Curious about this as well...just installed mine today and I have a race this weekend. Only a local sprint, but still bragging rights are on the line.

I found very little to no learning curve--a couple of rides maybe

I don't thing there's much of a learning curve but more of is it setup properly curve! nothing will be more irritating than having a bad setup with Q-rings!!! I have dreaded from day one on my speed concept but on my venge s-works it rides perfectly!

it rides so good I have shifted middle of a hill with of my weight on it smoothly, hell I don't even have the QXL required adapter! it is like my Venge was created specifically for it but not my trek, that bitch hates it so and it's bad that I am having to go back to round rings and try again with a rotor crank and brand new QXLchairnings to see if that can be remedied that way.

wherever you take you bike to ensure that they are knowledgeable enough to set it up professionally, I can't stress that anymore.

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

I switched 10 years ago. About 1 mile into my first ride I forgot that I had switched and was good to go.

Now having one round and one Q-Ring is pretty weird! (I've done that on my TT bike for various reasons.) But I never noticed a difference once I made the switch. I wouldn't worry about it.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

+1. I switched ages ago to QXL on my tri bike(s) but use regular rings on road and rainy bikes. It doesn't even cross my mind when I ride. I would actually prefer having Q-Rings on my road bike but for purely aesthetic reasons want to keep it all DA.

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Kiwami NA Racing Team

I have q rings on one bike, round rings on the others. Not sure I really notice a difference when riding, but my cadence tends to be higher with the q rings.

This might be that they are on my best bike and tend to push it more. If I was buying again I think I'd go with the qxls.

I agree with others that there is little to no "learning curve." However, I did play with the "clocking" after a while and found that to make a big difference in how it feels during threshold efforts. If you search around, you can find a PDF from Rotor that outlines what a rotation adjustment should do in response to what you're feeling.

As others have said ... little to no learning curve to riding them.

I put my first Q-Rings on about 2 months ago, three days before a race and found no issues at all. They felt natural, with the only real difference being what I would say was a higher cadence overall. I liked them so much on my TT bike I bought a set for my road bike as well.

The biggest part was playing around with the positioning of the chain rings ... I started out with my road bike in #3 and TT bike in #4 and have tried various combos:

Road bike in #2/#3/#4 ... but settled on #3 being the best feel for me, though #4 is close but I felt it wasn't as powerful out of the saddle or in sprints in the #4 position.

TT bike in #3/#/4/#5 ... I've settled on #5 for the outer ring and #4 on the inner ring. I have an aggressive TT position and moving the ring around gives the best feel/power out of the positions for me. Having the inner ring at #4 is technically the same as #5 outer ring they rotate the inner ring a position ahead due to the angle of the bike changing on hills.

I would suggest you play around with the position to see what works best for you ... it does make a difference in feel of the rings. What I noticed was too low and it made it harder to come over the top of your pedal stroke and worked your hamstrings a bit differently at high power ... too far forward and it feels like the power drops off because it hits too late in the pedal stroke.

Switch between bikes with and without Q rings all the time, with no problem.
Also done the same with Osymetrics.

No adaptation time needed in my experience, more a learning curve on front shifting differences.

TT bike i use position 3 for the inner and 4 for the outer.

I did have to swap back to a 54 round outer ring the other day ,and that did feel a little different on the turbo.
Q has gone back on now...

Curious about this.

I've been wanting to put q rings on my SC, what was the issue on yours that makes it so bad?

I dunno, maybe the way the bracket for the braze on FD is that makes it very hard to setup and to maintain in perfect working order, if you get regular q-rings make sure that you get the angled wedge and if you get the QXL that you order the QXL block!

like I said, very hard to setup and even then, the entire drivetrain is noisy at least for me and has currently turned me off, maybe it was the sram red crankset that also didn't help with it's stupid hidden bolt style and what not... currently buying a rotor 3d24 from a forum member to replace the sram red with hopes to someday get back to QXL just like s-works

I have a set of QXL for sale FYI lol

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

+1

I didn't like the Q-Rings on the small ring though ... gave up very quickly and am using 53 Q-Rings and 39 round now. Not sure QXLs would be easy to set up with a round small ring.

I started with Q rings on my road bike years ago and loved them from the start. The only real notice of them was after a long hard ride 4-5 hours I could still roll the big ring easier on the back end of a ride. I run QXL on my tri bike and played with positions and have setted on a not numbered on the ring but would be a 6. I went back to a 5 for an IM this year and just feels better on 6. I run reasonably aggressive and I figure the stress on your lower back is applying the power earlier in the pedal stroke. I have also been trying to slow my cadence so rolling a bigger gear I figure you can get on top of it easier. Regardless after playing around it just feels best for me.

I tried QXL on my road bike but it didn't feel nice and put regular Q rings on and run at 3. I run round rings on my CX bike and when I ride it it feels like a jerky motion now probably like you feel converting over to Q rings but doesn't take long into the ride to feel natural again.

Jump on in and in my opinion you won't regret it. Everyone I have had try are converts also.

Big ring Q and small ring round makes the round ring feel oval but only in the wrong way: to small in the power phase and too long dead centers. Really weird.

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Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

I run a QXL big and a Q-ring in the small for my tri bike (suck at hills so didn't like to run a 40t qxl for the small).

I also run a QXL big and a round small on my road bike. It feels really weird when switching to the small. Feels like the drivetrain is slipping...how a belt on a treadmill starts to slip. Going from that ocao to a round immediately is just odd. Only reason I'm running this is I haven't found a cheap small Q-ring to put on there. I'm willing to wait for a great deal. It shifts perfectly fine with no issues.

It took me a few rides to get used to the shifting with Q-rings, but the feel of them felt natural from first revolution. I have had q-rings on all my bikes for well over 10 years and wouldn't consider changing back ever.

The Absolute Black rings (very similar to Q-rings) are quite a bit stiffer and shifts amazingly well, have those on my tri bike.

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"Suddenly the thought struck me. My floor is someone elses ceiling"-Nils Ferlin