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Cranksets and chainrings bearing the Sugino mark are familiar to just about any bike tinkerer, they are widely spec’d as new and replacement equipment. Made for the keirin racing circuit of Japan, Sugino track cranks are some of the finest out there and seen on many discerning riders bikes. In recent years Sugino has branched out into urban market, offering street riders a chance to take advantage of some of that track quality as a nicer price. The roughly $75 Messenger Chainring is one such item, a high quality “track” ring made with fewer teeth and to fit 130mm BCD road cranksets. There are certainly less expensive chainrings out there in 42/44/46/48 tooth configurations, but when running a fixed or singlespeed drivetrain there is good reason not to choose the “cheaper” alternative. Without a derailleur to tension the chain, the roundness of the chainring and cog are of utmost importance to keep tension even and prevent a potentially catastrophic chain throw. The Messenger ring is pretty round, and assuming your chainring spider is also in true should yield even tension. Tall teeth and no shift ramps or pins also help keep the chain where it should be – on the ring. The 140g ring is thick and stiff, noticeably more-so than road chainrings, and requires the thicker 1/8″ width chain common on track and BMX bikes. Available in a number of colors besides the pictured black, this ring should last for many miles. With only 150miles or so on this particular ring, I suspect I’ll have this purchase for a long time.
Roundness? How much out of round are the cheap chainrings? How round is “pretty round?” Are the teeth really taller than on cheap chain rings? How do you get taller teeth without smaller rollers and bigger chain pitch?
It looks cool and it has the “Messenger” cachet, so it must be worth the money. Thin ice on the tech stuff…
Sugino are the best… I have them on my Chi-Town Gangster… and it’s like riding wet ice.
Cheap chainrings can be very out of round, enough to make chain tension go from binding-tight to visibly slack. The majority of cheap (and expensive) chainrings out there are meant for multispeed drivetrains even if they don’t have ramps and pins, and many times feature shaved down teeth to help shifting along that can contribute to a chain throwing on a singlespeed drivetrain.
I’m normally a skeptic about this sort of stuff, but I can verify what Brad is saying.
Lots of chainrings and cranksets are out of round enough to make a difference on a singlespeed or IGH drivetrain. It’s worth it to find a round chainring, and the really good ones are often for singlespeed mountain bikes (too small) or track bikes (too big).
The chainring that came on my Redline 925 is noticeably out of round. I didn’t really find out until I tried to run the chain too tight a few weeks ago, then it became obvious.
Didn’t Sheldon Brown ride with a Biopace ring on both a fixed and a hub-gear bike?
http://sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-international/index.html
Yeah, looks like he did. I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but if someone of his caliber did ride fixed with a non-round chainring (and no chain guide!), I don’t know how important said roundness is.
Also, Sugino produces road, touring, and BMX cranks, in addition to their Keirin business. So this isn’t a company that only makes track equipment, and while this chainring is nice and durable, it is doubtful that it is at all track inspired. NJS prohibits color anodization, and usually chainrings in Keirin races are cut to be ultra lightweight, not super stiff. This is strictly a street-rider ring.
Not saying Sugino didn’t make a good chainring or shouldn’t be noticed, but you’re doing your product pitch all wrong.
Sheldon was lucky he didnt blow out his kness. Biopace was known to turn your knees into a mushy useless jelly like substance.
That’s interesting – I’ve been commuting on a Sugino Cycloid chainring (think biopace but shifted 90 degrees – it came with the bike) for about a semester now and not a lot has happened to my knees. Every component, from Mafac brakes to Brooks Saddles, has someone who says it’s a death trap – I’d do a bit more research into how many people have actually reported knee problems due to biopace rings. But maybe I’m just young and foolish.
My statement still stands – while the Messenger is a great chainring for some purposes, saying that the perfect roundness of a chainring will make or break your ride isn’t the real selling point for it, regardless of the effects of deliberately elliptical chainrings on your knees.
i have been riding a messenger ring for a couple months now and i love it…it feels more efficient and it is super sturdy
That’s definately a Biopace chainring on Sheldon’s bike.
I have them too on two of my bikes (a koga miyata randonneur extra and a Jan Janssen Tour de France)
And indeed I have a knee problem since 6 months… Is there a link?
Greetz
I’m sorry but Sheldon Brown did a lot of crazy things, riding Biopace on a fixed gear bike being just one of them. Riding a chainring that doesn’t ovalize on a single speed bike does improve your ride by eliminating those high and low spots on your chain and the teeth just don’t wear like on a $35 replacement ring. Does that mean that you’ll have an awful ride if you don’t ride the Messenger? Of course not. But if you’ve ridden one, you’ll know what the original poster is saying is true. That said, I’m riding with Odyssey Black Widow Lite cranks and a Profile 110 bcd chainring, mostly because they come in sizes from 150 to 185 mm. So, there’s lots of things to consider when you’re building up your bike. Biopace may make sense if you’re riding a conversion, but just because it worked for Sheldon doesn’t mean it’ll work for you. Have you ever read his instructions on wheelbuilding??
I would think if a biopace is perfectly symmetrical (as opposed to round) you cannot use it as an argument against out–of-round chainrings causing chain-bind. The biopace *should* be applying constant tension at all times. The fact that he used it on a single speed sort of proves that, doesnt it?
Amanda: I built a wheelset using Sheldon’s instructions. Granted, he doesn’t explain the key spoke concept well. But other than that the directions were clear. Three years later, I’m still on those wheels and they’re still mostly true.
Sheldon’s wheel building instructions aren’t really his own….He’s just repeating someone else’s assembly method…Just because you can repeat a recipe doesn’t mean you understand how it works…
If you’re riding a fixed gear bicycle with either no brakes or just a front brake, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP YOUR BICYCLE IF YOUR CHAIN DERAILS…
An old biopace chainring won’t be perfectly symmetrical, leaving the opportunity for either binding or too much slack in the chain which can result in derailing…Why would you risk that just to prove a stupid point?…
Look at photos of Sheldon Brown…Look at his body…How much riding do you really think he did?…Do you think he was actually putting that biopace fixie of his through it’s paces or did he spend more time writing about it on his website than he did actually riding it?
But I digress….
I have a Sugino Messenger chainring that has around ten thousand kilometers on it and it showing no signs that it’ll need to be replaced any time soon…It’s stiff, it’s tough, and it still looks great despite four season riding through Canadian winter…It’s a well made product that will last you a long long time…
It’s Japanese-manufactured too…They need all the support they can get right now….