BMX - Three piece cranks

What is the advange of three piece cranks. Is it weight? The whole converter unit along with the crank itself seems heavier than the one piece crank. Is it strength? It's hard to believe that a solid chunk of steel isn't as strong as alloy and it doesn't have a problem with stripped tapers or splines. The pros ride three piece cranks, so what am I missing?

Stiffness and maintenance. One Piece cranks regardless of what material they're made of will flex. Why? I dunno. Probably because they are bent or cast or both. Also, taking one apart is a pain in the arse. Changing your gearing means taking apart, although spiders are available. Another reason would probably be weight! Those one-piecers can be used for small boat anchors. My best guess (and logic) would lean me toward the weight issue.

I really don't know for sure, but I imagine the "coolness factor" has a little to do with it as well!

Nah, I imagine it has to do with the aluminum being light where it can be and the seperate bb is strong torsionally. Combine the two and whala! 3 piece cranks!
L8R

Hey a2psyklnut,

I thought you were leaving? Not that I want you gone, but what happened? IT department change their mind?

BTW, welcome back.

Thanks, a2psyklnut.

3pc are lighter stronger smoother...better.

if you look at the bends of a 1 piece crank, you'll notice how thin and weak it looks. 3 piece cranks eliminate this weakness, plus they are lighter. another thing is, if you bend an arm on 1piece cranks, you have to buy a whole new set of cranks, whereas with 3 piece cranks you can just buy a new arm.

3 piece cranks are just plain out stronger. Probably from the type of metals, and how they are machined

Look also at the respective cross-sectional areas; all else being equal, larger means stiffer.

One piece cranks help keeps the price down on complete bikes. There are so many cranks on the market today so a little research can save you a lot of money. Profile racing makes a great crank system. They offer four series of cranks: 1) BMX Race 2) DJ or Dirt Jumping, 3) SS which are a very well built crank 4) MTB Cranks. Profile racing has been in the business for over 25 years, and they do know cranks. You may want to check out their website: www.profileracing.com

no matter what you do your 1 pc crank is going to bend 3 pcs are a lot stronger and a lot stffer not to mention they look a lot better too the pros ride them because they are stronger they might be heavier but in the long run you will be better off with a 3 pc
d130 rules:confused: ^^^^^

just get a set of profile ss oversized cranks and your set nothing else needed (maybe a sporcket chainring whatever u want to call it and pedals too if u have cheap ones)