chainring question

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by johntp
Some, but not all large chain rings have a pin that aligns w/ the crank, but doen't touch it (e.g. DA & Ritchey). I got a nice, brand new DA chainring set for my e-bay Ritchey cranks, but the pin doesn't align with the crank. I have a TA chainring set that
doesn't even have the pin. So the 64K question is, "Is this pin
really important?". Seems like it must do something if it's there,
but is it awful if it doesn't align?😕

The pin is there to keep the chain from getting between the chainring and crank arm.... if the chain falls off to the outside when you are riding.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by daveornee
The pin is there to keep the chain from getting between the chainring and crank arm.... if the chain falls off to the outside when you are riding.

Ahh Soo. Thanks for the response to what probably seemed like an obvious question. So I guess I could leave it out of alignment and the worst that would happen is that it wouldn't perform it's function so well, i.e. not at all. I guess I could even carefully cut it off, if I were so inclined.

the ritchey cranks are like the record/chorus ones where the crank-arm aligns with one of the spider arms.

this kinda begs the question, what impact on shifting will occur using DA rings which are shift-pinned for having that big pin aligned with the crank-arm.

is it better to have it fore or aft of the crank arm?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by drewski
the ritchey cranks are like the record/chorus ones where the crank-arm aligns with one of the spider arms.

this kinda begs the question, what impact on shifting will occur using DA rings which are shift-pinned for having that big pin aligned with the crank-arm.

is it better to have it fore or aft of the crank arm?

It makes no difference. The chain pickup point is random. Shimano biopace rings were indexed to the crankarm for a different reason. Rings will actually shift just fine without ramps and pins.