Crank Brothers Cobalt SL Crankset

2.38/5

(13 Reviews)

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Weight : 565 grams

Product Description

Length: 175mm
Base: 7075 al
Cover stainless steel
Forged and CNC machined

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Reviews 1 - 13 (13 Reviews Total)

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Submitted by jenright099 a Cross Country Rider from North Central Texas

Date Reviewed: September 18, 2011

Strengths:    Light, strong, stiff, sharp looking.

Weaknesses:    Junk

Bottom Line:

Excellent when they work, but they don't work long. I had a drive problem with the first set of Cobalt cranks, delaminated the second set in less than three years and two thousand miles of 70% dirt roads, 30% rocky single track. I'm big (200 lbs.) and ride hard. I love air. I just split the bottom bracket on a steel Schwinn road frame. I worked the cranks hard. But not hard enough to justify this kind of problem with this expensive a crankset.

Crank Brothers was cool with the stripped ISIS, but I don't trust these cranks enough to warranty them again.

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Favorite Trail:   All of them

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Price Paid:    $280.00

Purchased At:   eBay

Similar Products Used:   Many

Bike Setup:   Custom Gunnar Rockhound, XTR drive except the crankset. I wanted to try the ISIS drive. Fox F29, XT / MAVIC wheel set.

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Submitted by Tod a Cross Country Rider from Littleton, CO USA

Date Reviewed: May 17, 2011

Weaknesses: Poor Quality - I was told that this set had a problem with it de-laminating, but was told by Crank Brothers it is under warranty for 5 years and they would take care of me. I rode this for one full season and then it started to de-laminate. Crank Brothers is not replacing, nor standing behind what they sell. They knew of this problem, yet still sold it to dealers instead of pulling if off of their shelves.

Bottom Line:

I had believed that Crank Brothers had good customer service (based on other reviews) and would take care of any problems, they have not. I was told by the service manager, not only would they not replace it (because they don't have anymore), they would PRO-RATE based on what I paid for it - not the retail value. And would 'replace it with other products for max of $50 and not another set (retail value $400)! Bottom line, there are problems with products and it is how the company stands behind them, Crank Brothers did not, nor will stand behind what they make and sell. This will be the last Crank Brothers product I ever buy.
Buyer beware, if you buy a Crank Brothers product, know that even if there is a 'warranty' they will prorate (that is not in writing) based on what you paid, and if they don't have anymore of that product, you are screwed!

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Favorite Trail:   Winter Park - all of them

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $280.00

Purchased At:   Littleton Cyclery

Similar Products Used:   Shimano

Bike Setup:   Felt Virtue 3

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Submitted by nic diamond a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: May 25, 2009

Strengths:    nice looking piece of sh**

Weaknesses:    durabilty

Bottom Line:

first, the left side got a crack. after it was replaced, at the right side the glue was dissolving.

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Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $300.00

Similar Products Used:   race face, shimano

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Submitted by ndanielson a Weekend Warrior from Omaha

Date Reviewed: February 25, 2009

Strengths:    Light, stiff, stylish??

Weaknesses:    None.....yet?

Bottom Line:

Really stiff and light, an excellent upgrade. This for me has been a great crank, one of my favorite upgrades. And I pound these cranks, I'm 6' 190lbs, FR and AM rider. I know all the de-lamination issues... I called CB and told them I wanted these cranks but was unsure of the quality after all these delam problems. They assured me I would not have this problem. As such, for 169$ these were a steal. My situation is unique, but still... excellent thus far

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Favorite Trail:   East CO

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $169.00

Purchased At:   From the factory

Similar Products Used:   Truvativ Team, etc etc

Bike Setup:   2006 Custom XTS moto, XTR, crank bros. opium headset, dtswiss... blahblah

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Submitted by tanders0797 a Racer from Charlotte, NC

Date Reviewed: December 4, 2008

Strengths:    Light, Stiff, Looks fly

Weaknesses:    Delamination on both the drive and the non-drive side arms

Bottom Line:

Considering thier name is "crank brothers" you would think that they would manufacture a quality crank. First of all, they should name the "cold fusion" for what is actually is: Glue, and poor quality at that. for the time I rode the cranks, they performed great, the cranks coupled with he Ti BB made for a super smooth ride. I'm on to my 4th set of these guys now (thank god for 5 year warrantee!) and the same problem keeps arising. first the non-drive side split, and then the drive side, and then the non-drive again, and i'm waiting to see what happens to this next set on the way.

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Favorite Trail:   Catawba

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Bike Setup:   Tried on SS, 3/9, and 1/9

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Submitted by John B a Weekend Warrior from Canada, Toronto

Date Reviewed: June 22, 2008

Strengths:    They were super stiff

Weaknesses:    They broke on me in a week, and i never got a new set of cranks back. Therefore I'm out 500$$$$ in a week.

Bottom Line:

I'll never get anything again from crank brothers I'm out 500$$$$ for nothing. If I can even get my old broken pair they would look really nice on my wall.

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Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $499.00

Similar Products Used:   XT, Raceface, Profile, Paul cranks.

Bike Setup:   XC bike with crossmax wheels xtr here and there.

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Submitted by David Hohensee a Cross Country Rider from Golden, CO, USA

Date Reviewed: October 27, 2007

Strengths:    Looks great!!! Stiff and Crank Bros is a great company to work with.

Weaknesses:    Reliability.

Bottom Line:

I delaminated the non-driveside crankarm after three rides. Granted, I am 210lbs and it's a 29er singlespeed, but I wouldn't expect a crankset this expensive from a company like Crank Bros to break that quickly. I took it to the shop where I bought the bike and mine was the second delamination they've had (both on SS bikes).

The bike shop said that Crank Bros told them they had a batch of bad glue from their supplier that found it's way into production and hence the rash of delaminations. The good news is that according to the shop, Crank Bros is a fantastic company to work with and everything will get taken care of. If it's not taken care of straight away, I'll re-review.

During the two and a half rides prior to delaminating, the crank was great! Seemed very stiff with good energy transfer.

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Favorite Trail:   Aldefer-3 Sisters

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $300.00

Purchased At:   Golden Bike Shop

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT, Race Face Deus

Bike Setup:   Spot 29er SS, King hubs/headset, Sun Ringle DS2 rims, Thomson post/stem, Truvativ Carbon Riser, Avid Carbon brakes, Manitou Minute 29, Crank Bros. Cobalt SL, XTR pedals

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Submitted by Dave a Cross Country Rider from Dallas, Texas, USA

Date Reviewed: July 27, 2007

Strengths:    Looks great and cometitive weight, plus the bb seal/gaskets really work.

Customer service is second to none.

Weaknesses:    Reliability!

Bottom Line:

Quality/reliability sucks! I broke my first set after one month of mild xc and road riding (180lbs rider), my wife broke hers after same amount of time (110lbs waif). Now my second set sounds like it's delaminating as well (or the bb is going out).

I really like Crank Brothers products, and for the most part have had very good expirince with them. This product has some issues! In the end the Customer Service will try to make it right.

It sucks for me b/c I have roughly the cost of a starter bike in cranks and bb's that are not worthy of the premium price I paid.

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Favorite Trail:   Grapevine

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $400.00

Purchased At:   Online

Similar Products Used:   XT, XTR, Race Face, FSA

Bike Setup:   Sram X0, Juicey 7's, Chris King (headset&hubs), etc... top line stuff

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Submitted by Richard a Weekend Warrior from Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Date Reviewed: July 20, 2007

Strengths:    The cranks look great and are light weight and shifting was not an issue.

Weaknesses:    The bonding between the stainless and aluminum cracked on the non drive side. Looking at other reviews durability seems to be an issue. I'll probably stay with Shimano XTs from now on.

Bottom Line:

They will be good cranks if the durability issue is resolved. I expected better quality from Crank Brothers and for cranks in this price range.. They would probably be ok for the lighter riders but Clydesdales should stay clear.

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Favorite Trail:   Ceasers Creek

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $310.00

Purchased At:   Bluesky Cycling

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT, Shimano XTR

Bike Setup:   Fetish hardtail,Manitou R7 fork, Juicy 5 brakes, XT drive train, Cobalt cranks, Cane creek Terros rims.

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Submitted by Chris a Racer from Philadelphia, PA

Date Reviewed: July 2, 2007

Strengths:    Looks awesome, great stiffness.

Weaknesses:    Cracked the non-drive side during a 12 hour race on an easy cross country course. I weigh 170lbs. Going to see how this warranty works but I am worried. Hopefully this is isolated?

Bottom Line:

I hope this is a one time thing, cranks are not something I want to worry about breaking.

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Favorite Trail:   Wissahickon

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $300.00

Bike Setup:   Salsa Dos Niner, CB Ti BB, Ti Pedals, Cobalt Cranks, SRAM X.0/X.9

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Submitted by Brian a Cross Country Rider from Adks.

Date Reviewed: June 5, 2007

Strengths:    Beautiful and light. Would consider them again if this is an isolated case(see below).

Weaknesses:    Broke after one year. Arm cracked thru at pedal bolt and also twisted a few degrees. Truvativ rings suck.

Bottom Line:

Will call their customer service today. I'll post a new review based on the warranty and claim handling process.
I hope things work out, these weren't cheap.

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Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Purchased At:   Lbs

Similar Products Used:   XT, Stylo

Bike Setup:   Ellsworth Id

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Submitted by Nicolas a Cross Country Rider from Signapore

Date Reviewed: April 11, 2007

Strengths:    Stiff and light

Weaknesses:    Couldnt use FSA BB
Not cheap

Bottom Line:

4 chilis because of the price

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Duration Product Used:   3 months

Purchased At:   Hup Leong

Similar Products Used:   Truvativ Stylo Team, etc

Bike Setup:   Turner Flux, Reba Team U-turn,

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Submitted by j marks a Cross Country Rider from virginia

Date Reviewed: November 13, 2006

Strengths:    stiff, isis interface, light

Weaknesses:    does not work as designed with FSA ISIS bb / customer service

Bottom Line:

stiff and spin free compared to outboard bearings.

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Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $300.00

Purchased At:   on line

Similar Products Used:   shimano 952, 960

Reviews 1 - 13 (13 Reviews Total)

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Crank Brothers Cobalt SL Crankset

Product Description

User Reviews

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