Help me with an upgrade question
 

I'm going to order a Bike Friday Pakit SS 16" folding bike. I'm trying to get it under 18 lbs and put components on it that I won't want to upgrade later (got the $ now, may not have it later on). It comes with a pretty generic drivetrain setup.

"Alloy single 165mm 130 53t w/alloy chain guard 111.5mm BF Standard BB, Sealed 68mm English"

Any suggestions for a crankset that would be lighter and more durable (if not an oxymoron) and not more than a hundred bucks? Definitely not looking to spend $350 like some I've seen, but around a hundred (or less is okay).

My first single speed so I don't know what to look for...thanks.

Buying a bike with the immediate intent of a thorough upgrade is almost always false economy. Bike parts are generally more expensive bought piecemeal than when bought assembled on a bike.
You need to have a considerable stash of parts, or be good at/have the time for bargain hunting for a thorough upgrade to make sense financially.
Always try to buy a bike as close as possible to as you want it straight from the start.
There isn’t much weight to be saved on any single item. To get a bike that’s lighter than average it has to consist (almost entirely) of parts that are lighter than average.
The crank you have on doesn’t look particularly chunky. At a guess, I’d put your weight savings to maybe two ounces, if you’re lucky.
Overall I think you’d be better off postponing your purchase while you save the money needed to buy a bike with the spec you want instead.
In some cases, even taking a loan to buy a higher spec bike is better than an all-out replacement of parts later.

I find the most noticible upgrade nearly always comes from upgrading the wheels/tires, while crankset is at the other end of the spectrum. It’s also far easier to shed weight here then in the drivetrain.

I remember when they had that model on Kickstarter - I asked them how a long and well established company like Bike Friday could, in good conscience, use crowd-funding just to launch a new model. They pretty much confessed that they were after "pre-bookings" to make sure it would sell before they went ahead with it.

That being said...

It is a pretty damned expensive bike to begin with, why would you want to cheap-out on a new crankset?

pakiT is marketed as the lightest folding bike out there - and you want to immediately fight to lose more grams on it?

Lastly - I am pretty sure the singlespeed is a belt-drive bike. If I am right - do you have any idea what is involved in changing the crank, or even just a chainring or belt on a drive-train like that? You have a $100 budget? Hahaha - that's a good one...

The standard model is chain drive.

You're right - my bad

But even the "standard model" chain drive SS is $1100 - yup, a $100 crank (and don't forget the matching BB) is definitely what one wants to "upgrade" to on this bike ;)

Exactly. I saw that $1,100.00 and went what? Why? For what?

And you wont save any weight with a $100.00 crank. Even expensive cranks won't be much lighter, if at all.

I appreciate all the comments, but here's the thing. I'm old, OLD...69 years, and the weight of the bike matters a lot to me because I will be carrying it a lot. I currently have a 20" BF and it's around 26 pounds with seat/pedals and I can't carry it more than a small flight of stairs. My son lives up 3 flights with no elevator and I ride to visit and then we go riding. And, no, I don't want to ask him to carry the bike up the stairs for me, that's just the way I feel. So, I configured the bike with a titanium seat post, elite fork, velocity rims, and other weight saving items. The SS is partly for weight but also I ride my BF in pretty much one gear - I hardly ever shift so the gears are pointless. Finally, I've a Shareroller friction drive coming eventually which will provide motorized climbing gears for the rare times I need them (just when I want to bike to Tilden Park).
I get you all think the price is crazy but it meets my needs perfectly (but any weight savings is good), I'll be able to take in stores on all my errands (been very car-lite for 5 years) so I don't have to lug a heavy u lock anymore, etc. etc. So - don't judge me =).
I upgraded the cranks on my current BF (bought used and restored by me) from these same cranks to FSA Sora's with a hollowtech BB and the difference was remarkable in smoothness. So I'm already familiar with the stock crank and I know I would appreciate a nicer one. the stock one is 750 grams, I'd like to go lighter but definitely not heavier.
Any reasonable replacements would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Granny on a SS

That's cool, but he should insist on doing it for you. I'm old fashioned that way. :)


In all seriousness, I don't think you can save any meaningful weight at $100.00.

He's a good son, I'm just stubborn, lol. Ok, not gonna drop weight but what about quality, smoothness? The standard crank is not just that lovely to pedal (big improvement on my current bike with the FSA/hollotech). Because it is single speed and I'm not knowledgeable enough yet about them, I don't even know what to ask BF for in terms of a crank upgrade. I wrench on my current bike but it's an 8 speed, I've got some learning to do. I did figure out I want a chain with a master link in case it gets stuck on the dropout during a tire repair!

Does "not lovely" mean that it doesn't rotate smoothly? Does it feel rough or stiff? If so, the crank isn't the culprit, it's the bottom bracket that needs replacing. A healthy, decent quality bottom bracket will spin wonderfully even with an inexpensive crank.

Ah, well since i replaced both together I would not have discerned that. Given that, is there a better kind of bottom bracket that has smoother bearings or whatever, that would work in place of the square taper?

If you replace a sickly square taper with a healthy square taper you get so close to mechanical ”perfection” - WRT to the task - that it’ll take pretty decent lab equipment to notice any further improvement.
And this is even while staying in a modest $25-40 range.

Cool, thank you!

If you shop around you can find Shimano UN-55 bottom brackets for ~ $15.00. The ones I have (still am) used are buttery smooth and dead silent. Will they last forever? I don't know, but so far they are a good value.