Originally Posted by
maddog34
those are "clean out grooves" designed to evacuate built up gritty chain grunge, etc.
the fact that they are now turning into yawning cracks, and that the teeth adjacent to them are in a different plane, is not good... i don't care if "they were designed that way".. not good.
the large ring appears to be lacking shift aids other than old style ramps, too...
modern pins and ramps, with lifting cutouts, will greatly improve shifting to that ring.
Huh? You usually offer sound advice, but not this time. These are merely "bargain" shift ramps for low-end chain rings. Nothing more. They're made to assist the chain as it goes up or down to an adjacent chain ring while shifting.
Higher end rings will instead have machined cut-outs (like you see on your cassette cogs) and even pressed-in steel pins to act as ramps for the chain. (Edit: I see Maddog34 said as much at the end of their post. Sorry.)
Nothing to worry about.