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Old 09-10-09, 02:37 PM
  #13  
ZenNMotion
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: San Francisco East Bay
Posts: 247

Bikes: 2016 Tom Kellogg steel Spectrum all-road, '89 Eisentraut Rainbow Traut, '81 Marinoni Special, 2018 Ritchey Road Logic, 2006 Ritchey Breakaway Cross, 2009 custom Joe Wells alu Tsunami CX, '71 Favorit (Czech Rep) Special, 2012 Co-Motion Tandem

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I have the Ritchey Pro cranks in 110 (compact) bcd. I've used them for cross, they're fairly light, and I like the octalink BBs, and they're a good crank at a great price.

But sell them off while they're still new and get something else for your Kelly.

The first and biggest problem has been identified above- Your frame requires a longer BB spindle, I don't know exactly how long it needs to be but I was considering a Kelly and shyed off the purchase when I learned about the BB/chainline issues that people were asking about on several forums. I think most solutions involved a triple or MTB BB. The Ritchey cranks require a V1 model Octalink, these only come in double, roadbike sized spindle lengths, you'll be very challenged to find an Octalink V1 any longer than Shimano's standard road double 109mm spindle. Not to say that it's impossible, but good luck- Longer Octalinks spindles are found in the V2 model for MTB and triples, but you cannot use a V2 with those pro/wcs (double) Ritchey cranks- the V2 splined end is longer than a V1 and pressing the Ritcheys onto a V2 will end in tears and a ruined crank- you wouldn't be the first to discover this. Another small problem is that the Ritchey cranks use the crank arm as one of the five spider attachments. Most aftermarket chainrings are set up for cranks that use 5 distinct spider arms, so the pin that prevents the chain from accidently jamming between the crank arm and the large ring is in the wrong place. Not really a big deal, but I've never found aftermarket rings from Ritchey and the aftermarket/replacement rings commonly found (eg FSA) don't have the pin in the right place for Ritchey style cranks.


A better option, for a similar price is a 110 bcd Sugino XD crank. I have a couple of those- similar weight to Ritchey (and Ultegras of a few years ago), very nicely polished silver. These use a square taper BB, easily found in many lengths at several price points. Nothing wrong with square taper, Octalink is a slightly lighter design than square taper, but not by much. Sugino chain rings are excellent quality are easily found relatively cheap (eg check Harris cycle for an online source), Sugino rings are usually without pins and ramps but you don't really need ramped chainrings for the relatively close 10 tooth jumps (eg 36-46t) found on cross rigs. It's really only the large ring that's ramped anyway, and if you really want that you can find FSA aftermarket rings. I think the Sugino XD models are perfect for cyclocross, especially at the pricepoint you're looking at. Several models of FSA cranks (eg Gossamer) can also be found at 110 bcd and are not too expensive, but I've seen and heard of too many problems with their proprietary "mega-exo" bottom brackets with the external bearings from team mates and various forums. FSA wouldn't be my first choice because I think the FSA external bearing model BB's are junk, at least the cheaper ones are (my opinion- YMMV). Here's a random link to the Sugino- look around on the web, or your LBS can order them for you.
http://www.velo-orange.com/suxddocr48.html

Last edited by ZenNMotion; 09-10-09 at 02:48 PM.
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