First Silvio ride was a wash...literally

[Jeremy S]

After riding the Q-rings at OCP #2 for a couple of hundred miles, I thought the big ring/smaller cog combos still felt lumpy, so I rotated the outer ring to OCP #1 this afternoon. A half-hour test ride showed significant improvement: Not only was pedaling smoother, my cadence increased 5-7 rpm from previous runs on that route, and speed was up 0.5 mph.

Interesting. In another thread Ratz said:

Low numbers make the ring "Bigger", "Earlier" in the power stroke good for mashers and give more top end speed at cadences that rang 60-80rpm. This a more leverage position.

Big numbers make the ring "Bigger", "later" in the power stroke good for spinners. It gives you more acceleration of the pedal and uses said accelerated pedal momentum to sling shot the ring through the power phase of the ring. This is good for spinners and people that range 80-100 rpm pedaling.
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Not sure how that description matches up with your experience. You went to a lower number and found it made you spin better. I might have thought the opposite from Ratz's description.

The other day I tried out new shoes with thicker soles. Normally I'm a masher and have trouble keeping my cadence up, but for that entire ride, I was spinning like a madman. I felt like a motor was attached to the pedals pulling my feet around. My guess is that the shoes changed my dead spot and therefore my OCP number, but I'm not sure which way. The next ride I went back to different shoes with thinner soles, and I was back to mashing again. I am planning to tinker with my Q rings to see if I can reproduce this based on the OCP number.

 

[ratz]

Not sure how that description matches up with your experience. You went to a lower number and found it made you spin better. I might have thought the opposite from Ratz's description.

Whee pedaling is lumpy then you are either not starting from the correct OCP -or- you are on the one number that is unrideable on our high BB. I have one number that's unrideable; it's number 3. I suspect (no proof) that each of us has 1 number that just doesn't work. 1,2,4 are good for me, 3 and 5 are bad.

If purple is faster wear purple

The other day I tried out new shoes with thicker soles. Normally I'm a masher and have trouble keeping my cadence up, but for that entire ride, I was spinning like a madman. I felt like a motor was attached to the pedals pulling my feet around. My guess is that the shoes changed my dead spot and therefore my OCP number, but I'm not sure which way. The next ride I went back to different shoes with thinner soles, and I was back to mashing again. I am planning to tinker with my Q rings to see if I can reproduce this based on the OCP number.

Thick shoes will move the ring forward for the same foot position because you crank is more advanced versus the shoe. Which is the same as making the OCP # smaller (wow I had to draw a picture to figure that out). Based on what you noticed I'd definitely try tweaking.

Do we have photos of your dead spot setup in the Qring thread?

 

[castlerobber]

Interesting. In another thread Ratz said:

Low numbers make the ring "Bigger", "Earlier" in the power stroke good for mashers and give more top end speed at cadences that rang 60-80rpm. This a more leverage position.

Big numbers make the ring "Bigger", "later" in the power stroke good for spinners. It gives you more acceleration of the pedal and uses said accelerated pedal momentum to sling shot the ring through the power phase of the ring. This is good for spinners and people that range 80-100 rpm pedaling.
​

Not sure how that description matches up with your experience. You went to a lower number and found it made you spin better. I might have thought the opposite from Ratz's description.

What Ratz said above was exactly what made me change it the way I did. The ring felt bigger, later, than I wanted it to be. I needed the "hard part" to come just a little bit earlier.

I've done an 18-mile and a 20-mile ride since the test ride. My cadence for each was in the 75 to 77 rpm range, where it had been in the 66 to 70 rpm range for the three weeks prior to the change, plus I was at least 0.2 mph faster overall on each course than I had been previously. It feels good, and my knees aren't complaining. I'm planning on a 30- to 35-mile rail-trail ride Friday, weather permitting. I'm curious how the cadence will hold up on those long, gradual climbs.

The other day I tried out new shoes with thicker soles. Normally I'm a masher and have trouble keeping my cadence up, but for that entire ride, I was spinning like a madman. I felt like a motor was attached to the pedals pulling my feet around. My guess is that the shoes changed my dead spot and therefore my OCP number, but I'm not sure which way. The next ride I went back to different shoes with thinner soles, and I was back to mashing again. I am planning to tinker with my Q rings to see if I can reproduce this based on the OCP number.

Let us know what results you get. I'm going to guess that the thinner-soled shoes with a lower OCP number will give the same effect.

Whee pedaling is lumpy then you are either not starting from the correct OCP -or- you are on the one number that is unrideable on our high BB.

Starting from the wrong OCP is entirely possible in my case. When I was setting the rings up initially, I had fits getting my feet off the pedals without moving the cranks from the dead spot, and didn't have anyone available to help.

 

[Jeremy S]

Do we have photos of your dead spot setup in the Qring thread?

Nope. I'm in the process of putting on shorter cranks so I'm about to redo the setup. I'll see what I can do about a photo. Thanks for the thought provoking post.