Originally Posted by 79pmooney

I am not as comfortable using road rings as the posters above. Unless they and the crankset are high quality, you may not have a truly round chainring. The further off it is from true, the more slack you need in the chain. (You want it to never go tight - that is a bearing killer, hub and BB.) If you go down hills fast as I used to (I am slowing down as I age) you do not want to be dropping chains. (Almost always, the chain locks up the rear wheel, the tire gets trashed, the chainstay with deep nicks and often bent chainlinks. Usually deeply scratched and broken spokes.) All this said, there are equally junky single speed chainrings. I figure life is too short and fix gear chainrings last long enough that riding good ones makes sense. Paying $45 for a Sugino 1/8" ring of (club racing) track quality makes sense to me. Now, if you stay on flat ground or on the brakes or pedals and never go fast, no problem. I for one feel safer on a fix gear I trust at 40+. Ben