FLyBOy

Hey, awhile back I got a new crankset, so obviosly I had my old one taken off. Well my friend has a 1-peice crankset (mostlikely unsealed) on his old Dyno and was wanting to buy my old crankset. Here is my old cranksets specs:

1) Forged 100% cromoly crank arms. (They're not tubular)

2) Machined 19mm, 8-spline cromoly spindle.

3) Unsealed, 9-ball bearing rings.

4) Aluminum thread-on dustcaps, for both sides.

5) And all of the original spacers and acsessories that it came stock with on my bike.

The crank arms are slightly scratched, but are in excellent condition. I've had this crankset on my bike for a little under a year, but I've kept it (as I do with all of my bikes components) in excellent shape. I've cleaned every component off, so it's all ready to be installed. So since it's used and all, and I'll probably not need them again, what would you recomend a fair price to sell them for?

PS: I forgot to mention that he'll probably have to have the local bike shop install them, and that'll cost him an extra 20 to 30 dollars. And there is one thing that I'm not sure about. One of the ball bearing rings doesn't keep the balls held in; so in other words, when I pop the balls into the ring they just roll back out. The other ring still has the ball bearings in it, and they don't fall out, so I don't know if that is how it's suposed to be or not. It just came like that when I got it back from the shop. Would that be something that would need to be replaced? Because if it is, it would cost him even more, and I want it to be a fair deal for him. Thanks alot!

CMcMahon

Twenty, twenty-five bucks. And, yes, he'll probably need a new bearing, which shouldn't cost more than a couple of dollars.

BMXTRIX

He should not buy your cranks. Your old cranks are a spec. That is, the manufacturer of your bike made $5.00 3-piece cranks to put on your bike so that they could advertise the bike with 3-piece cranks. Forged 3-piece cranks w/unsealed bearings typically are more likely to fail and break than 1-piece cranks.

Tubular 3-piece 4130/4140 cranks w/sealed bottom brackets are a completely different story. But, I would not sell something like that to a friend. Some dumb kid, perhaps... but even then. If your friend really wants to buy them, I would let him know this stuff and then offer them for 10 bucks or something. Enough so you can go see a movie... More likely I would just hang onto them in case my current cranks had some unexpected problem.

CMcMahon

I don't think that they're really that low in price, ~P~; I remember forged GT three-piecers going for about sixty or seventy in shops just a few years back.

BMXTRIX

I remember them breaking... all of them. The Haro ones broke, the GT ones broke... they all did. They simply aren't any better than 1-piece cranks. The GT ones may have included a sealed bottom bracket as well, which at least adds that to the value of the cranks. These are caged ball bearing units with the cranks. Add the fact they are used to the mix...

That's just my take on it though, I don't put any value on cheapie forged 3-piece cranks at all.

Oh, and new bearings probably aren't needed. The bearing cage can be wrapped around the bearings with needle nose pliers. Check www.bmxtrix.com -> how-to -> fix your bike and look at the rear hub/freecoaster how-to there. It shows a caged bearing with a couple bearings that fell out and what to do. As long as the bearings aren't scored then there is nothing to replace.

FLyBOy

All right, that's about what I was thinking too. Thanks!



I don't quite know what to say about this. His current 1-peice cranks are like 3/4 of an inch thick in diameter, so they are really puiny compared to my old crankset. And his arn't made out of cromoly, which makes them even weaker right? I don't what to say your advice is bad, but I just don't know.



I don't think that they're that low in price either, I mean they're cromoly, cromoly spindle, and way better than any old 1-peicer that's not even cromoly. He got his bike from a friend used for $25. So his friend had that bike before him for who knows how long.


In conclussion, I'm not sure if I'm going to sell or not. I would hate to see my freind go off of a jump and have the crankset that I sold him break and him get hurt. I know that's the risk of BMX, but he's my friend, and I don't want to swindle him or anything with a cheap crankset. But still, I think mine would be better than his old used 1-peicer, and I guess his 1-peicer would have as much chance of breaking as my 3-peicer would. I guess I'll just have to talk to him, and his dad. Thanks alot for the input guys, it's really helpful!


PS: I didn't mention that my friend is only thirteen, and weighs around 100 pounds.

CMcMahon

I'd completely forgotten about that; the GT ones were sealed.


Well, yeah, of course. They don't compare at all to a solid aluminum or a hollow 4130 or 4140 crank.

FLyBOy

So you don't think I should sell them then? I mean wouldn't they be better than a 1-peice? Actually, I don't know this for sure, but his almost looks like a 2-peice. Oh, I don't know!

bmexican

they sound like they're worth a good 3 dollars or so.

BMXTRIX

If there is nothing wrong with your friends cranks right now, then he should be saving his money. I don't recommend that anyone spend $80.00 on so-so product when for $100 bucks you can get an awesome product via the Internet or on eBay used. I definitely don't recommend replacing perfectly good 1-piece cranks with perfectly good 3-piece cranks that aren't any better at all.

It's like buying a desk from Ikea to replace the desk you got from Target. They both are low end desks that cost 100 bucks and will wear out much quicker than a high quality desk from Ethan Allen that costs 400 bucks. (weird paralel, but I couldn't think of anything)

Anyway, many 1-piece cranks are 4130 chromoly and are of very good quality and perfect for smaller riders. Your friend probably won't break your 3-piece cranks, but he also hasn't broken his 1-piece cranks. As the saying goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Save your cranks until someone actually needs some cheap cranks, then sell them for 20 bucks to that person.

FLyBOy

Ok, I see what you're saying, and it makes sense. Thanks alot man, you're really helpful! The only problem is that he really really wants them, and I don't want to disapoint him or anything like that, but like you said his aren't broken so he really doesn't need new ones right now. But if I do sell them, (wether he needs them or not) I want to make sure he and I get a fair deal out of it, 'cause I do want to make some money! LOL