twentynine inches • one gear • zero travel

Building A Road Bike In Pictures #8 The Crankset

Already happily running a 3D double crankset on my Niner Air 9 Carbon, Rotor was on the top of my list of crank choices for the new road bike. When I first got to put my hands on the new 3D30 design at Eurobike last fall, there was no doubt that these Spanish cranks with their fat, 30mm aluminum spindle would make their way onto my next bike. Searching for a set online, I found the good folks at Radsport Smit who didn’t just have the 3D30 cranks at an awesome price, but they carried the Cervelo Edition. When DHL delivered the cranks, I found another wonderful surprise inside the box. The 3D30 Cervelo Edition came with a set of round 50/34T chainrings. While the 50T compact ring will not find an immediate use, the 34T ring is just the size I run on the singlespeed.

New Rotor 3D30 (3D+ as of Eurobike 2010) Road Crank My third Rotor crankset was going to be their 3D road cranks, but now the Rotor guys just published photos of their newest development, the 3D30 crankset. It’s designed around a 30 mm hollow aluminum axle with external bearings to fit standard threaded bottom bracket shells. Weight should be 467 grams for 172.5/130BCD. Well, I’m waiting for these puppies. Zoom

New Rotor 3D30 (3D+ as of Eurobike 2010) Road Crank

My third Rotor crankset was going to be their 3D road cranks, but now the Rotor guys just published photos of their newest development, the 3D30 crankset. It’s designed around a 30 mm hollow aluminum axle with external bearings to fit standard threaded bottom bracket shells. Weight should be 467 grams for 172.5/130BCD. Well, I’m waiting for these puppies.

Two Sweet Rotor Cranksets

Zoom

Back in January, I ordered a set of 2x9 Rotor 3D cranks for the Air 9 Carbon build. Since frame and fork from Niner are delayed, those nice new cranks were just sitting in a box. A few weeks ago, Rotor posted some photos of the 3D cranks on Facebook and I commented about the red bits on those cranks - they were gold on mine. The good folks at Rotor said that those parts were easily changed if I sent my crankset back. Well, a few emails back and forth and my cranks were on the way to Rotor France. Instead of swapping the bits, they offered to exchange the whole crankset. At the same time, I ordered a set of the all new 2010 Agilis cranks to replace my aging Race Face Turbines and I’m planning to get a second 3D set for my road bike in a couple of months.

New AGILIS 2010 crankset If I wouldn’t already have their 2x9 3D crank, I would have a hard time choosing between the two now. The 3D crankset is a good match for the beefy carbon. The new Agilis is quite elegant, though. Compact Road:525g/517g (175/170mm)MTB 2x9:550g/542g (175/170mm) Zoom

New AGILIS 2010 crankset

If I wouldn’t already have their 2x9 3D crank, I would have a hard time choosing between the two now. The 3D crankset is a good match for the beefy carbon. The new Agilis is quite elegant, though.

Compact Road:525g/517g (175/170mm)
MTB 2x9:550g/542g (175/170mm)

The Beauty of Single Chainrings

There’s one component brand which I have not changed since 1991 - Action Tec. All my mountain bikes since then have been equipped with their chainrings. At first as a triple 48/36/24T setup, then either 34 or 36T single chainring setups on the various singlespeed bikes I’ve owned. These chainrings are the pure embodiment of reliable low-tech. In NorCal they lasted forever. On my Swiss mountain trails, they do show some signs of wear after a couple of years, but that’s no surprise considering the gear I mash up the hills. When it came to equip the new singlespeed with a chainring, there was no question what was going to be mounted, a heat treated 34T ELS chainring. Nothing nicer than a single ring crank.

Zoom

Rotor 3D 2x9 cranks I’ve been starting to buy components for my next bike project and today some really cool pieces waited at the post office - a set of Rotor 3D 2x9 cranks with titanium spindle. I’m really picky when it comes to cranks. There are only few out there I’d bolt onto a bike. First of all, they need to have a low Q-factor, be stiff, light, preferably have a 110/74 BCD and ultimately, I need to dig the design. Rotor’s 3D crank fit all that and some more. It’ll be a couple of months away until I can report back on how they perform, but out of the box I can say that these drilled out cranks of aluminum are wonderfully machined pieces of art. Zoom

Rotor 3D 2x9 cranks

I’ve been starting to buy components for my next bike project and today some really cool pieces waited at the post office - a set of Rotor 3D 2x9 cranks with titanium spindle. I’m really picky when it comes to cranks. There are only few out there I’d bolt onto a bike. First of all, they need to have a low Q-factor, be stiff, light, preferably have a 110/74 BCD and ultimately, I need to dig the design. Rotor’s 3D crank fit all that and some more. It’ll be a couple of months away until I can report back on how they perform, but out of the box I can say that these drilled out cranks of aluminum are wonderfully machined pieces of art.

AC Cranks And Boone Chainring For Sale

Time to let this nice chainring/crankset combo go! Originally, I bought the Boone ring for my Niner build. Wanting a tight Q-factor, I combined the chainring with a hand-polished and black-anodized XTR crank bolted to a narrow Dura-Ace BB. Nice idea, but it didn’t fit. Well then, it would just go on a Kelly that I was rebuidling. Got a wider Shimano BB for this frame, and once again, it didn’t fit. The Kelly had straight chainstays and the flat Boone ring had no clearance. So, here we are with a super-sweet chainring on a crank you don’t see often these days and no bike to put it on. If you got one, here’s your chance to get these parts some action.

Zoom

This old set of Shimano XTR M952 cranks found a second life on my Kelly 69er Deluxe. They were hand-polished then black anodized. They sport a 110mm Shimano 5-arm spider and the best of all chainrings - a 34T Action Tec ring in titanium. Zoom

This old set of Shimano XTR M952 cranks found a second life on my Kelly 69er Deluxe. They were hand-polished then black anodized. They sport a 110mm Shimano 5-arm spider and the best of all chainrings - a 34T Action Tec ring in titanium.

Tweetbox