|   Which Cranks? | race frehley
Nov 25, 2003 3:20 PM | | I can't decide which cranks to get for a new frame that I'll be building up. At least to me, there doesn't seem to be an obvious choice right now. Some thoughts -
XT (M752) - I've had good luck with XT cranks in the past, but the aluminum granny, and many tales of incessant creaking + loosening have me worried.
LX (M572) - Way cheaper, about 20g. (?) heavier, steel granny, but again with the stories of creaking + loosening.
ISIS - I tend to think that CK's lack of support, and RF's introduction of external bearing b/b's is an indication that ISIS will end up another footnote in mtb history. That, and tons of negative reviews is steering me away.
'04 Shimano and Race Face external bearing b/b + cranksets - Aside from the fact that they're not available yet, I'm not sure I want to own the 1.0 version of anything.
Good ol' square taper - So is this what it comes down to? And who even makes a good square taper crank anymore?
Any opinions, observations, experience, etc., will be appreciated.
Oh... and I guess I'll add... this will be an XC or "trail" (whatever that means) full suspension, somewhat lightweight, bike, that won't be raced, or "dropped" more than 2 or 3 feet. I'm about 170 lbs, and more finesse than brute force. |
| re: Which Cranks? | EnduroProCT
Nov 25, 2003 3:45 PM | | The new shimano cranks kick ass. The 03 XTR and 04 XT are super stiff, rigid, and strong. The only difference with the XT instead of the XTR is a few grams and the metallic finish, and then XT's are about half the price ($250 on jensonusa). The LX's are going to be the old splined design, so still good for the money, but not the same design as XT's as they were last year. I am using ISIS with Raceface right now for Trail/freeriding. I love them. They are super stiff and strong and haven't come loose yet (the Raceface Turbine LP) but you can get a lighter pair if you want. ANy other questions feel free to contact me. Take care
~DAN |
| Truvative Stylo Team - bargain of the day | dgangi
Nov 25, 2003 5:44 PM | | I am building up an '03 Giant NRS frame as a XC bike and chose the Truvative Stylo Team crankset with the Truvativ Gigapipe bottom bracket. I have heard great things about this crankset in terms of durability, stiffness, and reliability, and it is light as hell. The combined weight of the BB and crankset is about 850g, a smidge lighter than the XT crank/XT bb combo (860g) and lighter than XTR (685g + 185g BB).
Plus you can order the crankset in polished, mirror black, or mirror blue (cool). I chose the polished since the finish won't wear off.
Best part - you can get the crankset, bottom bracket, XT cassette, AND a chain for $199!! Go to www.greenfishsports.com and give them a call. Or look on eBay.
Good luck.
Thx...Doug |
| Buy Truvative and support their SUV habit. | Structure
Nov 25, 2003 7:56 PM | | I lost interest in buying their products when I saw the "Truvative" licence plate on the back of the overweight Chevy Suburban recently. The company is based here in San Luis. Bad PR. Bad. |
| Buy Truvative and support their SUV habit. | gk
Nov 25, 2003 8:08 PM | | well if it said "Truvative" then it must not have belong to someone from the company Truvativ. |
| Buy Truvative and support their SUV habit. | Structure
Nov 25, 2003 11:06 PM | | I'm not going to worry too much how they spell the name. Kinda a silly name anyhow. But for sure they were the evil supervillan. (drips sarcacism...)
Not that it really matters. Its there money. Spend it how they like. I'll do the same with mine. |
| Buy Truvative and support their SUV habit. | Raceguy
Nov 26, 2003 12:08 PM | | Hey Truvativ as well as every other bike company has large trucks in order to haul all the products and displays around from race to race and tradeshow to tradeshow. Would you rather have them drive 10 small fuel efficeint vehichles to a race or one truck and a trailer complete with staff. |
| I don't see anyone here saying much about the '04 Race Face,.... | Bikeless Rider
Nov 25, 2003 10:31 PM | | ...so I'll chime in. I like what I'm reading and hearing about the Atlas crank/BB, available by March from what I'm told. No one seems to mention the fact that this design is unique in ways that really make sense. It will incorporate a drive side fastening bolt for the 2 piece construction, without the need of pinch bolts. The spline pattern looks to be a combination of square edged splines, and narrow flat spots. The chainline will be 3 piece competetive at 48.5mm, and the rings will now have shift plates. The BB cups will use full ball compliment, high load bearings. Race Face says they've done well so far in achieving a goal of weight and stiffness equal to XTR's 2 piece, but at about $300 at the LBS, instead of $450, BB cups and bearings included. This price was just quoted to me by one of my LBS, and they're prices are often much higher than mail order, but I used this as a reference in comparing the $450 price of the XTR, as it is probably close to the MSRP. |
| stylo team... | corym
Nov 26, 2003 7:54 AM | | I've got some stylo team cranks I've been riding for over 1 year now. Overall I'm happy with them, strong enough and the plated chainrings don't wear quickly. The only probelms I've had is with bolts coming loose, my crank arm bolts were loose on the second ride (even though I torqued them properly) and my chainrings loosen from time to time, my small ring actually fell off once. If I were to buy a set now I'd take them apart and reassemble with locktite. Then again I might just buy the 03 XTs and save a little dough.. |
| Square Taper all the way...... !! | gspot
Nov 26, 2003 8:33 AM | | get some race face crank arms... sq. taper of course, from aebike.com, or from your LBS if they have a QBP account.
yea, their expensive, but they will last a lifetime if installed right.
(tourqe wrench on crank arm bolt on install), anti seize, etc.
paired up with a Shimano UN-72 BB, it can't be beat. the UN-72 will easily last over a year, possibly 2? your miles may vary...
I have a UN-72 on my commuter bike and its been runnign storng for 3 years now, includin NE winters... wet/ salty roads.
square = good
link to arms @ aebike....
http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=CR6741
heres the pic: |
| I should've... | race frehley
Nov 26, 2003 11:43 AM | | Been more specific. I'm looking for 175mm and compact drive. I really like the old 5 arm, compact drive XT and Turbine cranks too, but there doesn't seem to be any new-old-stock of those left in the size I'm looking for.
I agree that the good old UN72/73 is hard to beat (although I think the new ones are shipping with a plastic set-nut/ring whatever it's called). It's cheap, pretty strong, and not that heavy. |
| '04 Race Face - BR I was hoping you'd reply | race frehley
Nov 26, 2003 10:58 AM | | I like the idea of bigger bearings, although I don't know if I'm sold on the external part. I know it's the same basic idea as headsets (and they work fine), but the load is in a different direction. Those cups are going to have to be pretty strong without the support of the shell. (on that note - it'd be nice if frames had bigger shells so the bearings could still be inside... I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that some time in the not too distant future that will happen) I also really like RF cranks. IMO Turbines are the best traditional aluminum xc cranks out there.
From the little info I've read (and your posts), it does seem that the RF design is a better execution than Shimano's, and the rings have been redesigned (addresses the fact that S rings have always shifted better), but there's $100 price diff (give or take), and a four month wait. Plus, I'm always leery of the newest of the new. My pockets just aren't deep enough to be a beta-tester for the bike industry. Tough call.
Thanks for the reply. |
| I've been giving much thought to the comparisons between........ | Bikeless Rider
Nov 26, 2003 5:53 PM | | ...the outboard bearing concept, vs a larger BB shell standard. It seems to me, there would be pluses and minuses on both sides of that equation. An outboard system, as RF has designed, can be built without compromising chainline, so it appears that is no longer an issue. As far as the durability of the cups, they would only have to be as thick as the BB shell where they overlap the edge of the frame, to be sufficiently durable. The wider bearing stance not only makes for a stiffer arrangement, but allows for less load on the spindle and bearings, while remaining light weight. The profile (outer diameter) of the bearing, although larger than ISIS bearings, is still smaller than those an oversize shell standard would use, which would tend to mean I think, that slightly less lateral load due to twisting from torque, would be placed on the frame itself. I believe this, as well as the obvious weight addition, and lack of unanimous acceptance, is what's keeping some frame manufacturers from biting on this concept yet. There is a LBS (Ti Cycles) here in Seattle, that has already built a titanium frame around the FSA Megatech BB standard. I know and have ridden with Dave Levy their framebuilder, a very knowledgeable and interesting guy. I haven't got around yet to asking him if frames that use this system have to be made with slightly thicker or longer butts (esp the DT), to help resist extra torsional stresses. It seems stiffer, without going wider, whether I'm right about the taller bearing profile or not, would be cause enough to add at least some additional frame loads. Dave now builds the frames in Portland and comes up once a week to deliver them, he's very skilled with the torch. You may have already seen it, but here's the oversized BB from FSA:
http://www.oversizebb.com/
Who knows, maybe everyone on the west coast, at least those that run their own small businesses, will live in Oregon someday! |
| another vote for the Stylos | SWISS
Nov 26, 2003 9:14 AM | | If you decide to go with the ISIS (which will be around for a while, just like square taper is still around), you're on a $200 or less budget for cranks, rings and BB, and you aren't concerned with having the newest bling-bling component, I'll throw in a vote for the Stylos. I have the '03 Stylo Team on my Superlight, and another set of the Stylo SS cranks on my singlespeed. I've been generally pleased with their performance, as compared to the other cranksets I've used, which include the XT hollowtech (pure creaky crap!!!) and Race Face square taper Turbine LPs. Bottom line? They work, they're well manufactured, and they won't break the bank. |
| LX really are best bang for the buck... | Smytty
Nov 26, 2003 9:16 AM | | If you're looking for something right away, I'd go LX. Check out Naestep's German stiffness comparison stuff avail by clicking on his little "head" icon in any of his posts.
LX - $80 for cranks and BB (at pricepoing or Jenson), and if you don't like them, you can always upgrade to the new RF or 04XT stuff later once some of the bugs have been worked out and people post some more reviews. LX is pretty hard to beat in my books. |
| agreed | race frehley
Nov 26, 2003 12:51 PM | | The LX cranks really do have the bang/buck ratio nailed. I hadn't seen those German mag articles, and if those numbers mean what I think they do, the '03 LX cranks are stiffer than both the XT's and XTR's. I've seen the weight difference between LX and XT claimed to be approx 20g. but they've got it at 55g. wonder if that's measured? (not that I really care about 35g. just curious)
Another thing I notice is just how much of a role the b/b plays. Just about any crank mounted on the Truvativ Gigapipe Team SL is stiffer than everything else, and no matter how stiff the cranks are the Race Face Signature XS is a noodle.
Good info, thanks for the reply. |
| 2004 XT's | TheMaxx
Nov 26, 2003 10:11 AM | | I just got a set of the new 2004 XT's. I'm still building my bike, so I haven't actually ridden them yet. Sorry I can't give you the full review, but they feel nice. Less than half the cost of XTR, and they are just a bit heavier.
I got them for $200 from Light-Bikes.com, and keep in mind that includes the BB. |
| nice price | race frehley
Nov 26, 2003 10:19 AM | | Yeah, in another thread Dirt Boy mentioned that he was selling those for a good price. My only concern with the '04 XT's is that they're so new that there's no 'real world' feedback on them yet, otherwise I like the design. Some here have said that external bearings are the future, and I tend to agree.
Thanks for the reply. |
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