# Fixed Crank Set Dilemma (offshoot)



## Jezston (12 Jan 2012)

Thought I'd be better off starting my own thread than diverting al-fresco's thread, so here goes.

So before Christmas I bought a Dolan Track Champion frame second hand with the intention of building a nice, lightweight fixed road bike which I might have a go on the track with, too.

I've got the impression that a good starting point to work out what additional parts I need is the crankset - from there I can work out what my chainline will be and thus what bottom bracket and
then sprocket I should get to suit and what to be mindful of when choosing wheels.

My experience looking so far has led me on some long and fruitless paths. Find one set that look nice, then after looking and looking discover they are unsuitable, too expensive, too heavy or there's some major flaw with them.

I guess I'm after something fairly midrange/upper-midrange - I want something that performs well and is nice to ride, but can also handle a bit of weather and amateurish maintenance. I'm unlikely to ever try track riding seriously competitively so I don't think I need to be splashing out £300 on a Dura Ace crankset, especially if I need to spend another £100 a year on new chainrings - and conversely I don't want to spend £35 on budget stuff to find it gives me a bike no lighter and better to ride than my steel hack-fixed commuter.

Other stuff I've looked at also seems to limit what other parts I can get. For example, it seems if you get Miche anything, then you have to get miche everything else, and while say Miche cranksets are alright, their sprocket fittings and bottom brackets are crap. Similar with Sugino, and while I hear their bottom brackets are good, I'm not sure they make british-style fitting BBs that my frame requires.

Any suggestions? Only definite criteria I've established so far is that I'm probably going to run 48/17 (unless anyone thinks there's a better way to achieve the same ratio), I won't (well, can't) run a rear brake so it'll need to be capable of withstanding the forces involved in leg braking / skidding. Oh and it would be nice if it's not entirely silver - some black would be nice


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## Theseus (12 Jan 2012)

Well, until I got to the part of your post about Miche, I was going to suggest them as that is what I have on my bike. but since you have already discarded them I won't.


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## tyred (12 Jan 2012)

Have a look at the range of Sturmey Archer track chainsets. I fitted one on my Carlton and it's a decent, quality piece of kit for the money.


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## Jezston (12 Jan 2012)

Touche said:


> Well, until I got to the part of your post about Miche, I was going to suggest them as that is what I have on my bike. but since you have already discarded them I won't.


 
Only from what I've heard, happy to be told otherwise.


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## Jezston (12 Jan 2012)

tyred said:


> Have a look at the range of Sturmey Archer track chainsets. I fitted one on my Carlton and it's a decent, quality piece of kit for the money.


 
I have a SA FCT48 on my 3-speed, and it appears to be swaged. Also, at 768g they seem to be somewhat on the heavy side - e.g. I've seen £30 Stronglight cranks that are 450g, although the SRAM Omnium's which are supposed to be super-fancy are almost 850g. Not sure what the trade off is there.


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## Theseus (12 Jan 2012)

Jezston said:


> Only from what I've heard, happy to be told otherwise.


 
So far no problems, but I havn't had it on very long ( < 6mth )

As initially built, the bike came with an ISIS BB & cranks.
When the first ISIS BB went, I replaced with a Crank Bros Cobalt ISIS, this disintegrated on me and I replaced with another one under warranty.
When I needed to change the chainring through wear, since I was also having problems with the LH crank staying on I decided I wanted to get a square taper BB & chainset.


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## tyred (12 Jan 2012)

This is the sort of thing I've got. Definitely not swaged.


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## RecordAceFromNew (12 Jan 2012)

tyred said:


> This is the sort of thing I've got. Definitely not swaged.


Nice looking chainset, but if I were the OP I would check with the seller (allegedly it is the famous/infamous Dave Hinde) to confirm the 480g weight as advertised. It looks like a SA FCT series crank and on SA's website none is anywhere near that weight...

I did a bit of research when I needed a single chainset recently. To cut a long story short I found the Stronglight 55 about as light as you can get, they are standard equipment on Bromptons (typically in large to compensate for small wheels), and cheap enough to make chainring replacement irrelevant. I bought one, but I am not using it on a fixed so any specific concern regarding the arm/ring interface is also irrelevant to me.

The OP however might be interested to know that in my search I figured a potentially fairly economical option to achieve nearly the same weight is to use a light vintage Campag or DA square tapered double (650g is not uncommon) and ditch the large (say 100g) ring. An advantage of getting a Campag one would be that it is much easier/cheaper to get a light ISO bb than a light JIS bb, and that could make another 100g difference roughly.

Hope it helps.


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## Jezston (12 Jan 2012)

tyred said:


> This is the sort of thing I've got. Definitely not swaged.


 
Just been out to look at mine and you are quite right! It is indeed not swaged.

They are somewhat on the heavy side, though. I'd be quite happy to pay £100+ if it'll get me something better.


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## tyred (12 Jan 2012)

Personally, I'll only worry about an additional few hundred grams on the chainset when I don't have an additional few stone around my belly....


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## PpPete (12 Jan 2012)

RecordAceFromNew said:


> Nice looking chainset, but if I were the OP I would check with the seller (allegedly it is the famous/infamous Dave Hinde) .


 
I think Dave Hinde is fastpartsforbikes - could be wrong though. I've had a few bits from Highnbikes and never had a problem.


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## RecordAceFromNew (12 Jan 2012)

PpPete said:


> I think Dave Hinde is fastpartsforbikes - could be wrong though. I've had a few bits from Highnbikes and never had a problem.


I stand to be corrected.


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## Jezston (14 Jan 2012)

So, these:

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CSSTTR2K/stronglight_track_2000_crankset

Look nice, good reviews, reasonable weight and excellent price.

Any reason not to?

Also, how might I establish what crank length is ideal for me?
EDIT with my relatively short legs for my height, it appears 165mm would be ideal.
EDIT2 damn they are out of stock of 48t 165mm!


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## YahudaMoon (14 Jan 2012)

Stronglight make good kit. Campag make some super light track rings that will last for years and years. I got a campag track ring getting on for 15 year old

I not sure though I think you can't use anything longer than 165mm on track ?


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## fossyant (15 Jan 2012)

Stronglight is fine. The ones on mine are a generic set, mostly sold by on-one over here - normal 144 track BCD and I've put a Miche Advanced chainring on.

Miche chainsets are fine. You don't have to use Miche sprockets with it - any track sprocket is fine.


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## Jezston (15 Jan 2012)

Fine, but not great?

There seems to be a big gap between the sub £100 products like this, and then the £250+ products like the Dura Ace and Campag Record. Unless I'm missing something?

Also, PlanetX / On One are selling a matching Stronglight sealed BB for a bargainous £10. What advantages might I get from something in the £50-100 bottom bracket err bracket? There's a big jump again after that into the £200+ titanium etc area, but these don't appear to be much lighter.


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## YahudaMoon (15 Jan 2012)

Them Miche n Stronglight are fantastic for the money. Id get a bog standard Shimano square tapered bottom bracket £10-£15 to go with it.

Unless you want something extra special or looking to shave seconds of a TT ?


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## Jezston (15 Jan 2012)

YahudaMoon said:


> Unless you want something extra special or looking to shave seconds of a TT ?


 
It's this kind of thing I could do with finding out - does a fancier BB mean a noticeably smoother ride and lower maintainance, or is it kind of like you are suggesting - paying 1000% more to get 0.001% faster?


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## Cheradenine (15 Jan 2012)

Jezston said:


> It's this kind of thing I could do with finding out - does a fancier BB mean a noticeably smoother ride and lower maintainance, or is it kind of like you are suggesting - paying 1000% more to get 0.001% faster?


I have always gone for the UN54 and having read some and seen some of the failure stories for external BB's it doesnt seem like spending more dosh is a step forward.


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## fossyant (15 Jan 2012)

UN54 on mine - used every day, all weather - 2.5 years old.

Miche are great.

FFS Are you not listening. If you want the best get C Record or Dura Ace !

Miche, Stronglight and the on-ones are the benchmark chainsets - middle of the road and nice !

You won't notice any difference with BB's - the UN54 is quite well sealed, but a bit stiff to turn due to the seals - smooth and spins for ages when a crankset is attached. You want long life on a regular use bike.


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## Jezston (15 Jan 2012)

Stronglight Cranks + BB it is then!

Just have to wait until On One get them in again.


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## Rob3rt (15 Jan 2012)

I dont understand the issue re Miche, I run Miche Advanced cranks and chainrings with a Tifosi BB, Mavic Ellipse wheels (which have a non-conventional track chainline) and a Shimano Dura-Ace sproket, all is good.

If you are going on the track, 165mm cranks will ensure you wont have any issues, but its not particularly essential. Manchester spec says 165mm cranks and an 11" BB height or something like that (working off the top of my head here, havent read the reg's for a long time). But I know for a fact that people run different crank lengths in different events. Pursuit riders often run longer cranks for example, presumably to help them get their gear turning over asap out of the gate.


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