The smallest ring size that you can fit on a 130 BCD is 38. The chainring bolts would interfere with the chain otherwise. That's why 110 BCD exists. It's possible that someone will make a 53/39 rings for 110BCD, but none of the major manufacturers do. You'll be better off using a 52/36.

What cassette are you running? Have you considered changing the cassette instead? There's a good chance you will be able to find the right gear and still maintain either a 50/34 or a 52/36(38) in the front.

Here's a great site for playing around with gear ratios.

Stronglight makes 110 TTrings up to 54 and they are top quality.XXcycles has them in stock most of the time.

That link is amazing! Thanks. I'll have to double check the cassette but I think it's a 11-tooth on its smallest. Will have a play at the weekend, but I think you're right that I can do a 52/36 and get what I want (basically go faster before I spin out and I'm not using the easiest gears so figure it's time to make the switch).

Putting Large chainrings on a smaller BCD degrades shift performance ( not alot, but it's there) because of the increased moment arm on the chainring .

i.e. think of the load on your chainring from the chain is at the edge, while it is secured by the chainring bolt. the further away the chainring bolt is from the loading point, the larger the 'lever effect'. So, the chainring can 'flex' slightly more. which is why you don't usually see people put huge 54/55 tooth chainrings on compact cranks ( I believe TA soecialites makes chainrings at 55 tooth for compact, I may be wrong.). For the most part, 110mm cranks are more versatile, because you very very rarely want such a big chainring that it's going to make front shift performance unliveable ( Note that you WILL still be able to shift, it just won't be as crisp.)

the smallest you can get on 130mm BCD is 52/38. You cannot get a 53/39 on a compact, ( due to simple geometry ) but you can get a 52/38, which is almost the same. I don't think you will feel the difference. I myself use 52/36, gives the widest gearing range there is.

rotor makes 53-38 chainrings in 110bcd. thought they are not cheep. if this is an option you might consider i would pay the extra for the aero rings. with the extra material you will get a stiffer ring which you will want on a compact crank.

Thanks y'all. Some great information here that I never realised.

I also mailed Quarq about whether I'd need to factory recalibrate and they came back with the below. I haven't had a chance to look at the rings in depth yet, but hopefully it'll be obvious what the YAW hidden bolt rings are!

From Quaq:

The Red22 and any other Quarq with a CR2032 battery features Omnical so there is no adjustment to the slope needed. As you are using a RED model with a hidden bolt, you will want to use YAW hidden bolt rings to ensure the drop pin lines up with the crank arm. The only other thing to consider with the Quarq is the "Captive Nut" pressed in the ring that can be removed and pressed in the new ring so the hidden bolt can be tightened properly as it is behind the crank arm.

Cheers,
Rob Bee

Sorry to bump this back up, but I was just wondering about swapping quarq chain rings and found this thread today.

To be clear, Quarq did confirm you can swap chainrings between quarq cranks with no accuracy/calibration/zeroing adjustments so long as they have the same BCD? Just swap and ride? I'm assuming that's what "no adjustment to the slope needed" means. I just put a 50/34 Riken on my road bike, but might want to switch it over to 52/38 and put it on my tri bike after road season. Much cheaper an buying a second PM!

No problem. Here's my actual correspondence with them:



My understanding is the same as yours but I was planning get the same brand/model chainring just in a larger size (compared to the one that's already set up). The 'monster' bit should be in pink...

The Riken and Elsa don't require factory recalibration. The older models did. The zero offset will take a bit to settle down after removing/reinstalling the chainring bolds. Make sure you check the tightness each time for the first couple rides. The offset will be much more consistent after those first few rides.