Technical FAQ: Finding Campy-friendly chainrings

Regarding Campagnolo compact chainrings

Dear Lennard, TA makes rings for the goofy sorta-110 pattern, called “Nerius.” Peter White has them.

I don’t know how they compare to Campy rings in quality, cost, or availability, but they apparently exist. There is a nice explanation of Campy rings here.

Thanks for your very informative (as always) column. A couple of years ago, you had a letter from a fellow who had an allergic reaction to “hypoallergenic” (NOT!) baby wipes. I later saw the same thing in medical literature. I had the same problem, and I pulled up your article in my dermatologist’s office to show him. He didn’t know about it, either. That letter saved me a lot of trouble.— Jon

Dear Jon, Glad that came in handy. I’ve given up trying to predict what topics might end up being useful to include here. I’ve found that subjects that seem way out of the ordinary to me often can be just the information somebody needed and are grateful to have come across.― Lennard

Dear Lennard, There are two French makers of Campy compatible chainrings: Stronglight and Specialities TA. They’ve been around since the 1940s (maybe earlier). This link is to French web retailer Xxcycle. The link takes you to a page for an inside ring for Campy five-arm 110/112 mm ring — black — where you can select chainring teeth. Scroll down the page for all tech info, including Stronglight’s website. TA has a similar range of Campy rings to Stronglight. Over the years I’ve bought many chainrings from them, both Campy 110 and 135 as well as 110 and 130 non-Campy. They mail all around the world (I live in Ontario, Canada). I prefer the CT2 rings as they last longer. Prices are in Euros but payment is made in U.S. dollars. Currency is not an issue (I pay in Canadian dollars. Mailing is inexpensive for a flat package and delivery is quick.— Cliff

Dear Lennard, Miche makes 110mm chainrings with an oval hole to allow use on both regular 110mm bolt circle cranks and Campagnolo 110/112mm bolt circle cranks; see Compact and Super 11. I believe BBB has a similar solution.

Also, your statement that the clocking of shifts would be off with other 110mm chainrings because of the 36-degree offset does not make sense unless shift clocking is asymmetric with respect to the right and left legs. You really should be rotating the chainring by 180 degrees by putting the hole which would be opposite the crank arm on a traditional crankset behind the crank arm of a Campagnolo (or new SRAM) crankset. This looks like 36 because 180 = 72 + 72 + 36. There can still be the issue of the chain-drop pin being in the wrong position. Miche makes the pin removable by unscrewing and the pin can usually be knocked off other chainrings.— Jay

Dear Jay, Yes, you are correct. Since your point is functionally identical to this one regarding SRAM 22 rings, I’m including it, too.— Lennard

Dear Lennard, Regarding the tech question posed by Matt regarding 11-speed SRAM rings on his SRAM 10-speed crank, a couple notes. First, if the hidden-bolt rings were mounted 180 …

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