Mountain Biking - Who Makes Specialized Cranksets?

Anyone out there know who manufactures the Strongarm II crankset that Specialized uses on their bikes? How does it stack up to others like Race Face Prodigy, TruVativ Stylos or Shimano XT? Any thoughts appreciated... thanks.

I had a Strongarm back in the day. Can't tell you if it was made by the big S or not, but I'm a lot happier with the XTR that I hae on the bike now. The Strongarm cranks are pretty stiff and distinctive, but the first generation was heavy. It's high end OEM stuff. Take that for whatever it means.

Truvativ makes specialized cranks.

i've run both strongarm II and Xt. Xt is way better all around.

Specialized cranksets used to be made by Sugino, the largest crank-maker in the world. Ritchey used them for his designs, and Bridgestone swore by 'em. Their upper end stuff was comparable to Shimano, and when they left the market 6-8 years ago, you could get a great setup, a hard-anodized Impel Mighty 900 microdrive, for $40 or so. If Truvativ makes them now, its news to me. All I know is that the SA II used to have great specs, but the one I examined recently had a steel middle ring, which made me wonder.

Originally posted by Rod Munch
Specialized cranksets used to be made by Sugino, the largest crank-maker in the world. Ritchey used them for his designs, and Bridgestone swore by 'em. Their upper end stuff was comparable to Shimano, and when they left the market 6-8 years ago, you could get a great setup, a hard-anodized Impel Mighty 900 microdrive, for $40 or so. If Truvativ makes them now, its news to me. All I know is that the SA II used to have great specs, but the one I examined recently had a steel middle ring, which made me wonder.

Just sold mine, too much of Specialized logo on the bike for me, but the middle was a aluminium for sure.

Scoob

Sugino is still making them. If you look around you can even find the Sugino-branded version.

The Specialized cranks on my '99 Rockhopper Comp have Sugino rings and so I assumed they made the cranks also. I haven't been able to figure out if they are strongarm or forearm cranks. I do not think they are up to the LX/XT standard of the rest of the bike. When the first chain was just starting to show signs of stretch (I like to change them early) I relplaced the chain and the granny ring was just about stuffed. Of course it is an odd PCD and I haven't been able to find a replacement yet. The shifting sucks. The bb is stuffed. And they creak. sigh :(

Time for new cranks methinks

Curiously enough, my Trek 7000 came with the Strongarm II crankset, which I guess the previous owner put on. I haven't really tried any other cranksets extensively, so I can't really compare them to anything different. In any case, they work well for me, and if they are heavy (as compared to present-day XT stuff), I can't really tell. The middle chainring is aluminum, so is the outer, but the granny gear looks different from the other two. However, it didn't rust when I took the bike muddin' last time, like the chain did, so I'm not sure it's steel.

Originally posted by Scooby Snax
Just sold mine, too much of Specialized logo on the bike for me, but the middle was a aluminium for sure.

Scoob
what did you end up replacing them with?

I still have the original SA II cranks on my 00 Stumpjumper and have no complaints. After 3 years worth of rocks and mud it is showing signs of wear, but it's always felt very solid and shifted quite smooth, even though the big ring is used mainly as a rock ring. I will be replacing it with a Truvativ crankset and BB later this season. Specialized makes good components that keeps their bike prices down, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase SA cranks aftermarket, nor would I go out of my way to replace the SA cranks right after purchasing the bike.

I havn't had any problem with mine, but its fairly new. One thing is certain, I won't be going with an XTR crank. I don't think I've ever known someone that was happy with their XTR crank after they owned it. For that kind of money, I stick with race face.

I just installed the SA II on my bike. The newer one with octalink BB. I weighed both the SA and my XT octalink cranks. The SA were a little lighter. The SA cranks are the ones with the machined faced top ring. Kind of cool.

Bill F.

I probably won't replace the SA2's until I need to change the bottom bracket. They seem to hold up fine for my riding as of now. then again, they're only a 50 miles old.