Biffle

Can someone recomend a good crankset for under $70?

jpdesjar

I got the bulletproof crankset for my singlespeed bike, I don't remember it being too expensive.
I procured mine from Ebay. It looks like Harris Cyclery has them too for 40$
I don't think you're going to find much for 70 bucks.

PUCHfixie

There are some nice looking pake cranksets for like $65 bucks on ebay. they look decent. https://cgi.ebay.com/Pake-Cranks-BLAC...3A2%7C294%3A50

W!LL

pake or bulletproof

jpdesjar

You may want to save a little more dough and get something nicer.
I do like my bulletproofs though, you can wipe the letters right off too with acetone.

mihlbach

I've tried bulletproofs and a few other cheap cranks. They suck.

Buy a pair of older square-taper Shimano 600 or 105 road cranks on ebay. Shimano cranks have always been among the best and they last forever. There is usually a glut of this stuff on ebay. You'll get twice the quality for half the price of the above suggestions.

Pennywize

save a bit more and buy some truvativ omniums.

they're usually listed cheap on ebay.

jpdesjar

Why do bulletproofs suck? They are pretty stiff cranks, I think they work very well for the money.
I am just curious about your experience with them.

jonny1309

Not to hi-jack, but I have an old 105 crank for a conversion I'm working on and I was told that the chain ring bolt circle is different then what is now standard/common.

mihlbach

Its probably 130mm which is standard.

glacialreign

for an extra $20 you can get the andel crankset. i like them a lot. you could probably find it for <70 w/o the chainring if you're just looking for the cranks...

TheBikeRollsOn 

Sugino perhaps? I just got an XD crankset for $60 I haven't had a chance to ride it yet but it looks pretty.

mihlbach

Sure they work and I'm sure they are plenty stiff, but stiffness isn't everything. The finish is bad, the Q-factor is huge, the pedal threads look pretty shoddy (on my pair at least) and compared to a good set of road cranks, they just look cheap, like they came off a wal-mart bike.

PedallingATX

I used Pake cranks and they SUCK.

First of all, the chainring was FAR from round. I know a lot of cheap rings will be out of round, but this was bad.

Second of all, the pedal threads were really shoddy. I ended up having my right pedal seized onto the crank. I tried to take it off adn I couldn't. And yes, I used grease....

Third of all, the finish scratched up and wore off really easily. They wre black and there were numerous silver spots on them after only a day or two of riding.

I would spend extra 30 and go w/ Andel at least. I think cranks matter a lot. I have 75s now and they are fantastic

jpdesjar

What is Q-factor again?
When I got my bulletproofs they came with shimano ring which was nice. I didn't really check out the pedal threads.

jpdesjar

You did a fine job repeating Mihlbach's post.

Edit: Didn't mean to be assy.

PedallingATX

ok?

A) We were talking about 2 different cranks, so actually my post had nothing to do w/ his

B) I gave my personal experience w/ Pake cranks, nothign wrong w/ that

C) Just b/c it happens to be similar to Mihlbach's experience w/ cheap cranks might not be a coincidence. Maybe, they are both just crap cranks. Which they are

D) Don't be an ass

jpdesjar

Sorry, I may have been a bit assy there.

mihlbach

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cranks.html

"The tread, or "Q factor" of a crank set is the horizontal width of the cranks, measured from where the pedals screw in. The wider the tread, the farther apart your feet will be. It is generally considered a good idea to keep the tread fairly narrow. There are three main reasons for this:

* The hip joint is optimized for walking, and in normal walking the footsteps are pretty much in line, with little or no "tread."

* For standing pedaling, the farther out the pedals are from the centerline, the harder you have to pull on the handlbar to counterbalance the tendency of the pedaling force to tip the bike sideways.

* The wider the tread, the higher the bottom bracket needs to be to prevent clipping a pedal while pedaling through a turn."

jpdesjar

Thanks for the info.
It makes perfect sense.

mihlbach

A wide Q-factor isn't the worst thing in the world. MTB triples, for instance, are wide to accommodate the triple crank and more laterally positioned chainline. But thats a compromise you don't need to make on a FG/SS. If you ride several thousand miles on a pair of narrow-Q track cranks, then switch to a crankset with a big fat Q, its feels dopey and inefficient until you adjust to having your feet spread wider. Riding behind someone with a wide Q also looks really dopey and inefficient to me, especially when its a short person riding a crankset with a huge Q.

jpdesjar

Where does the name Q-factor come from I wonder?

mihlbach

In human biomechanics, "Q" refers to the inward angle of the human femur, which results in your knees being closer together than your hips...its associated with being bipedal and is exaggerated in women (due to their wider hips). Crank width effects your Q, hence Q-factor, I suppose. That still doesn't explain why "Q" is used.

skeletor3000

Save up some extra bucks and get some Andels (or Kazane or All-City or whatever other brands they slap on those cranks). I've been very happy with mine. I think they run around the $100 range.

REMspeedwagon

+1 The only good value cranks I think anyone should buy are the Andel track cranks.
Anything else just buy an old 130bcd square taper road double.