sdn40

Just looking to be educated on some of the narrower crank arms that are / were produced for my winter project.

You know the story. Instead of clicking the watch button late one night, I placed the low bid knowing I wouldn't get it. I just wanted to see what the market would be. Mine was the only bid. The great thing is that the chrome is 9.5 out 10 and the paint is nowhere near as bad as the ad picture - see below. I have some Ultegra parts laying around and the choice of 9 or 10 speed brifters. My eyes tell me to go with narrow crank arms to keep things in proportion. Still mulling over how to treat the frame. I'm going the bling route. Polished and buffed Dura-Ace aero seatpost and Nitto stem already in hand

Salamandrine 

By narrow, I guess you mean the traditional cotterless cranks with solid (not hollow) arms?

For that era bike, one idea would be to look for an Ultegra 6500. It was the last solid arm Ultegra crank, and should be compatible with 9/10 speeds. It's more or less appropriate to that era bike. The only hassle is the octalink BB, but that is not that big a deal. Still available.

Many modern Sugino cranks are available that will work with 9 or 10 speed chains. There's other retro offerings from VO, Rivendell, etc.

Genuine vintage solid arm cotterless cranks generally speaking ended with 8 speed in the 90s. While some might be coaxed into working with 9 speed chains, there could be hassles.

juvela

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By narrow are you referring to the Q factor?

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sdn40

Nope - I mean the actual width of the crank arm.
I want this

instead of this

in silver

juvela

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Thank you for the clarification!

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Salamandrine 

If you want it to work with 9 or 10 speed brifters, your best bet is something like this: https://www.suginoltd.co.jp/us/products/touring/xd.html
It's a traditional cotterless crank but with modern chainrings meant for 9/10 speed chains.



What you are calling "narrow" are just regular cotterless cranks that were the standard for like 50 years. There's hundreds of them. Most if not all were used during the 5/6/7 speed era and that's why vintage ones won't play nice with a super narrow chain. I suggest something like the above. If you want to go fancier, there's the Sugino Mighty Tour, which is equal if not better than Dura Ace and costs about the same.

Also, that bike is probably set up with 126 rear end, and will need to be spread to 130 and realigned to use modern road standard hubs.

TenGrainBread 

Nothing narrower than some old steel cottered cranks. I have a feeling you are looking for some square tapers though.

The classic cotterless "skinny" crank is the Stronglight 49d. On your Schwinn you probably want something a little more modern though. Suntour Superbe Pro cranks would work.

plonz 

Lots of good options for you. On a frame-up Circuit build, I like Shimano 600EX, Ultregra or Dura Ace 7400 groups. I opted for the latter on my Circuit. All have classic crankset looks IMO.

repechage

I stand "ankles" in, I can thank corrective casts to fix that my mother did not stretch, I was quite cramped up upon delivery... anyway.
those Sugino, TA (with the original bottom bracket) Ritchey, and Avocet all were quite narrow at the bottom bracket, the "Q" factor. they all save for the TA get wider across the pedal flats.

Kuromori

Q-factor is actually the width of the crank at the pedal flats, the rarely mentioned U-factor (these letters don't actually mean anything) is the width at the spindle, just in case you ever check manufacturer specs. It should also be noted that there are 2-piece cranks with relatively narrow (not Campy NR/SR narrow). I've seen a 2-piece crank that sort of replicates the fluted Campy look from some fixie shops. The older SRAM 10-speed cranks and current Apex doubles for example are relatively inoffensive when it comes to crank arm width. On the other hand, there are many square taper cranks that look beefy. I'm not exactly sure what genuine vintage solid arm cranks exactly means, but Campy kept making square tapers into the 10 speed era (not worth it due to BCD), Shimano made 9 with Tiagra which never got proper hollowtech (low end, but shiny), Truvativ and FSA also made some (often black), but these don't really look that vintage and look a bit chunky. There's no reason you couldn't just take a C&V crank and put modern rings on it. I do notice that brifters behave better with ramped and pinned chainrings.

sdn40

That Dura-Ace looks pretty sweet and even more narrow than the old school norm if my eyes are correct. How do you like your Circuit ? Does it compare to anything else ?

plonz 

I thought I’d like the Circuit a lot more than I do. It’s a nice ride but fairly uninspiring and a little harsh. I chalk it up to the 59cm frame being 1cm larger than my other bikes and the Vittoria Open Pave tires which I’m convinced ride like rocks. I also ride a 58cm Schwinn Tempo with 6 speed Shimano Arabesque that feels just as responsive and a bit more comfortable. All my bikes are setup with the same measurements regardless of frame size. My common sense tells me the Circuit is definitely the speedier machine so I’m thinking my wheel/tire combo are the culprits.