Null66

The CrossRip...

Have the stock wheels hand re-tensioned and ride them... Don't hop curbs and avoid potholes, they may last you quite a ways....

Jarrett2

I had a feeling that might be a good bike for you.

It looks like a step up from the CrossRip Elite, but you lose some at least one climbing gear.

Jarrett2

If you are looking for a good, custom wheel, They are not in KY, but I've had good luck with these folks:

Excel Sports - Custom Wheel Builder

Also, I hear tons of good things about Joe:

Home | Joe Young Wheels

Keep in mind that MTB wheels and road bike wheels are not swappable. Different hub sizes between them.

dr_lha

You could just replace the cassette on the TCX with an 12-32 105 cassette for about $50. For the extra $400 going from Sora to 105 I think is worth it in the long run, but they really cheaped out on the crank on that TCX.

Sigh... looking at these bikes reminds me why I'm building my next bike, there's always a flaw in them.

Jarrett2

Something else to consider, when buying your first drop bar/cross/road bike, your distance to and relationship with you LBS (local bicycle shop) is extremely important. You'll likely be making a few trips back and forth getting your fit and saddle dialed in, so buying one from a dealer too far away isn't a great idea. You want a LBS that will walk you through the process and get you a good fitting session on your new bike and be willing to do the little tweaks for you after sale. And one that will take care of you on adjustments and warranty issues should they arise.

Jarrett2

I was wondering where Big Fred was during this thread. I thought to myself, I'm sure he'd have some good insight to share. He's helped me a time or two for sure

sstorkel

For high-volume, fast-rolling tires I like the Vittoria Voyager Hyper. If you need more flat protection, the Vittoria Randonneur Pro is nearly as light and as fast but offers better puncture protection. These are the tires I use on my touring bike. They're available in a number of sizes for 700c wheels and the occasional 26" size, so they might be more appropriate for the OP's next bike.

Null66

Depends, I saw many recommendations for Clydes, especially uber clydes to use tiagra or less for road cranks or deore or less for mountain cranks. Seems like the higher end cranks are gram sensitive, and have broken on clydes.

The pictures of injuries from a broken crank were enough for me to stick with stouter cranks. I haven't seen impalings, but pretty nasty gouges...

dr_lha

That's an interesting point. I have experienced first hand a broken crank arm on a bike (and yes, I have the scars to prove it). In that case, it was metal fatigue on a 12 year old solid aluminum forged crank (an OEM Specialized one), when I took it into the bike shop the wrench looks at me as if I were a space alien, they had never heard of someone sheering a crank like that before!

Anyway, I would have thought that would be more of an issue of how much power you can generate rather than your weight (although clearly if you stand up on the pedals, your weight alone is going to produce a large torque).

So maybe Sora or Tiagra (if you can stand the ugly) is better for a Clyde. Those FSA Omega cranks are just junk though.

Jarrett2

What's wrong with FSA? They seem to come on a ton of bikes.

Null66

There's a lot of people on here that can explain better, and correct me where I'm wrong. I hope they will...


Nope, more like impulse ft lbs vs. resistance to turn... Power is over time.

Pedaling:
Light riders can only press down just so hard, even with cranking on the handlebars... Even so, force will be dissipated by accelerating forward. Unless you're holding brakes...

Heavier riders can generate more down force.


Landing from jumps/bumps...
Comes down to mass times speed squared... then have to account for angles. but all else equal, more weight, higher impact.

Then comes in how aluminum fails... Metal fatigue is wired in Aluminum. It cracks... micro cracks, propagate, cracks merge, failure usually appears as catastrophic failure.

Steel, on the other hand tends to bend/stretch... so more progressive.

Jarrett2

So steel cranks now?

Jarrett2

For all of you steel lovers, this was the bike I rode as a kid:


See I'm not completely anti-steel

dr_lha

Only when standing on the pedals though.
I recommend the OP not do any jumps!

Good luck finding steel cranks on any bike these days outside of maybe Wal-mart/Target.

dr_lha

My bike has FSA Gossamer Pros and they're fine. I just think the low end FSA is a bit crappy (Vero and Omega). On a $1650 bike I would have expected Gossamer at least.

It's a bit like putting Sora cranks on a 105 bike, IMHO.

Null66

Standing, Don't you do that when you take off from a light...

But really, not true...
Power, except for few, heck yes... but remember resistance to acceleration is part of it...
FT/lbs... No. 150 lber just can't generate the foot lbs...

You see a lot of people in their logs talk about very low cadence...

I try not to jump, but a couple happened by accident.

Not arguing for STEEL cranks, only highlighting that when aluminum fails it usually just lets go...

Arguing that clydes have seen higher catastrophic failure with weight weenie cranks (ultegra comes to mind) then more pedestrian models like tiagra or Deore...

Big ring bite is nothing compared to the gouges a failed crank can do...

That's all...

dr_lha

Not much since breaking a crank arm. FYI I was standing at the time the crank broke, so it's given me a bit of a complex about it. That said I'm lighter these days (thanks cycling!) so maybe not so much of an issue.
I've never heard of widespread issues with Clydes riding higher end cranks, I'll admit. The crank I broke would never be considered "high end" coming as it did on a bottom end Spesh mountain bike.

Bill Kapaun

IF you weigh 355, 28mm tires may be on the "thin" side for you. (I weigh 250+ and am "pushing it" on 25mm tires)
Get a tire big enough so that you don't have to air it up hard as a rock to prevent pinch flats. A bit of "squish" reduces "road buzz" to your hands tremendously. It also absorbs impact stresses to your spokes/wheels.
There's also nothing wrong with using a slightly larger tire on the rear.
As you lose weight, you can go down in tire size.

Personally, If I were in your position, I wouldn't invest heavily in this next bike.
I'd get it for an interim bike until I had lost at least 50 more lbs. Then reward yourself-

Jarrett2

I'm 275 lbs riding on 25's and I don't feel that they are uncomfortable nor do they pinch flat on me. Granted that's on a carbon fiber Roubiax.

I've got 28's on my touring bike and I know I've had over 300lbs rolling with that bike with no issues.

That is also the same road bike/wheels that I rode when I alone weighed 325 pounds. Stock it came with Specialized Roubaix Pro, 120TPI, aramid bead, 700x25/28c tires on it. They were also fine.

I suspect a 28 would be fine for the OP, but 30 is fine too. Might as well stick with the LBS recommendation if they are standing behind it.

Also, I haven't heard much on Clydes breaking cranks. If there are some reports, I'd definitely like to read them to get familiar with the specifics.

Null66

Sorry, I glossed over that you were hurt.
I hope you didn't lose muscle.

Please understand that your previous crank was old. The way aluminum fails, age matters. Micro-fractures merge to larger ones... Metal fatigue is interesting (until someone gets hurt). Google the inspections on airplanes, really amazing. They actually track take off and landing counts per air frame to time inspections. Every time it flexes, it cracks a little.

I couldn't stand on my old Fuji Tourer. It is a huge limitation. I would tear the axle free and tire would jam into the chain stays. Almost all the mechanics could not understand... Few of them broke 150... I tried all the tricks, various monster skewers... All but solid axles. I tried to sprint on an orange light. Ended up stopped dead with an on coming car...

Ernest Gagnon, suffered a failure... He published a picture of his leg and one of his the broken crank... some thing walled hollow thing... expensive, yes... I think other references to failures perhaps crazyguy on a bike... but memory is kinda weak on that. Hopefully that brain cell will wake up...

dr_lha

No, just a couple of lacerations and a lot of blood. Didn't even have to go to the ER, but I do still have scars. They just added to the many scars I have from bike riding though!

Yes indeed, it's one of those things you don't really think about until it happens to you. I think now I wouldn't want to go more than 5 years on a crankset without replacing it.



I'll take a poke around the forums.

bigfred 

In over 30 years of riding, at 250-300lbs, I've broken freewheels, cassettes, chains, pedal and bottom bracket spindles and taco'ed my fair share of wheels. But, knock on alloy, I have yet to break a crank arm, despite using both cheap (noname) and top of the line (Record and Dura Ace) components.

I highly suspect that the few recorded failures we do see are more times than not the result of some small manufacturing defect. There are far more clydes who break frames around the bottom bracket than there are crank arm failures. I really don't worry about this.

That being said, there is a significant and noticable difference between the stiffness of my older 180mm DuraAce arms and newer, but considerably heavier, 200mm Andel arms. Used on the same frame the DAs flex considerably more. Still they haven't failed. Nor have an antique pair of 180mm Campy Record cranks that have had the simple modification of relieving the known stress riser at the arm/spider junction through use of a rat tail file.

Anyhow, until a pattern emerges of one particular brand and model of crank being more prone to failure than the others, I consider it a non-issue.

bigfred 

Thanks.

I've been off grid and off the bike for a few months. Mrs. Fred and I moved cities. So, Nov./Dec. was a full on effort to refit our modest sailboat and get it ready for a cruise, as well as pack the house up. Dec. 24th was her last day at work and on the 31st we watched our possessions in a shipping container get hauled away. We spent Jan. cruising our way to our new home and have been unpacking and settling in for the last 4 weeks. Just started getting back on the bike and also working at loosing all the weight I've gained over that period:-( And, have finally found time to visit BF and check up on what has been going on.

dr_lha

I've done both. Does that make me special?

bigfred 

Didn't your mother tell you, "You're definately special." ? But, that probably doesn't have anything to do with how many bike bits you've broken :-)

The concern around such breakages is large. There's a great opportunity for serious injury. However, I don't think crank selection needs to be anywhere near the top of the list of concerns for a clyde with a limited budget considering a new bike.

In my mind, tires, wheels and frame would occupy the first three lines of my suggested list of concerns to the OP. Cranks would only come close to the top as a consequence of having to decide between double or triple chainrings and arm length availability. At lengths of 180-200mm our choices of crank arm are already severly limited.