Originally Posted by
robtown
I just saw a SRAM/Trutativ installation video [mine are FSA]. Two things are apparent. First, I was much too stingy on the grease. Second, the cranks will have a lot of resistance initially. They showed a newly installed crank being given a good initial spin. It stopped in less than two complete turns. That matches what I've seen. I'm planning to remove the cranks and apply some more grease.
Watching your cranks spin without load is useless. The external bearing cranks won't spin as freely as some other designs, true, but it doesn't mean much.