Deore crank as "stiff" as XTR?

[C. Eastman]

I have this good friend who claims that his $35 square taper Deore cranks are almost as light, and
just as "stiff" as the Truvativ Team Stylo or XTR crank.

With that said, are some cranks "stiffer" than others and does it really matter?

I remember Keith Bontrager wrote a nice article on frame stiffness and how a flexy BB doesn't
necessarily rob power from the rider. I understand how a frame can be "stiff" in the BB but cranks?

Craig

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, "C. Eastman" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I have this good friend who claims that his $35 square taper Deore cranks are almost as light, and
> just as "stiff" as the Truvativ Team Stylo or XTR crank.
>
> With that said, are some cranks "stiffer" than others and does it really matter?
>
> I remember Keith Bontrager wrote a nice article on frame stiffness and how a flexy BB
> doesn't necessarily rob power from the rider. I understand how a frame can be "stiff" in the
> BB but cranks?

Stiffness isn't the reason for moving from square-taper spindles to ISIS/Octalink/XT-Dura-Ace
pinch-bolt designs. The reason is to avoid breaking the cranks at the crank/spindle interface.
That said, the square taper works fairly well. Not perfect, but in most circumstances it won't
let you down.

Cranks take a lot of load, and you really don't want them to bend at all. But I doubt a Deore crank
would bend appreciably more than a fancier crank under normal use.

A few moments with a scale will verify that Deore cranks are "almost as light" as others, but that
almost is not good enough for many people, rightly or wrongly.

Removing weight by replacing my gut with carbon fibre,
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Wiscottsin]

"C. Eastman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I have this good friend who claims that his $35 square taper Deore cranks are almost as light, and
> just as "stiff" as the Truvativ Team Stylo or XTR crank.
>
> With that said, are some cranks "stiffer" than others and does it really matter?
>

I worked at a bike shop for almost 14 years, starting out as a wrench, then being the head wrench,
and then getting promoted (or demoted, depending how you look at it) to manager. I and all the other
wrench heads used to get crazy shaving a gram here, and adding titanum or carbon fiber wherever
possible to make our rides stiffer and lighter. Did it really matter? Maybe in our heads it did, but
quite frankly probably not. A basic XT build kit will probably suit any rider just as well as a
fully tricked out custom component set. Maintentance and smart riding go a lot farther than a bag
full of titanium bolts ;-)

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Sat, 31 May 2003 19:09:52 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> wrote:

>A few moments with a scale will verify that Deore cranks are "almost as light" as others, but that
>almost is not good enough for many people, rightly or wrongly.
>
>Removing weight by replacing my gut with carbon fibre,

Liposuction would probably give a better dollars-to-weight ratio than most of the really expensive
bike gear.. it certainly would for me.

Jasper