Before Chris Wickliffe managed to rush me a set from the most recent product batch, I’d been futilely experimenting with other rings for a few days on my SRAM-equipped cx bike, and at that point I was mad. All of this is irrelevant if the fuckers don’t shift when I want them to. It is worth noting that this American-made chainring set is extensively milled for light weight and gives an overall impression of a refined industrial product, not some guy’s garage experiment. The outer ring’s teeth are also profiled to present gateways for the chain path while shifting.

The distinguishing feature of Wickwerks rings is their numerous and dramatic shift ramps on the big ring. I guess it makes sense since they sponsor Katie Compton, the most dominant American cyclocrosser ever, who has been using that ratio since before Wickwerks sponsorship (in fact, she used TA rings prior. Then I found out that Wickwerks makes a 44/34T combo for CX. If I put any power at all on the pedals, the chain could not be coaxed onto the big ring. I tried a TA Specialties 44T ring because it was one of the few 44T x 110bcd rings with pickup pins to aid shifting. Most of the cyclocross ring combinations are 46/36T. I figured a 44/34T combination would work best for me, since I like to spin. I was pretty impressed with how well that worked while racing or even commuting, but this time I want to go with a double ring setup on a compact crank, 11-28 or 11-25 cassettes. Last season I ran a wide-range 10sp cassette with a 39T or 42T single ring up front. I just got some cyclocross chainrings from WickWerks.

Katie compton gif