Originally Posted by
GS430
What is a spiderless chainring?
This is a spider.
This is a 'integrated spider crankset'
any crankset that does not have spider arms that bolt to the chainring have 'spiderless chainrings'
meaning this:

(which is a splined sprocket/chainring)
or this:

which is a cottered chainring/sprocket (a pin goes through the hole)
the paul cranks bolt with four bolts to the cranks.

it's not a bad design for power transfer or alignment or rigidity... in fact it's good for all those things... it's just that it means you can ONLY replace the chainring with another paul chainring- which i don't like and i feel is a bad design for the intended use of riding bikes in the real world with real road conditions and real cadence concerns(it forces you to change your gearing through the rear cog, which is a less precise selection).
I mean, you could take that bike touring, but you wouldn't... at least, not with that crankset... ya dig?