for all chainring sizes, but pedalling behaviour changes with each size considerably. To optimise for this, every chainring size needs to be slightly different. For example the smaller the chainring size the bigger the ovality has to be to help climb steeper hills more effectively.

This is where AbsoluteBLACK specialise in and optimise every size to a particular pedalling style. This is also why they do not provide exact figures about timing and ovality of the chainring as each one is special, and they need to protect their Patent Pending solutions. Due to AbsoluteBLACK’s Global popularity and success there are now more companies releasing "similar" products. But "similar" is not the same. Even very small change in parameters of the oval shape and timing gives entire different feeling and performance.

AbsoluteBLACK perfected oval chainrings so you can get best possible advantage from the oval/elliptical shape.