awesome.

you know i might just be crazy, it's not that far off. it's probably just fine.

i think what i said about the 1/8 chain on the 3/32 cog is probably what's causing the noise, and the substantially worse bb was what was causing the "extra" friction. that and i probably didn't put the cranks on tight enough the first time.

the 25 dollars for the 107 is worth it just to get rid of that terrible vb bb. that thing was like made of sand.

So the definitive answer is 110(.5) or 107mm bottom brackets as they both have the same amount of drive side protrusion. So the Alien website had a misprint in the text with '103' when the BB pictured is actually a 107.

Good stuff.

Woohoo! i hope everyone reads through all of my dumb posts...

110.5 is the correct spindle length for these cranks...

it was just that i was running a 3/32 cog on the 1/8 chain that caused a lot of noise and i didn't torque down the crank bolt far enough because i was afraid of breaking it.

that and the VB bb that is included is absolute CRAP that will put as much friction on the drivetrain as a bad chainline. seriously, it's terrible. if you're going to spend this much on cranks, spend another 20 and get something worthwhile.

i just punished these things on a group ride through 23 miles of hills and they're very much worth it if you can swing more for a good bb.

Just spend $150 for a Phil Wood and throw all future fiscal responsibility out the door.