im looking to get some actual track cranks and was pretty set on going with either the grand mighty or the 75.... is the grand mighty worth the extra 100$... i already have a zen ring that i got for cheap, and am just waiting to complete my drivetrain with either of the two, and a hatta bottom bracket..... opinions?

forum user and obscure, interesting knowledge guru (and Man of Mystery) 11.4 has written a bunch on these cranks, and the differences. maybe he'll chime in, or, of course, you could search for what he's already written.

Get some bulletproofs and donate to charity, you conspicuous consumer!

Why do you want "actual track cranks"? Chances are there will be no practical difference between 175s and RDs for you let alone between 175s and grand mightys. Really then it comes down to is it worth an extra hundred dollars for that much more bling to you not the actual forging differences between the cranks.

the 75s look nicer than the grand mighties. A penny for your thoughts.

If you're at the point at which you need Grand Mightys over 75s, $100 will be the least of your financial worries.

But some things you just want. If you want the bling, then I say do it. Everybody and their mom's got 75s.

This logic can also be applied to Deep Vs vs. Campy Shamals, or Aerospoke vs. Hed 3. (Not to say anyone ever needs an Aerospoke...)

seriously... I just ordered RDs with a chainring AND the matching bottom bracket, and the total still came in at least $50 cheaper than the sugino 75 crank arms alone. On the downside, should I ever go to Japan with my bike, I won't be able to race it.

the longevity of your cranks, the stiffness of your crankarms, durability of your chainring bolts and the overall weight are all practical reasons to get 75's over RD's. i lost a crankarm going through an intersection a while back and now i won't use anything less than Sugino 75's.

also, the Grand Mighty chainrings are the only ones you can get that are perfectly circular. i mean perfectly. i'm not 100% positive of this, but i also believe they're a higher grade aluminum than the 75's. if you're not planning on doing velodrome racing with an insanely high gearing, the grand mighty's are probably overkill. but they do look sweet.


but if you're riding under 100 miles a week and don't do a lot of sprinting, i'd say the sugino RD is a perfectly justifiable option.

-The vast majority of cranks will die from user error not their own weakness. Longevity is therefore pretty much a non-issue
-Stiffness is also a non-issue on most bikes since the frame flex will dwarf crank flex.
-Last I checked chainring bolts are cheap and easily replaceable.
-Weight? what is the difference between 75's and RDs?

Really though if you truly care about any of these factors you're best served with a hollowtech II or something not a sugino 75.

How exactly did you "lose a crankarm," what type was it and would a 75 have faired differently?

So am I to assume that you are either born Japanese, or have won a world champtionship or olympic event in track? Because otherwise an NJS bike will only be good for riding over to watch the keirin and thats about it.

Just make sure the hatta is ISO!

zing!

is this a case of you not understanding my US sarcasm or me not understanding your Canadian sarcasm? I'm so confused.

Gaijin aren't allowed to race Keirin. Your non-NJS cranks wouldn't be the problem, it's your non-NJS body that's the problem.

What I said was not sarcastic, it was facetious. Still holds true though.

i "lost a crankarm" when i first started messing on a ****ty conversion i bought used. the cranks were sugino, but i have no idea what kind, and i have no idea how old they were. anyway, the bolt in the non driveside started coming loose pretty frequently, and one morning it was really shifty. then it started to wobble pretty badly when i was going over a bridge. it was still early enough in the morning for there to be a decent amount of commuter car traffic, so i kinda had to suck it up and keep moving at pace, because there's nowhere to pull over on the bridge.

anyway, the bolt was super loose and the crankarm went off with it once i got into the intersection on the other side. now imagine a kid on a bike one legging it through traffic to the shoulder with a box on his handlebars and girlie screaming like a champ, then running back into traffic to grab the arm before it got hit by a van.

the bolt and the BB spindle were fine, but the arm was pretty chewed up where it fits onto the taper.

so i stand behind my stance on higher quality cranks. but you are right that there really isn't a worthwhile difference in weight with the RD's and 75's. oops!

Thats user error right there... The friction between the bolt and bottom bracket were the problem, and the crank arm dying was the product as it unseated (bb spindles and bolts are hard steel, cranks are soft AL and always lose). This would have happened regardless of the crank, and in any case it only happened on one side meaning its not really the cranks fault. You always gotta make sure your crank bolts are tight (speaking from experience).

I would consider Nelson Vails and Michael Hubner gaijin.

get the 75s then take the extra $100 and anodize them some crazy color. I vote pink
BAM! different and better looking and still a crank thats tops .....really what else on your bike is Champagne color anyway.

I believe Andy Trackcvnt knows some Aussies who race keirin, so I don't think the whole pure blood myth holds any weight.

Also, roundness is a function of the bottom bracket, chainring, crank arm, and cog, so you'd better man up on the whole system if you want to impress your friends with the lack of eccentricity in your drivetrain...

actually i have road cranks that are ****ed, with a ****ty bottom bracket. i got my tax return, and have money to blow, so i was looking to upgrade the drivetrain on my bike for a better ride...
....these forums always seem to be havens for elitist pricks that know nothing of the person they are talking down to. cool.

On an earlier thread on this subject, someone who sounded like he knew his business said the Grand Mighties undergo 26 separate forging processes.
The 75's undergo significantly fewer, the exact number of which escapes my memory right now.

What else would make one crank worth more than another, or, if not worth more, what would make one crank COST more?

Well, I don't care too much about finish.
The "champagne" finish doesn't appeal to me.

However, true circularity and in-plane precision matter.

Lightness matters, if strength and stiffness go along with it.

I would like to think that the Grand Mighties come out stronger and lighter for the 26 forging steps, and that Sugino makes fewer of them on better machines with more experienced workers, which would make for a lighter, stronger, more circular and precise crank for the money.

But I don't know that for sure.

yo, i had a similar experience to goldenskeletron, except it didn't involve not getting hit by a van. i mean, i didn't get hit by a van, but that's only cause there were no vans around. anyway, i had some low end 110bcd sugino cranks. i remember though that they were in decent condition, cause i was taught how to crank-pull, remove a bottom bracket, and whatnot with them - and i was taught to look at the square tapered interface...

well, then i started riding a lot. and dontcha know that despite my care for them - retightening the bolts - they got super chewed up. worked themselves loose on a couple of occasions. and are now lying abandoned in the parts box. i won't use em anymore.

This is the user error I spoke of... someone at some point(possibly before you got them) mounted them incorrectly and they got stripped. It'll happen with bulletproofs and it'll happen with grand mighties.

Buy what you want but unless you are incredibly strong and have a super stiff bike you are just buying bling not performance. If bling is how you want to spend your moeny don't get defensive just admit it and move on. If you thought this was going to be a performance upgrade do some research on the cranksets as well as other upgrades and consider where your money is best spent(clipless pedals? better shoes? upgrade to OS bars and stem? etc)

everything on my bike is exactly what i want except for my cranks/bottom bracket. i was simply looking for people that had experience owning or just riding both sets of cranks, to see how the ride felt to those people. ive been reading up on crank arms for over the past three weeks deciding on what to get, and ive decided to go with either of the two. just looking for people who could give me their opinion on both sets, not simply looking for bling.... id like to buy something that ill be able to ride for a long time, and switch them out to another frameset however far down the line that will be.