On 3/31/2021 5:28 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 3/31/21 1:16 PM, Mark J. wrote:
On 3/31/2021 1:00 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 3/31/21 12:00 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:

[...]

Joerge, I think that you're making a mistake looking for
steel rings. Aluminum rings have had remarkable
advancement in shifting and THAT is where most excessive
wear occurs in the rings. The slight "give" in an
aluminum ring actually reduces the wear on the chain
itself. Thinking that the FSA rings would wear out I
bought an extra set and after 4 years and a change in
FSA standard chain arms, they have never been needed.


I wore through several aluminum rings from Shimano and
now rings for the 600EX set seems to have become
unobtanium unless I pay an obscene price. I really do not
care about shifting speed. I don't use the road bike on
dirt/gravel roads much anymore so not much shifting.
Weight never mattered to me either. My only concern is wear.

During my time at the university I rode around
6000mi/year and because of rampant theft used old beater
road bikes, cheap department store bikes, for all
commuting and the good bike (the one I still use now) for
touring, fitness and fun rides. The steel rings on the
beater bikes lasted a _lot_ more miles despite being of a
very cheap variety.

Yes, there's really no doubt that steel chainrings wear
longer than aluminum ones (Tom notwithstanding). That's
one reason why the smallest MTB rings are/were available
in steel, even for high-end cranks. Got one - Campagnolo
even! - for my tandem granny gear (26T). Beyond those,
though, good luck finding well-made steel rings that fit a
quality crankset.


The ones I just sent back measured out ok, would have fit.
However, after seeing the shoddy workmanship of the crankset
I was not convinced of the "well-made" part.


Modern chainrings have several teeth shorter than the
others, often some twisted teeth, slots or ramps on the
inside face below the teeth, and various anomalies carefully
designed to improve shift with modern flat-face chain.

A modern steel ring especially looks as if it had been
bashed with something less smooth than a hammer. This is not
a bug, it's a feature.

You're not alone if you mistook that feature. Back long ago
when we sold actual bicycles (2019), this was a common
complaint from riders who got home and had a close look or,
even worse, husband of customer who felt we'd taken
advantage by installing a used crank on a new bike.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971