|   What's the deal w/ Biopace? | ACP
Oct 15, 2001 11:11 AM | | I found some old Biopace chain rings in my basement and may want to use them to built up a bike for a neighbor. Is there a benefit to Biopace? The large ring is 36 teeth. How does that compare w/ a 34 teeth round ring?
Thanks |
| old flat pedal technology | Cook
Oct 15, 2001 11:42 AM | | I've still got a BioPace bigring on my 16 year old Nishiki. At the time it was promoted as a method of evening out your power-stroke. So instead of having a power-stroke that used maybe 1/4 of the revolution, this would maybe use 1/3 or a 1/2......I'm making these figures up, but you get the idea.
But these were designed when almost everybody was riding flat pedals. With the clipless design, you can even out your stroke much more efficiently (I think). So I don't think it's necessary to run the Biopace with clipless, but it's not going to hurt either. |
| can't compare... | toad
Oct 16, 2001 8:04 AM | | The biopace rings were someones brain fart back in the late 80's to early 90's. They were slightly oval shaped (not round) to supposedly compansate for the uneven power going to the crank (between mashing the pedal on the downstroke). It never really caught on. With the growth of clipless pedals and the knowledge that your supposed to pedal in circles (not mash down on the pedals) the need for such a design simply fell to the wayside. Use them if you want (provided they fit the crank), but I would look into buying/finding some cheap round rings. |
| re: What's the deal w/ Biopace? | laffeaux
Oct 16, 2001 10:03 AM | | A have a set of bio-pace rings on an old Bridgestone that I have. First of all, they're not really that bad. Everyone makes fun of them, but if you rode the bike you'd probably not really notice - maybe a little at higher cadences. However...
If you only have one ring, don't bother. Get a full set of matching rings. Swithing between bio-pace and round rings on the same crankset is bad from what I hear (according to Sheldon Brown).
Also the thickness of older rings is a lot different. Just because they have the same bolt pattern does not mean that they will fit. I have a set of rings from the early 90s and they will not fit the late 80s cranks that I have. The newer rings are too thin and the bolts can't be tightened enough to hold the outer two rings in place, and the spacing is all weird too.
Good luck. |
| re: What's the deal w/ Biopace? | G. Moss
Oct 21, 2001 1:37 PM | | Biopace chain rings are really great for hill climbing. You will find that you you do not need to shift to a smaller gear so often. Bullseye used to make a more extreme oval chain ring that is even better. Bullseye may be out of business. |
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