I can't find a Shimano middle chainring the size I want (36 tooth) but I can find a Sugino, which I've used before. For the last 6 years I've been using a Shimano 34-tooth inner and haven't noticed, which probably says something about me. The Sugino middle advertises that it has no ramps and pins; now that I remember my last one, it was flat.

You're welcome to tell me what difference ramps and pins make and what you think of my bicycling.

Sugino is low cost .. you get more expensive machines 7075-T6 chain rings and they can be bought with the pins and ramps..

But with friction shifting the front derailleur I have not needed them I get steel chainrings for long wear,

STI quick click shifting is dependent on their added features to work best, chain up shifts a little earlier .

Well if it has ramps on the inside, it's definitely intended to be a middle. But if it doesn't, and you just put it in the middle, it is a middle too.

what makes a ring a middle... hmnmmm... the ramps and counterbores for the nuts are on the same side of the ring... an outer ring has the ramps/pins on the inner side, counterbores on the outer side

and even Sugino rings have a ramp of sorts... it's a chamfer (angle) on the inner side of the ring, and goes all the way around the ring... primitive, but it does help shifting!

ramps and pins speed chain pickup by the larger ring, making shifting less troublesome and "crisper"... upgrading to ramped/pinned chainrings will make you realize how effective they are.... smoother, faster, shifts will be noted!

I've purchased one very recently from bike24.com for a 3X 10-speed XT crank

Need more information like what make/model cranskset do you have, what is the BCD, and how many arms. Also, how can you have a 36T "middle" chainring, and a 34T "inner" chainring (2T difference between a middle and inner is not possible for any FD to shift as far as I know). Does the OP have a double or triple crankset? Small chainrings don't need ramps and pins.

I just looked: they sell hundreds of Shimano chainrings. Could you provide a link? They seem to be in Germany.

Yes people use German retail shops that export to other countries. that is what bike 24.com is.

they read and write English quite well , the younger generations..


Consider a 110 36t Stainless steel chainring from QBP, no ramps & pins , but long wearing and flat, so you can flip it over

to further double the wear life..... I assume you use the middle chainring nearly all the time..




...

Click here for a 36T XT compatible middle chainring. (104mm PCD).

I've ordered several times from them. Excellent supplier

Hmmm... I went to qbp.com: they sell to dealers only. How do I buy one?

I finally realized that. I could have turned my flat Sugino around.


Now that I can't hurry so much anymore I have done the extra shifting to divide the use of the chainrings more evenly. If I weren't so cheap I'd get a smaller outer and give up on getting to 30.



I need a 110mm, 5-bolt. I can't find a parts list at Shimano.com, and they don't list chainrings separately, but if I look up their triple cranksets I can get the part numbers of middle chainrings. It would seem they make them only for their cranks as they sell them.

How much is shipping?

You realize most of the component sales are to factories building up bikes.. spare parts is a tiny slice..

So whole cranks, in the retail sector, can cost less than a single 7075-T6 best wearing quality Aluminum

110bcd 5 bolt is a common size... for aftermarket companies .. to supply.

I do. You recommended that I buy a QBP stainless steel chainring. You didn't tell me where I could find one for sale. qbp.com won't.

Any bike shop can order from Quality Bike Parts.

Ben

At a Bike shop with a QBP account,

but if you insist on only shopping online , there are many retail bike shops that have a QBP account,
and will box and ship your order, but the retail margin, will be the same, Plus shipping charges..


a walk in retail buy @LBS the shipping is handing it to you across the counter, in person,


the shipper will tell you that..

The ramp helps derail the chain off the lower ring and the pin pulls it up. Required on aluminum chain rings because they'd get beat up by the chain dragging on them. Cassettes can use just ramps because they're steel.

Different brands and their different cranks will have different ring thicknesses and offsets. I'd find a replacement specifically for my crankset.

FWIW, I bought an SRAM 36-tooth (Red Force/Rival/Apex, according to the listing; the package and chainring lack model names). It says it's 10-speed only, but I installed it on my 8 and it's worked well so far. The old one was a Shimano that claimed to be 9 or 10; it's 2.85 mm thick; the SRAM is 2.71. It's an inner, not a middle.