Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: sandwich on September 16, 2023, 09:46:42 AM
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Not sure what to call this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805835501765.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.3e6d38dahJxoZc&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
I'm considering replacing my shimano 105 5 bolt crankset for something more aero for my time trial bike. I need to have a 24mm spindle to work with my BB and frame. I'm not overly concerned with weight, but low profile, stiffness, and fit is essential.
I've seen these "dimpled" cranksets from a variety of manufacturers, and they are quite cheap with GXP mounting and 24mm compatibility. Some appear to have simple bolts and others as linked above have a captive self-extracting bolt setup. I'm not too afraid by the aluminum spindle as this is going on a road bike that sees a couple hundred miles a year and will likely never see a sprint at all. Any experience?
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I'm considering replacing my shimano 105 5 bolt crankset for something more aero for my time trial bike.
Not sure what to call this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805835501765.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.3e6d38dahJxoZc&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
I would call this very much not aero. This is a copy of a cnc boutique hipster crank and probably about as aero as a bookshelf (as far as cranks go, being those tiny things, spinning all the time, with feet and legs attached to them and all that stuff ...).
Have you ever seen actual aero cranks? I mean, are you serious?
Feel free to disabuse me of this opinion. Always happy to learn new things.
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Agreed with the above. This crankset's dimples are clearly for saving weight rather than aero. Doesn't look very stiff either with the aluminum axle and direct mount chainring. You are much better off buying an aero (solid) 5-bolt chainring with your existing crankset.
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I'm running alloy axle cranksets, but more for weight weenie/climbing reasons. For time trials, does crankset weight make that big of a difference? They sell Pass Quest aero chainrings for the 105 if you're interested. I use their 1x aero chainring on my gravel bike and they're quite well made.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805545884713.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805545884713.html)
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I would call this very much not aero. This is a copy of a cnc boutique hipster crank and probably about as aero as a bookshelf (as far as cranks go, being those tiny things, spinning all the time, with feet and legs attached to them and all that stuff ...).
Have you ever seen actual aero cranks? I mean, are you serious?
Feel free to disabuse me of this opinion. Always happy to learn new things.
Just agreeing with what you said. The website description for the Ingrid cranks these are based on says these cranks are gravel/xc oriented and the dot pattern is just for looks. No aeroness to be had here. There's a copy of the Ingrid road crank on Aliexpress as well, but that one also copies the original 30mm spindle design.
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I would call this very much not aero. This is a copy of a cnc boutique hipster crank and probably about as aero as a bookshelf (as far as cranks go, being those tiny things, spinning all the time, with feet and legs attached to them and all that stuff ...).
Have you ever seen actual aero cranks? I mean, are you serious?
Feel free to disabuse me of this opinion. Always happy to learn new things.
Sorry, I can see how my post was confusing. I am not looking for the most aero crankset- I honestly don't believe that cranks are really a good area to save watts when it comes to aero profile. I am ditching my 2x setup for a 1x setup, and this provides me with an opportunity to rethink things. One of those things is the entirety of my crankset/chainring combo. Right now I have a chainring power meter and 5 bolt 105 cranks. The cranks are fine, but if I have the opportunity to ditch 5 chainring bolts in favor of a solid direct mount chainring, that doesn't seem like a bad deal.
Again, not sure that any crankset is going to save significant aero drag, but almost everything out there even billed as "aero" is not different in profile than the one I mentioned, but rather features a dinner plate direct mount chainring with similar profile crankarms: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/sram-red-1-dub-12-speed-aero-crankset https://rotoramerica.com/products/flow-crankset-110 I think you are saving 0.5-3W maximum with any option, and I think you are looking at a 1w difference between the Goldix thing above and a rotor flow provided you are using a solid chainring.
So the questions is not "is the crankset above aero", but rather "Is a cheap direct-mount crankset with a solid chainring more aero than a good 5 bolt crankset with a Pass-quest thick but-not-solid chainring". I don't know this is a question that anybody can answer without a wind tunnel, honestly (and I'm buying crap off aliexpress, I'm not paying for that)
Finally, regardless of all that I am primarily interested in whether these cranks are trash or if they are useable. I am well aware that the dimples aren't going to make a difference, it's more of whether these can handle 800w and a few take-off and resinstallations without disintegrating (and whether I can make more money selling my 105/PM combo than PM alone)
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I'm running alloy axle cranksets, but more for weight weenie/climbing reasons. For time trials, does crankset weight make that big of a difference? They sell Pass Quest aero chainrings for the 105 if you're interested. I use their 1x aero chainring on my gravel bike and they're quite well made.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805545884713.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805545884713.html)
I don't think that weight nor stiffness is that big of a deal on TT bikes. Weight is certainly not (when compared with aero) and stiffness is really not critical as realistically you are not sprinting or climbing- you are putting 200-400w in a consistent manner through your drivetrain....not like hill climbs or crits when you are punishing your equipment in a sprint.
Stiffness is still more important than weight IMO, so it would probably be aero-stiffness-weight for me. I swapped to a new lighter bike recently, and it made little impact to my times as compared with positioning and gearing.
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I don't think that weight nor stiffness is that big of a deal on TT bikes. Weight is certainly not (when compared with aero) and stiffness is really not critical as realistically you are not sprinting or climbing- you are putting 200-400w in a consistent manner through your drivetrain....not like hill climbs or crits when you are punishing your equipment in a sprint.
Stiffness is still more important than weight IMO, so it would probably be aero-stiffness-weight for me. I swapped to a new lighter bike recently, and it made little impact to my times as compared with positioning and gearing.
In that case just buy the crankset. It's not that expensive, so if it doesn't work out, it won't be a big loss. I'm currently using 24mm alloy axle cranksets on 2 road bikes and 1 gravel bike with no issues. I also like the simplicity/flexibility of the direct mount chainring setup. Though I tend to prefer the Shimano style alloy cranksets with a 2 pinch bolt left crank arm. There are a few Goldix cranksets that use this style and so does the Racework carbon crankset, but I don't recommend it mainly because the left crank arm is prone to breaking.
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If weight isn't a concern, I'd take a look at the SENICX PR3 crankset instead. It's readily available, cheap, and a drop-in replacement for Shimano with the same pinch-bolt preload system and reliable 24mm steel spindle. It also takes direct-mount chainrings. Haven't heard any complaints about them other than the weight penalty.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804417110084.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804417110084.html)
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Okay. Goldix. Sure.
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Not sure how I feel about anything named Goldix on my bike.
Almost spat out my coffee.
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Not sure how I feel about anything named Goldix on my bike.
Could be much worse, i.e. Xpedo
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Could be much worse, i.e. Xpedo
Seriously, I sometimes choose AliEx components on whichever has the better name even if they're exactly the same. For example Goldix, Zeroing and Racework all sell the same 1x chainring. I opted to go for the Racework chainring just because the name wasn't weird sounding!
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Better sounding name is one reason I pay extra sometimes for Zrace, RaceWork, Litepro over Fovno or HASSNS :|
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I am ditching my 2x setup for a 1x setup, and this provides me with an opportunity to rethink things. One of those things is the entirety of my crankset/chainring combo. Right now I have a chainring power meter and 5 bolt 105 cranks. The cranks are fine, but if I have the opportunity to ditch 5 chainring bolts in favor of a solid direct mount chainring, that doesn't seem like a bad deal.
Oh, I get it. I might have been jumping the gun with my first reply :)
Then ... if it ticks all your boxes, why not, it's cheap enough for an experiment (even if it was trash).
There is another super cheap goldix direct-mount CNC crank on ali with lower Q and 24 mm steel spindle (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005209640064.html?) - I'd rather take that one for those reasons, but that's just personal preferences (fuck, I'd put narrow track cranks on all my bikes if I could). It's usually around 30 bucks for the crank alone (a bit more with EU import tax). I have one, but never mounted it (because reasons on my end), so, never ridden one.
(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/S1da1e721f8ba4700b56b29ccb027aad6A.jpg)
(I kind of like the rawish chunk-of-aluminium-with-minimal-cnc-work look)
PS: There is a rather similar looking crank with aluminium spindle and slightly more milling. I think there might be a tracevelo video on it. Not sure, if it is as tight as the one above, though.
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This is the lightest bang-for-buck (sub-$50 USD) crankset on AliEx. Yes they are a bit sketchy, but I love them! I have them mounted on my 1x gravel bike paired with a Pass Quest aero 1x chainring. I'm not sure if the hollowed out crank arms might affect your aero, but I'm guessing side winds won't be an issue. AliEX DIY hack is to toss the stock pinch bolts from the non-drive side and replace them with M5x25mm titanium screws. This will allow slightly higher screw torque at 8-9nm. Stock steel screws will start rounding out beyond 7nm and cause creaking under high torque at that torque range. Trace Velo had creaking issues and I believe it was due to the pinch bolts being inadequate.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804815422658.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804815422658.html)
(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A503ea53afe494f6d8f5095e82d664213W.jpg)
GXP/Direct mount 1x aero chainring (make sure to get ordinary if you're not using SRAM AXS):
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804752779564.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804752779564.html)
(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/Af4417337c51945bd9f291e557f2eb91dN.jpg)
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This is the lightest bang-for-buck (sub-$50 USD) crankset on AliEx. Yes they are a bit sketchy, but I love them! I have them mounted on my 1x gravel bike paired with a Pass Quest aero 1x chainring. I'm not sure if the hollowed out crank arms might affect your aero, but I'm guessing side winds won't be an issue. AliEX DIY hack is to toss the stock pinch bolts from the non-drive side and replace them with M5x25mm titanium screws. This will allow slightly higher screw torque at 8-9nm. Stock steel screws will start rounding out beyond 7nm and cause creaking under high torque at that torque range. Trace Velo had creaking issues and I believe it was due to the pinch bolts being inadequate.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804815422658.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804815422658.html)
(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A503ea53afe494f6d8f5095e82d664213W.jpg)
GXP/Direct mount 1x aero chainring (make sure to get ordinary if you're not using SRAM AXS):
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804752779564.html (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804752779564.html)
(https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/Af4417337c51945bd9f291e557f2eb91dN.jpg)
Okay so first off- I was under the impression that a chainring had to be compatible with the AXS flattop chain, but that most other chains were compatible with AXS chainrings. Basically, AXS chains are special but AXS chainrings are not. My intent is to run a YBN chain anyways, so I would go regular, but would prefer maximum compatibility if possible. I reached out to Pass Quest and they want an extra $20 to customize for AXS compatibility.
As to that crankset, I'm not sure I'm ready for something so light with so many quite obvious corners being cut. 24mm aluminum spindle is already a risk, pinchbolts on an aluminum axle, and those spindly arms.... I appreciate the nod, but at 200lb that's probably not the right crank for me.
After all this discussion I'm probably going to end up sticking with my 105. Rock solid and I can adjust the chainline without worrying about an offset ring. Those solid Goldix cranks are tempting tough.
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IMO, just get Fovno Aurora Pro if you want a light aluminium crank. 170mm crankarms with spindle are lighter than Goldix, but should be far superior when it comes to durability (solid arms, 29mm alloy spindle)
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There is another super cheap goldix direct-mount CNC crank on ali with lower Q and 24 mm steel spindle (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005209640064.html?) - I'd rather take that one for those reasons, but that's just personal preferences (fuck, I'd put narrow track cranks on all my bikes if I could). It's usually around 30 bucks for the crank alone (a bit more with EU import tax). I have one, but never mounted it (because reasons on my end), so, never ridden one.
The crank you reference is actually giving mixed information about whether the axle is steel or aluminum. First, the description says "3. Axis Chrome-molybdenum steel, High strength, High temperature resistance, Preservative, Light weight.", but then later "Shaft Material: 7075 aluminum alloy".
Do you have this specific model at home? Could you check which material the axle if built from?
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The crank you reference is actually giving mixed information about whether the axle is steel or aluminum. First, the description says "3. Axis Chrome-molybdenum steel, High strength, High temperature resistance, Preservative, Light weight.", but then later "Shaft Material: 7075 aluminum alloy".
Do you have this specific model at home? Could you check which material the axle if built from?
Mine (which is the model shown in the link) in 165 mm has a steel axle.
Somewhat related: There used to be offers for that very same model (in 165 mm, at least) where the longer versions would look slightly different. I can't speak to those.
Not really related: As stated in my original post, there also is a similar-looking model with 24 mm aluminium axle, slightly nicer finish and some additional milling (letters on the front or something). I can't find it anymore, but there is a tracevelo video on it (just for visual reference). However, you could confidently guess the axle material of those two different types from the wall thickness alone.