Cycling UK Forum

I'm a bit disappointed that my middle chainring has only done 2000 before needing to be changed. On my old tourer with cheapo Shimano steel middle ring I get much, much longer lifespan. Anyone has similar experience? A friend's father in law reckoned that he didn't get much life either.

Obviously the simplest is to replace with like for like but is there a better option?

Cheers Chris

P.S. what is Zircal?

fatboy wrote:
P.S. what is Zircal?

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

That's not good.
One of my Mtb's has a Stronglight 30t zicral and has had no less than 5000k in offroad, with mud in spades, and is ok. The drivetrain has had two chains and the same PG990 cassette so far.
On a road bike I'd expect no less than 15000km from a 40-42t middle ring, provided it's not the only ring that is used on the bike! (may consider a different gear range then).

My Spa zircal 46 used as a single, has done similar mileage and is not showing signs of wear. Why do you think its warn ? Any pictures.

Zicral.
Not Zircal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7075_aluminium_alloy

well there are a few things that cause 'zicral' chainrings to wear out more quickly than normal

1) the chain used on them is knackered already
2) too much dirt
3) the 'zicral' is not heat treated correctly
4) the material is not 'zicral' at all

If the chain needed to be changed at 1000 miles, it doesn't matter what the chainrings are made of, they could be completely banjaxed in another 1000 miles.

Zicral is meant to be 7075 but this does not develop full strength/hardness unless it is heat treated correctly. This might have been messed up. If some cheapskate has substituted another 7000 series alloy or something else again it could be as soft as cheese.

You may think that it isn't possible for manufacturers to get away with this sort of thing, but IIRC Stronglight make chainrings in what they call 'dural' but is in fact something different altogether. 'Dural' has a highly specific meaning and refers exclusively to a range of alloys (2000 series) which use copper as a primary alloying element. Stronglight's 'dural' is not a 2000 series alloy and is a lot less wear resistant as a consequence.

cheers

I'm on my second chain (1 at about 1000 miles and 1 just now). Cassette is fine but ring definitely not great (very bouncy rear mech under load) but seems to be "bedding in" a bit. My experience with Shimano Alivio and/or delete and they don't look ally (see https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/chainrings/36-shimano-alivio-fcm4318-104mm-bcd-4-arm-middle-chainring-silver-36t/) but I might be wrong but I usually change cassettes at 3000 miles and middle chainring (the one that gets 90% of use) every 6000 and the other chainrings never. I've never had the chainring go before the cassette so I'm disappointed!

Would Strongly interested Zicral be better than Spa Zicral?

someone needs to get some chainrings and to hardness test them, so we know what is what.

TA rings have always been very good but they are pricey.

cheers

NUKe wrote:My Spa zircal 46 used as a single, has done similar mileage and is not showing signs of wear. Why do you think its warn ? Any pictures.

Agreed, pictures would be very useful to judge wear. I have Stronglight triple zicral rings. The 46 tooth outer gets a lot of use, and I'm not as fussy as some about chains. After 10,000 plus miles the chain ring is not particularly worn, with a mixture of roads and tracks use.

NUKe wrote:My Spa zircal 46 used as a single, has done similar mileage and is not showing signs of wear. Why do you think its warn ? Any pictures.

No photos but my rear mech wobbles when under load and the chain rides up the teeth a bit when stationary and push down on the pedal. This doesn't happen in the other rings.

It might settle down (I've known this to happen on other chainrings) but I doubt it'll last past the next chain change.

For info I'm a real spinner and chain life is never more than 1000 miles.

Are the teeth on the chainring hooked? Can you rotate the ring 90 degrees to see if it makes a difference?

I think I would be looking for other culprits, like stiff links at this point.

Isn't it strange that we all ride bikes in a similar way (yes I know we're different sizes and have varying riding styles) and yet get hugely different life from components? I'm a spinner, use Spa zircal chainset and get more than 20k miles from the most used middle ring. I usually get around 2 1/2 - 3k from a chain and 3 chains to a cassette. I'm not very fast though, perhaps that's the reason? I do enjoy fettling so the bike is always pretty clean and well lubed.

I have a 28t Spa Zicral inner ring on my Mercian and it gets used a lot. It's done 3,500miles since fitting.
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s210p30 ... cral-Inner

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