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Wed 26 Nov, 3:00 am UTC

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Sauser to use elliptical rings for 2009?

By James Huang, technical editor

Reigning mountain bike world champion, Switzerland's Christophe Sauser is well-known for his obsession with all things technical: if there is any advantage to be gained by a change in equipment or minor tweak, chances are that he will use it. 

Based on recent spy photos, Sauser has been continuing with his experimental ways with a pair of distinctive breaks from his usual tried-and-true equipment setup. 

Sauser appears to be among the latest converts in the non-round chainring movement as his two-ring Specialized S-Works crank is now fitted with a pair of 2x9-specific Rotor Q-Rings.  

In addition, his long-preferred Crankbrothers Eggbeater 4Ti pedals have apparently been swapped for Look’s new Quartz, at least for now.

Sauser was decidedly coy when asked about the substitutions: “Yes, I was testing those products, but nothing is definite yet,” he said.

Even so, the rings in the images clearly have a lot of wear on them so it seems that Sauser has been testing them quite extensively.  Will this stuff make the final cut heading into ’09?  We’ll have to wait and see.

...

User Comments

There are 7 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 7 of 7 comments

  • Perhaps he just borrowed them from Ned ;-)

  • What goes around comes around, Biopace anyone....

    I thought we'd seen the back of such things in the face of common sense.

  • Ovalised rings never went away. They just lost Shimano's marketing budget.

  • Hey Hey - things are looking up!

    Time to get the flexstem stash out the loft!!

    Clips and straps anyone? :)

  • If I remember correctly they were quite the rage for about 3 weeks in the early eighties...

  • Steve is right they never went away,check out quite a few road pros that use these rings.Many mountainbikers here in Spain use them(racers and non racers).Marianne Vos the ex womens world cyclocross champion has used Rotor chainrings for many seasons now.

    I guess the people here that dismiss them might be better off reading other websites such as www.tricycles-n-beards.com

  • when carlos sastre used Rotor chainrings to great effect in the tour de France time trails they certainly raised a few eye brows

  • 1

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