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Al_Bushman
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 Posted: Mon 21st Jul 8:51pm Post subject: Crank Quality Vs Speed. |
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So - on the bike today I managed to get to thinking about some stuff other than work 
I was wondering how big a difference cranks make to bike handling & power and stuff like that given their overall cost - which is significant. I mean, for a top end set of D/A cranks you can pay loads, but I'm sure they don't add as much speed as say wheels or tyres? I don't recall a thread discussing this.
PS - Danose - I'm not discussing crank length as much as I know you like discussing this - more on the lines of D/A vs Ultegra or FSA Carbon SLR's.
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Joel
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:03pm Post subject: |
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good question, as it's often mentioned in mags regarding crank stifness etc.. measured in delfection under tons to the square root etc blah blah. BUT in the real world, can a rider tell the difference between an Ultegra crank and DA crank? or as Al mentions the FSA carbon cranks?
sure there is the weight aspect, as upgrading cranks is a quick weigh to blow $$ and lose around 150-200g
and lets not forget the all important bling factor  if it looks fast your most of the way there 
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musket
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:05pm Post subject: |
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I always said no, but recall Oli (when he wasn't grumpi) mentioning how much he noticed the change in the ride of his hillbrick when he fitted Centaur Carbon UT cranks...
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Al_Bushman
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:06pm Post subject: |
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| Joel wrote: | good question, as it's often mentioned in mags regarding crank stifness etc.. measured in delfection under tons to the square root etc blah blah. BUT in the real world, can a rider tell the difference between an Ultegra crank and DA crank? or as Al mentions the FSA carbon cranks?
sure there is the weight aspect, as upgrading cranks is a quick weigh to blow $$ and lose around 150-200g
and lets not forget the all important bling factor if it looks fast your most of the way there |
F**k bling - all I want are the facts 
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Joel
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:09pm Post subject: |
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| Al_Bushman wrote: | | Joel wrote: | good question, as it's often mentioned in mags regarding crank stifness etc.. measured in delfection under tons to the square root etc blah blah. BUT in the real world, can a rider tell the difference between an Ultegra crank and DA crank? or as Al mentions the FSA carbon cranks?
sure there is the weight aspect, as upgrading cranks is a quick weigh to blow $$ and lose around 150-200g
and lets not forget the all important bling factor if it looks fast your most of the way there |
F**k bling - all I want are the facts |
facts are over rated.. and this is vorb.. don't fancy your chances!
pity robbie does not ride road, bet he would have a good theory on this
| musket wrote: | | I always said no, but recall Oli (when he wasn't grumpi) mentioning how much he noticed the change in the ride of his hillbrick when he fitted Centaur Carbon UT cranks... |
isn't that because the cranks he replace weighed 2kg?
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musket
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:10pm Post subject: |
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No - he mentioned the stiffness specifically.
It makes sense.
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Joel
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:11pm Post subject: |
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| musket wrote: | | It makes sense. |
that robbie would know?
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musket
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:12pm Post subject: |
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| Joel wrote: | | musket wrote: | | It makes sense. |
that robbie would know? |
That sentence nearly makes my head explode. No, Robbie "knowing" does not make sense.
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slidecontrol
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:13pm Post subject: |
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I used to think there was little difference in it between cranks ( other than the obvious difference if you went from sora to record or similar)
but when I switched out my esraface cranks to the 08 XTs on the MTB, the difference was hugely noticeable.
hard to describe exactly, but they just felt better.
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Joel
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:14pm Post subject: |
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| musket wrote: | | Joel wrote: | | musket wrote: | | It makes sense. |
that robbie would know? |
That sentence nearly makes my head explode. No, Robbie "knowing" does not make sense. |
ok, just checking
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Joel
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:17pm Post subject: |
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well i guess if your changing from the older style BB crank interface to the new outboard style then the stiffness maybe apparent? which is the main reason for them i thought?
and then there is the BB30..
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Al_Bushman
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 9:56pm Post subject: |
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I dunno what style I got but it looks like all the modern bikes (ie outward BB shell). It's a Speshy Tarmac Expert - full plastic $5.5k worth - so not bad.
I'm just interested in how much of a difference a D/A crank would make to the Carbon FSA's I got now. 
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Oli
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 10:10pm Post subject: |
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Bugger all.
What Musket is referring to about my bike was me going from square tapers to outboard. I didn't think it would make any difference, but it made a big one in terms of stiffness. My bike rides differently.
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Al_Bushman
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 10:11pm Post subject: |
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| Oli wrote: | Bugger all.
What Musket is referring to about my bike was me going from square tapers to outboard. I didn't think it would make any difference, but it made a big one in terms of stiffness. My bike rides differently. |
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Nick_K
No frills, just hardcore
Joined: Oct 05, 2004
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| Posted: Mon 21st Jul 10:19pm Post subject: |
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Well I have no evidience and am quite possibly the worlds worst roadie my opinion is that crank stiffness doesn't matter untill theres not enough of it.
On the ss where you are at times (breifly) putting more power through the cranks than on a roadie I've never felt flex to be in anyway limiting with good quality squaretapers.
Don't track riders still use sq taper?
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