Bike Cranksets Review

A bike crankset consists of the bottom bracket, crank, chainrings, chainring bolts and the crank bolt. The bike cranks and parts are the means by which your energy is transferred into movement and is the element around which the bike is built. An efficient crankset, like the Alivio crankset, means most of the energy you expend pushing the pedals round is converted into forward motion. Cranksets, for example the popular Zipp crankset, are an essential part of your bike drivetrain components.

Cranks refer to the pedal arms and come in many forms.

One Piece Crank

The one piece crank is a single piece of metal bent into shape that makes up both cranks and the bottom bracket spindle. These are mainly used on BMX bikes. An example of which may be Odyssey cranks.

Cottered Cranks

These were used in older bikes, but there are still a few around. They can be identified by the separate pedal arms attached to the bottom bracket spindle by cotter pins. These were relatively weak as the pins could wear quite easily.

Cotterless Cranks

There are two types of cotterless cranks, the square taper and the splined. Square taper had a square end, which fit into a square hole on the pedal arm. These used the fitment to hold and were fastened by a bolt on the end. Splined cranks used a set of teeth to retain position and include ISIS and Octalink standards. Sinz cranks and Truvativ cranks carries both types of cotterless cranks. 

Hollowtech II Cranks

Shimano, the driver of much cycling innovation introduced Hollowtech II in 2003 on its XTR range. It has the crankset attached to the crank spindle as one piece with the non-drive side attached using a splined axles and bolts.

Most cranksets, such as the FSA crankset, come as just that, a set. No need to buy separate chainrings, bolts or cranks. Many sets will include the bottom bracket too. Many bottom brackets use cartridge type fittings that just slide into the frame, but Hollowtech II has a set either side.

Next to the type in importance is the material used. The choice depends largely on budget and intended use. The main materials are alloy, carbon and steel.

Alloy Cranks

Alloy cranks are the best middle ground. They are strong, light and can cope with just about anything. Many of the market leading cranks and cranksets are a variation of allow, and offer the best bang for the buck. Cannondale cranks lead the market in alloy cranks.

Carbon Cranks

Carbon is a great material to work with. It’s very light and very stiff. Carbon cranks are both, which is great for the weight conscious amongst you. The brittleness does have a downside though, in that it can’t cope with impact very well. The RPM crankset is a great models.

Steel Cranks

Steel is very strong, but also heavy. You only really want a steel crank if you punish your bike. Otherwise alloy is the way to go. Serious, punishing downhilling, urban assault or jumping are the only scenarios where steel cranks have the advantage. Race Face cranks come in steel for mountain or BMX riding.

Bike Chainrings are the other important element of a bike crankset. They vary according to the brand, but are generally made of the same material as the crank. You can mix and match though, for example carbon or steel cranks often have alloy chain rings for longevity and weight. Funn cranks are easily adaptable to you bike's components.

The basic 3 piece chainring will have 22, 32 and 44 teeth rings to cover the maximum gear range possible. Racing bikes, or downhill bikes will vary this a bit as they will be more interested in specific ranges. However, the average rider should be fine with the standard.

Models

Sugino cranks

Pricing

For a basic Shimano crankset, you can pick up an M151 set for around $25. If money isn’t an object then you can spend up to $700 for a Dura-Ace set.