Spa Zicral chainring - wearing abnormally quickly

[Brucey]

thinking about it you could at least do an ad-hoc comparative hardness test, (i.e. your chainring vs a 'known good' one) using an automatic centre punch

cheers

[reohn2]

Ive a couple of Spa zicral chainrings and had a couple tandem we've sold recently,they all seemed to be wearing quite well IME.

[fatboy]

New Spa ring on order. Gone for silver, maybe it'll be better!

[gbnz]

I wonder if I got a duff one! Brucey suggested that a possible cause would be poor heat treatment.

Thought I'd search "Spa Zicral" to verify whether anyone else had experienced unexpectedly short life spans with a Spa Zicral chainring. Hadn't realized it'd been discussed so recently!

I've replaced both the middle and outer Spa Zicral chainrings today. While the chainset's been on since July '15 it's had a fairly low mileage, with only one 200+ mile journey while carrying a full load, otherwise regular local mileage in an unladen state. The drivetrain's always been kept in a clean condition, with at least two major chain cleaning sessions within the past 2-3 months, the chainrings being fully polished up at that stage. Equally I'm fairly fanatical about checking for chain wear and replacing it when worn.

Evidence to me of an unexpectedly short lifespan lies in the fact that there was minimal wear on the cheapo shimano cassette, fitted at the same time as the chainrings (Nb. So little wear I was seriously tempted to leave the cassette in place, but having replaced the chain and chainrings it seemed a false economy - I had a spare cassette in stock in anycase).

Have to admit the Spa zicral chain rings appear very finely finished and at £18.00 aren't expensive; but I will be reviewing other options in a year or two.

[fatboy]

Interesting to hear someone else having similar issue.

I ordered a replacement spa ring and they sent a stronglight one!

[Mick F]

Have to admit the Spa zicral chain rings appear very finely finished

I have a 28t Spa Zicral inner that I've already said is doing great service and is unworn.

Mine is not in the least bit "finely finished". It's rough and matt.

[gbnz]

It's rough and matt.

Well mine aren't; they look fantastic, very finely engineered.

I've no grudge with Spa, given that they're a small business who've tried something a bit novel, rather than merely flogging off brand name products at cheaper and cheaper prices. It's quite possible that Spa's chain rings will improve with more experience or who knows, be discontinued.

That said, I've had years of use from run of the mill Shimano chain rings and the like, the Campag rings that came on a road bike lasting forever.

[Mick F]

Difficult to photograph, but I think this has captured it ok.
Click for bigger view.

[colin54]

A couple of threads about steel rings, there are more if you google 'steel rings cuk forum'.

viewtopic.php?t=46319

viewtopic.php?t=86487

I've just replaced like for like a Spa Zicral middle ring which had done a few thousand miles

as I'd started to get chain suck, I'll probably file the burrs off it and put it back on when the replacement

wears. I fitted a new one as I had a spare to hand.I'll note the mileage for this just one out of interest.

[attachment=0]P1090843 (640x480).jpg[/attachment

Edit so this post makes sense ,someone was asking about steel rings but their post appears to have

disappeared.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

HI,

P.S. what is Zircal?

An aluminium alloy, hard but light. (T6)
Steel rings ... how very 1960's .....

Well My Tourer and my two trainers have steel rings, steel sets is cheap to buy and last well if you look after your chains.
Cost wise in running a steel against a non steel?
Oh the Koga Miyata its alu for sure. Its what came with bike and is fashionable as well as aesthetically pleasing..............daily and training rides......................I reckon steel chain wheels can be economical.

I know about dissimilar metals and wear...............granny ring in alu..............

[RickH]

I tried a steel 26T granny ring (Stronglight I think) on my triple setup & found I got the most awful chain suck as the teeth produced burrs in use & gripped the chain. It was pretty much unusable with a new chain until it had had a couple of hundred miles of use to loosen up the chain a little by being flexed across the gears. I kept having to file the burrs off. I rapidly gave up on it & swapped it for a TA alloy one which solved the problem once & for all.