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O-Chain

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
997
973
I'm surprised to search here and not find a thread about this, especially given how popular it's becoming racing DH.

Being a good little consumer, I took a leap and just got one for my trail ("enduro") bike. I was interested in it because I ride flat pedals and have flat feet, which means that pedal kickback is a recipe for sore feet at the bottom of every run. It seemed like my bike would really benefit from it, having a pretty high level of anti-squat and pedal kickback (~13 degrees according to Linkage).

Anyways, first run today and I have some thoughts. I left in the 6 degree elastomer. Pedaling I did notice the lag in initial engagement, but as you'd expect it goes away as long as you keep steady pressure on the pedals. It did feel like there was a *tiny* bit of relaxation at the top of pedal stroke but I'm not certain. It also felt like my rear suspension was sagging a bit more while pedaling than normal (I'm guessing due to not having the high anti-squat fully engaged constantly to fight shock compression). Descending it was hugely noticeable. On the first descent I did, it starts out pretty flowy and bermy, then gets progressively steeper and rougher. Even the flowy part has a fair amount of small chatter from brake bumps, small erosion, etc. - nothing that you think about, but it's there. In the first section, I found myself braking a lot less because the rear felt so calm and stable. Pumping for jumps felt like I lost a tiny bit of support but I was also going faster, so I found myself going further than normal. When I got to the second half (faster, loose, rougher), it was still much calmer than usual, but in a way, bigger square edged hits kind of stood out more because of how much the smaller ones were ironed out.

I was talking to a buddy, and said I think the best way to describe the feel is like riding a coil shock with a super light compression tune, but only for maybe the first ~40% of travel, and if you push in further it's got a normal amount of compression damping.

FWIW, I'm running the O-Chain on a Megatrail MX, set up 155/160mm r/f, EXT Storia & Era, Tubolight inserts in EXO+ casing on WAO Union wheels with Hydra hubs. Suspension is set at 28% sag rear, 18% front. My compression settings are pretty close to open, but I'm thinking I might close LSC a click next ride to see how that affects things with the O-chain.

And just to head off the inevitable "why not use low engagement hub": that's different because the engagement point 1) will be random - sometimes you'll have slack until it engages but sometimes it will be already on and 2) hub engagement hits hard, rather than cushioned. I've ridden DT hubs extensively with 18t, 36t, and 54t rings. They feel nothing at all like this. The randomness of their engagement is a big turnoff to me - I'd rather have instant engagement hubs like Hydra, and tune my suspension around that feeling.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,541
5,472
UK
A huge cause of sore feet on flats is too much rear braking.
We're all guilty of this from time to time.
Realising this does save buying MOAR NU shit
Since you mentioned "first run" thoughts. Similar to arm pump, if you ride your first run tight and brake more than needed (and we're all guilty of this at times too). on a long rough track such as Ft William you'll pay for it all day long with forearms pain/fatigue. Same thing happens with your feet/ankles on flats. Particularly if it's rough and steep and you're using the rear brake more than the front.
 
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Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,541
5,472
UK
You should know O-Chain are yankin yours when they released a version for Ebikes that have a freewheel in the crank which already does a great job of eliminating the very issue their product pertainins to solve.
 

SkullCrack

Monkey
Sep 3, 2004
705
127
PNW

Cupping and physio tape is also popular with high level athletes.

Another good pedal kickback analysis, but talks about situations where something like the o-chain might be beneficial. (Turn captions on for English)
 
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Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
997
973

Cupping and physio tape is also popular with high level athletes.
I can't speak to cupping, but have used physio tape, and it's nice for alleviating discomfort from strains and injuries.

Why not use a very low engagement hub? Or a gearbox.
Already answered the hub question. Gearbox I'd be really interested in once they have electronic shifting instead of gripshift. I've messed around on a Zerode a bit and the suspension did feel similar (without the slop as you pressure the pedals). I'd be interested in trying a mid-pivot idler bike too but none have really caught my eye in terms of geometry/travel.

A huge cause of sore feet on flats is too much rear braking.
We're all guilty of this from time to time.
Realising this does save buying MOAR NU shit
Since you mentioned "first run" thoughts. Similar to arm pump, if you ride your first run tight and brake more than needed (and we're all guilty of this at times too). on a long rough track such as Ft William you'll pay for it all day long with forearms pain/fatigue. Same thing happens with your feet/ankles on flats. Particularly if it's rough and steep and you're using the rear brake more than the front.
That's interesting, and makes sense. The more the rear end is braking, the harder it gets and feeds back through the pedals & feet. I do "ok" at balanced braking but would say I still probably apply braking power 60/40 rear front. I don't only pull rear ever unless I'm trying to skid. I think that jives with what I was feeling - the rear end was calmer so I wasn't braking as much which in turn kept things calmer - feedback loop.