If you ride road and desire that oil-slick-meets-rainbow-metal finish, AbsoluteBlack has some new oval chainrings for you
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
We loved AbsoluteBlack's oil-slick-look MTB chainrings. Aaron Borrill, our tech ed, waxed lyrical about their aesthetics in his 2020 Gear of the Year round-up and now the British-based company has brought the PDV rainbow look to its range of road-specific oval rings.
The physical vapour deposition (PVD) process deposits an incredibly thin material layer, atom by atom. This enables the material reaction that gives these AbsoluteBlack chainrings their colour signature without adding a notable mass burden.
This vivid finish will appeal to those riders who are seeking to differentiate a particular build and enjoy having something reflectively bright rotating around their bottom bracket.
Each chainring with this PVD rainbow coating is also unique in its exact colour profile, which should further enhance the individualisation that riders seek.
Each chainring with this PDV rainbow coating is also unique in its colour profile(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The rings are available in 50/34T, 52/36T and 53/39T(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Road riders want some colourful metal
The decision to produce its road chainrings in a PVD rainbow finish was not a company marketing decision, but one driven by customer demand, according to AbsoluteBlack.
Available in Shimano 110/4 BCD, the PVD rainbow chainring is designed to pair with Dura-Ace 9100, Ultegra R8000 and 105 R7000 series cranks.
The company says that Shimano 9000 and 6800 cranks can be retrofitted to pair with the PVD rainbow chainrings, which are 10-, 11-, and 12-speed compatible and available in 50/34T, 52/36T and 53/39T.
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Pricing for these fashionable oval chainrings varies from £79.99 to £144.99, for single ring options, the smallest being 34T and largest 53T. PVD rainbow-finish dual chainrings retail for £224.98.
Lance Branquinho is a Namibian born media professional, with 15-years of experience in technology and engineering journalism covering anything with wheels. Being from Namibia, he knows a good gravel road when he sees one, and he has raced some of Africa’s best-known mountain bike stage races, such as Wines2Wales and Berg&Bush.
