Similar Products Used: First external bottom bracket crankset, liking it so far
Bike Setup: Stock 2007 Gary Fisher Paragon. Changing juicy 5's to shimano slx's
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
michael573114
a Cross Country Rider
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2011
Strengths: No complaints, works fine
Weaknesses: Got a few teeth that are a little bent, but that's normal wear & tear
Bottom Line:
There sure are a lot of bad reviews for this thing... I can't complain, it works, it's always worked, and I've been beating on it for nearly 5 years now. I've thrown the chain a few times, but I'm pretty sure that's just an adjustment issue (also I bet the rear deraileur hanger at one point).
That said, there's nothing really spectacular either. I can't say that it's washed my car, or made me a million dollars. But it does work as a crankset just fine.
Bike Setup: 2006 Gary Fisher Paragon, SRAM X.9 shifters & rear derail, Shimano XT front derail, SRAM chain
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Submitted by
Josh
a Weekend Warrior
from Pacific City, Oregon U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: October 22, 2009
Strengths: None to speak of.
Weaknesses: Not reliable
Bottom Line:
It is too bad such a nice bike comes with such cheap, unreliable hardware. I am not an extreme rider and do most of my riding on fire roads with little to no drops. Within a couple months of riding these cranks the right arm broke right off! Left me walking home. I would like to see Trek unplug this partnership they have with this unworthy company and get better components. In the long run it is making there product credibility go down.
Submitted by
mtnbkmyk
a Cross Country Rider
from Dearborn, MI USA
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2008
Strengths: fine at first - smooth shifting on the chainrings
Weaknesses: fell apart
Bottom Line:
first year - no problems, second year when the cranks started creaking and I felt vibrations on the drive side, I took it in: the right crank is permantly loose and cannot be repaired. This is still warranteed but I don't want another one. Switching to XT
Strengths: strong, pretty good finish, good chain change.I haven't had any trouble with the non-drive side arm, if start to get loose, you should notice it before
Weaknesses: botton braket isn't too much smooth.
Bottom Line:
I think isis bb are smoother, at least deore crankset are. When you ride, they feel quite strong and secure, and the change between rings are good. They came with my bike, but i prefer shimano, or at least with non integrated bb
Submitted by
Jason
a Weekend Warrior
from Albuquerque, NM
Date Reviewed: December 8, 2007
Strengths: When it was working it seemed to work well - clean shifts, stiff BB. Plenty of times I hit rocks thinking I would have lost a tooth but it was over all bulletproof...
Weaknesses: The crank arm fell off on the non-drive side after only about eight rides. As it was my first season on a MTB I couldn't have been riding it very hard. It had been an unusually wet Spring in New Mexico so I did do several dozen stream crossings but that shouldn't have caused a problem like this, right?
It cleaned up and re-attached OK for about another couple dozen rides then became loose again and would no longer last for more than a few miles before needing to be tightened until eventually I didn't trust it at all.
Bottom Line:
I only got perhaps 400 miles out of it before giving up and having the entire crankset replaced while still under warranty. I'm hoping it was a fluke and that the replacement lasts much longer...
With the exception of the arm falling off it worked great (seriously) and I was very happy with it's performance. If the arm hadn't have fallen off I would be giving this a high overall rating and a "fair" value rating...
Strengths: It worked fine until it fell apart with less than 100 miles of riding. Makes a Great Paper weight though.
Weaknesses: I bought it brand new. Came stock with the bike. It fell apart. Only took it out to ride for about the 4th time ever. The crank arm on the non-sprocket side fell off. It was never even ridden that hard. Never abused. The damn thing just fell off. Tried reattaching it back on the trail. A few miles later, the The crank arm on the non-sprocket side fell off again. This time all the threads were ripped off with it. I could no longer reattach the arm because what was left of the threads wouldn't hold. It was so bad that I could tug the arm off with my bare hands. The crank was completely ruined on my 4th ride on the bike.
Bottom Line:
If you read other posts from other riders, I'm not the only person who has had this problem with Bontrager cranks. Apparently this is not one isolated incident. This crank is total Crap. Save your money and go with a shimano. Unless you are some sort of massochist, don't even bother purchasing any bike that comes stock with this product. I hope the executives at Bontrager read these reviews and hang their heads in shame for producing such an inferior product with an inferior design. It's not only an embarrassment, but a legal liability. They have lost a customer for life.
Submitted by
Ben
a Weekend Warrior
from Holland, MI, USA
Date Reviewed: June 22, 2007
Strengths: I guess it looked nice new.
Weaknesses: It fell apart.
Bottom Line:
This bike is about a year and a half old, but I only ride is summer (Michigan). So, a few times a week I hit the trail for a couple of hours. The crank arm on the non-sprocket side fell off. Upon inspection I found that the threads holding it on were right handed making this inevitable with enough time and backlash from use. So, I pursued the torque spec, put it back on with thread locking compound, and it fell off this time taking the threads with it.
Bottom line, I have a lightly used $2000 bike that is falling apart because this is a lousy crank design. Avoid it if you can.
Came fitted as stock on my Fuel EX8. First impressions were great - excellent shifting, good power transfer and no noticeable flex. After 50 miles the drive-side BB failed but was grudgingly replaced under warranty. After another 100 miles the drive side BB failed again. Given the 4 week turnaround last time I won't be claiming it under warranty again.
On closer inspection, it looks like the cranks could be to blame as the middle chainring isn't true - it bends toward the frame by about 2 - 3mm for a run of about 4 teeth close to the crankarm.
If I've managed to do this while riding (and I can't imagine how I could!) then the chainrings are horrifically soft. If it came like it from the factory then it's pretty poor quality control. Either way, I'm swapping it for a Shimano.
Weaknesses: I would prefer all black chainrings, but whatever.
Bottom Line:
Pretty good crank. The external BB is nice and it has been stiff so far. About average weight for a crankset. I really like this crankset because so far it has been a "set it and forget it" type of relationship.
Similar Products Used: Shimano Deore Crank, LX Crank and Truvativ Firex Crank
Bike Setup: '06 Trek 6700 - Bontrager Race GXP crank, Sram X9 Rear deraiileur, Bontrager Select Disc wheelset, Hayes Nine brakes, Geax EasyDrive Tires.
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Submitted by
Tommy
a Downhiller
from Aarhus (Denmark)
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2006
Strengths: Its nice and has a strong feel to it's design and
Weaknesses: A bit hard to install when you also have to place a spacer whit ISCG mount and chainguide very little room (also had for saw the inner mount holes for a small chainring off)
Bottom Line:
So far a realy good a reliable piece of hardware but the real test of it will be at the next DH race
Anyone have or had this crankset? I won a brandnew set with BB for $51 shipped and was wondering if I got a decent deal. I couldn't find much info on this model.
Here are some Read More »
