# Best crankset for cross and why?



## green_mnt_boy (Oct 10, 2006)

This past weekend, my crankset fell apart during a race despite my best efforts to eliminate it from happening. The fixing bolt came off and caused the crank arm to fall off -- good thing I had another bike in the pits 1/3 of a mile away. I tried a variety of things to keep the fixing both firmly set, but nothing really worked. I have the Truvative Elita with external BB and called tech support to try to help the problem a months weeks ago when I first noticed it loosening up. I took the advice of SRAM (who owns Truvative) and over torqued the bolt by 5 foot-lbs, put some loc-tite in there, which obviously did not work.

I'm going to replace the crankset and am hoping folks can chime in on what crankset they think is best for cyclocross and why.

The Shimano immediately jump out because they use 2 bolts on the non-drive side to attach the crank arm instead of 1 fixing bolt.

The SRAM Rival seems to be a good option, but relies on 1 bolt to hold everything together.

I'm really not interested in going to a square taper or ISIS bottom bracket.


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## dyg2001 (Sep 23, 2004)

I have not used it, but the new Shimano Ultegra SL crankset sounds nice. Similar weight and stiffness to the proven Dura-Ace, but at a lower cost.


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## javaracer (Aug 8, 2007)

Funny my, bontrager mtb crank is having the same problem , and am considering red loctite on my paragon 29'r


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## green_mnt_boy (Oct 10, 2006)

*Don't use*



javaracer said:


> Funny my, bontrager mtb crank is having the same problem , and am considering red loctite on my paragon 29'r


Asked the shop about using the red Loctite; their response was "very few bolts on bikes get Loctite red, this is not one of them"


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## Thor (May 25, 2004)

My FSA SL-K crank kept loosening, mainly because I did not apply the supplied loc-tite to the splines as instructed (hey, I was in a hurry and received the lesson "never second guess an engineer). I applied the loc-tite (splines, not on the bolt) and the problem has not returned. I do check the tightness of the fixing bolt before every race though.

Other people own your crank and run it with no problems. You can make yours work too. Don't spend $400 on a new crank when you can spend a little at a shop and getting it working right.

Thor


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## Mark C (Mar 4, 2002)

*Other Shimano Chainrings available?*



> Shimano Ultegra SL crankset sounds nice


Do you know if Shimano offers other chainring options for this crankset? The 50 outer is probably a little big for most courses.


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## The Repeater (Sep 29, 2007)

Truvativ/Bontrager cranks have a high-failure rate relative to other cranks.


If you're running Shimano, I suggest Shimano cranks. They've never let me down.  


I think Octalink was the best, but obviously you're not looking to go that way.


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## evilbeaver (Mar 15, 2006)

FSA carbon with Dura-Ace outboard bearings, or...

(less $$$) FSA gossamers, or, hell, even ISIS with a good BB, or...

My personal favorite: Campy. Hella.


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## JoelM (Mar 6, 2006)

javaracer said:


> Funny my, bontrager mtb crank is having the same problem , and am considering red loctite on my paragon 29'r


Use blue. I had to. Or get something with outboard BB, and drop the Bontrager crank in the recycle bin. Also what I ended up doing


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## soindyfab (Nov 30, 2006)

zipp carbon cranks are practical for cross.


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## Vanilla Gorilla (Mar 22, 2004)

Ritchey wcs with shimano spline. Eff those ugly dumb outboard bearings.


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## josephgrimes (May 15, 2007)

older truvativ cranks sucked. fsa slk cranks also sucked for awhile. newer sram/truvativ/bontrager cranks seem to be working better. new fsa cranks are working better as well. shimano cranks work very very well. if you're worried about how their outboard bearing don't spin, then get the enduro bb bearing upgrade kit. its available in steel or hybrid ceramic bearings. shimano only makes 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56 tooth chainrings. they understand what roadies and tt dorks need but offer nothing for cross. fsa pro rings in 36-46 work really well.

i work in a shop and have seen numerous cranks come and go. isis seemed to be great, outboard is ok but doesn't spin. thats where the enduro kit comes into play. just my $.02


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## jeremyb (Jun 16, 2004)

The best crankset for your bike is the one that looks the best for your bike. Alternatively, one could argue that the best crankset is whatever is the lightest.

I have tried Pulsions, Ultegra 9 spd, DA 9spd, DA 8spd, FSA superlight, FSA carbon pros, FSA Gossamer, Truvativ Elita and various Suntour cranks and I never noticed a difference between any of them. 

When I pushed down on them, the back wheel moved. :thumbsup:


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## mtp1234 (Apr 21, 2005)

I run Bontrager on the mountain and cyclocross. Switched from shimano due to non-stop chain suck on my xtr set that rubbed through a rear triangle last season.

Kept the Bont a bit tighter than suggested and applied loc-tite as Thor did to his FSA setup on the splines, not just the threads. More work than I would like to do with a crankset, but performance is excellent, no more chainsuck and replacement sprockets are very affordable. Very happy with the Bontragers.


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