Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - who makes the best track crankset?

Hey everyone,

Im need to buy a crankset for my trackbike and was wondering which company makes the best one?

It should be as stiff as possible, as well as durable and just well made in general.

Price doesnt matter ;)

cheers and thanks for all replies!

Fabian

Oh I almost forgot, It should made of metal I really dont like caron fiber parts ;)

An awful lot of the better bikes I see at the track have Omniums - and they only cost $165. You could improve the Bearings I suppose.

Hmm I just found this webshop, seems to have a pretty good collection of track cranksets..

http://www.thebikebiz.com/Cranks_s/124.htm?searching=Y&sort=13&cat=124&show=10&page=2

.. but yeah anyone know who makes the stiffest, most durable crankset?

Dura-ace, Sram Omnium, and Sugino 75 are the three most popular high end cranks. the Omniums are the cheapest, but require a little bit of fiddlign around with and have had issues fitting on some frames.

.. but yeah anyone know who makes the stiffest, most durable crankset?

Why do you ask?

How do you plan to use this crankset? Track? Street? Tricks?

Asking about the "best crankset" is like asking about the "best shoes". It really depends on how you plan to use them.

Asking about the "best crankset" is like asking about the "best shoes". It really depends on how you plan to use them.

Its not gonna be far a specific use. Im just putting my track bike together, and I want really nice, strong, quality components on it. So yeah what Im looking for is stiffness and durability.
I know who makes the best & strongest headsets, bottom brackets, .. but I wasnt sure about track cranksets, thats why I asked if there maybe is one manufacturer who makes a superior crankset for track use. :)

A guy at our track was telling me that my cool Campy Chorus crankset is one of the softest you can get. :/

This has come highly recommended for stiffness: http://www.glorycycles.com/tromtrcr.html

and you can get omniums for a bit cheaper http://www.retro-gression.com/product/sram-omnium-crankset-w-gxp-bb

So I assume this is for a fixed gear to ride on the street, which is a totally different question that belongs in a totally seperate section of Bike Forums. http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/178-Singlespeed-amp-Fixed-Gear?

So I assume this is for a fixed gear to ride on the street, which is a totally different question that belongs in a totally seperate section of Bike Forums. http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/178-Singlespeed-amp-Fixed-Gear?

+1


Its not gonna be far a specific use. Im just putting my track bike together, and I want really nice, strong, quality components on it. So yeah what Im looking for is stiffness and durability.
I know who makes the best & strongest headsets, bottom brackets, .. but I wasnt sure about track cranksets, thats why I asked if there maybe is one manufacturer who makes a superior crankset for track use. :)

So that means you won't be racing. This is for a street bike, right?

As far as using omniums I switched to a Chris King BB and it feels so much better. I am no pro but I could feel the difference like night and day.

So that means you won't be racing. This is for a street bike, right?

Its not for a specific use. Its just gonna be my track / fixed gear bike. It will mostly be used for street, yes, but we also have a velodrome in our city, so I probably will use it for track, too.

I just really like good, quality, durable components on my bike, and I really hate having to upgrade something because I bought something cheap / bad quality in the first place. Thats why I like to be sure before I buy something and ask people who know it, if there is a manufacturer who makes a crankset, .. which is especially nice and strong and superior to the ones made by other manufacturer.

What frame do you have? Omniums have issues w/ a couple of frames, but so long as they work on your frame, that is what I would get.

I make my own frames so I can adjust them to whatever components I plan on using.. .. what kind of issues?

.. but I think I will get the paul comp track crankset.. like it best from all the ones I looked at. Omnium is pretty nice, too, though ;)

sounds like you are going for looks.

just know you are stuck with the Pauls chainrings exclusively.

http://www.paulcomp.com/images/chainringsd1full.jpg

Not purely looks. I just like them cause they seem to be durable and well made; plus yeah of course, they are a little different and have that kind of unique touch which I like, too.

Not purely looks. I just like them cause they seem to be durable and well made; plus yeah of course, they are a little different and have that kind of unique touch which I like, too.

And they are not track racing cranks. They are single speed cranks.

This is why everyone was asking why were you posting in the track cycling/racing forum.

Funny when I saw 17 replies I thought there'd be 17 answers saying Dura Ace. (sighs) I guess my intellectual hegemony isn't quite complete.
BTW I wouldn't want to be anywhere near someone riding those chainrings on the track. They look like they'd flex like bastards and would be a dropped chain waiting to happen. Which means if you want do it all cranks you'll have to get something else.
Is there a rain on parade emoticon? I feel like I need one.

And they are not track racing cranks. They are single speed cranks.

This is why everyone was asking why were you posting in the track cycling/racing forum.

Im sorry if this sounds a bit noobish, but im kinda new to it, so.. whats the difference between single speed and track cranks? I mean apart from the fact that the track crank is probably lighter and stiffer..


Funny when I saw 17 replies I thought there'd be 17 answers saying Dura Ace. (sighs) I guess my intellectual hegemony isn't quite complete.
BTW I wouldn't want to be anywhere near someone riding those chainrings on the track. They look like they'd flex like bastards and would be a dropped chain waiting to happen. Which means if you want do it all cranks you'll have to get something else.
Is there a rain on parade emoticon? I feel like I need one.

Why do you think the Paul cranks will flex all over the place? According to the manufacturer they are machined from pretty think, strong aluminium so they shouldnt be too flexy?
And why the dropped chain? Any experiences with them?

But of course I wont buy something which wont work well. And I didnt think of the dura ace track crank thats true. Googled them, they are really nice.

If Id say Campagnolo Record track crankset vs dura ace track crankset, which one would you get?

Im sorry if this sounds a bit noobish, but im kinda new to it, so.. whats the difference between single speed and track cranks? I mean apart from the fact that the track crank is probably lighter and stiffer..

Weight on track bikes isnt very important outside of the rims, and even there most people will ignore weight some one for stiffness. A track crank need a few things to be a good crank, most of which Paul doesnt have. A 144bcd, to be able to use the nicest track rings, easily swapped chainrings, because most people will switch gearing between races, and a very stiff overall profile.




Why do you think the Paul cranks will flex all over the place? According to the manufacturer they are machined from pretty think, strong aluminium so they shouldnt be too flexy?
And why the dropped chain? Any experiences with them?

It is impossible to get a chainring to be stiff than the crank arm. A chainring is one thick sheet of metal, where as a crank arm/ spider has multiple surfaces to "work" against eachother to provide stiffness. Since the chainring is such a large surface area its flexing will move around more, compared to flexing a more traditional chainring.



If Id say Campagnolo Record track crankset vs dura ace track crankset, which one would you get?

Dura ace, its almost always cheaper, and even ignoring price the better crank. The dura ace crank that comes with the octalink BB is much better than the NJS stamped ones with the square taper BB.

Hey everyone,

Im need to buy a crankset for my trackbike and was wondering which company makes the best one?

It should be as stiff as possible, as well as durable and just well made in general.

Price doesnt matter ;)

cheers and thanks for all replies!

Fabian

Oh I almost forgot, It should made of metal I really dont like caron fiber parts ;)



SRM Track Cranks. (http://www.srm.de/index.php/us/powermeter/track)

They meet all of your criteria. Buy them and you'll be all set.

http://rvafixed.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/wc0.jpg

</end thread>

SRM Track Cranks. (http://www.srm.de/index.php/us/powermeter/track)

They meet all of your criteria. Buy them and you'll be all set.

http://rvafixed.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/wc0.jpg

</end thread>

+1 Every fixie should have an SRM, if you can afford it!

SRM Track Cranks.

They meet all of your criteria. Buy them and you'll be all set.

Im sure they are great, but I dont need the electronic system that comes with them.



</end thread>

.. but yeah I kinda think the thread is done, too ;)

Anyways, thanks a lot for posting and helping out guys!

have a great day

cheers,

Fabian

Why do you think the Paul cranks will flex all over the place? According to the manufacturer they are machined from pretty think, strong aluminium so they shouldnt be too flexy?
And why the dropped chain? Any experiences with them?

The Bolt circle diameter on those paul cranks looks minisclue to my eye. The larger the BCD, the further towards the outer edge of the chainring the support is, and the stiffer the chainring will be under stress. Track cranks use 144mm bolt circle diameters, regular road cranks 130, standard 110mm bcds. All these BCDs are optimised for the number of teeth that are most likely to be used, and get the chainring bolts as far towards the leading edge as possible. On larger chainrings back in the day (over 52 tooth) 151mm bcds were common.

Pistas IMHO would be closer to Sugino 75s for comparison's sake because of the different BB standard. Octalink works really, really well on the track.

Sorry reading fail. The chain rings will flex because of the tiny BCD. They're single speed town bike chainrings. Can't comment on the cranks.
Shimano has been forging metals since the 1930s. They know what they're doing.