yes they are biopace, and that's weird why would they be made to be oval shaped? Feew! I thought I was actually gonna have to put some dime into this thing to make it commutable. Yeah it's got a six speed freewheel, and I found out it's a 13-30 range. There's a website http://mombat.org/Raleigh.htm that has some information including a chart of different years of bikes made, and general componentry info. Although there are slight inconsistancies like on the website it says 46 teeth big chainring, and my bike has a 48 tooth, although I've seen slight variances on bikes direct bikes like that. Anyway, thanks for the good info.