Originally Posted by
globecanvas
Thanks for the tip! I have the tool (actually I have the enduro version which seems better because it clamps itself to the crank). I may bend your ear when I get around to actually doing this.
I wonder how tedious the swap is, compared to changing cassettes? Is it reasonable to change out the spider-ring for different races?
As mentioned above swapping the spider is really easy. It's a lockring holding it in place, unscrew that and you're done removing the spider. That part is comparable to changing a one-piece cassette.
However, also as mentioned above, removing the crank is necessary and not ideal. The crank is all aluminum, as is the spindle, so I have to think that there's more chance for wear as I remove/install the cranks.
Having said all that I've moved the 175 arms around quite a few times onto my two SRM spiders, as batteries died etc, and I've done a few removals for replacing bearings. If I were serious about doing more hill stuff I'd definitely swap spiders to get compact rings.