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Submitted by
Rod Ulrich
a Cross Country Rider
from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Jesusita (Inspiration Point, Santa Barbara, CA) | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$69.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambria Bikes | | Strengths: | Finish, strength, stiffness. | | Weaknesses: | Front derailleur clearance, high Q factor, spider locking mechanism. | | Similar Products Used: | Sugino Impel, Shimano XT, Curve Cranks. | | Bike Setup: | Kona AA, Manitou FS, XT/XTR. | | Bottom Line: | Am I the only one having front derailleur clearance problems with these cranks? The drive side arm comes within 3 mm of the derailleur cage, necessitating constant fine tuning of the front derailleur. The Q factor is quite high (the pedals are farther apart than most cranks, even with the correct BB and chainline). Also, the screw that holds the spider in place on its threads looks like it might not hold up to abuse. Other than these probs, I like the cranks, and I can't find a better deal anywhere. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
derek
a Cross Country Rider
from los gatos, ca
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | epicenter loop | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | cambria | | Strengths: | cheap, snazzy looking | | Weaknesses: | flawed at the bottom bracket | | Similar Products Used: | many many aftermarket cranks | | Bike Setup: | xc | | Bottom Line: | ive now been through 2 sets of these in a year of sometimes hard, sometimes more casual riding, and ive managed to completely wear down the chainrings so that they slip on any kindof heavy pedalling, and have snapped the non-drive side arm (on two pairs) right at the spindle. These are non-splined bb spindles, so i cannot give an opinion on the strength of a splined version, if it exists, but i can only asume that having broken 2 sets in the course of a year, a(and i only weigh 140), that these are severely underbuilt at the spindle. i would also like to complain about the longevity of the large and middle chainrings (middle specifically since i spend most time there) both sets showed extreme wear after just 4 or 5 months. I generally expect to get at least a year or 2 out of chainrings, especially ones that cost so much to replace. I was neither excited nor displeased with its shifting when new, but when comparing this to a shimano crank built as much as 10 years ago, it was sub-par. My advice if youre looking for a cheap but decent crank is to go for an LX or even a sugino over this underbuilt and flawed product. The cool aftermarket look isnt worth it when youre stuck without a crank while waiting for them to warranty this junk. If you dont mind blowing a wad and not feeding your family for a few weeks, go for a race face. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
GLEN BRADLEY
a Cross Country Rider
from CANADA
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | dagmar | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | look good and that's it | | Weaknesses: | weak | | Similar Products Used: | race face | | Bike Setup: | catamount urt | | Bottom Line: | I used these things for just three months and broke both cranks at the bottom bracket mount(busted my right nut too!)
The rings are ramped but they shift terribly. I was in touch
with caramba and they did send me a replacement set quickly
but three of the teeth were broken off the new set (they did
replace the ring set again). bought a set of race face and
never looked back.Anyways,I put the replacement crankset on
my schwinn u.r.t. and found that the shift even worse.Stay
away from these things !! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Boulder
Date Reviewed: May 9, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Porcupine Rim | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, strong crank arms. | | Weaknesses: | Integrated chain ring is poorly made and can be costly to replace. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: | Merlin Mountain, XT, RS Judy w/Englund total air. | | Bottom Line: | This is an update to last year's review when I thought these were the best deal on cranks around. The cranks are fine, but the integrated chain ring has caused me a number of problems. Bad chain suck caused the middle ring to lose teeth, the large ring has a lost tooth, and shifting isn't smooth. The bottom line is that I will have to replace the entire integrated ring system, which isn't made of the best quality materials. Don't be fooled by a low price tag on this one. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
MiGuEl G.
a Cross Country Rider
from Farmington, MI USA
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Potowatomi | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Cold Forged & machined
Looks
Price
Quality
Rigidity | | Weaknesses: | One piece ring set could be costly when having to purchase a new ring set; however, Caramba does offer a 5 arm spider that is attachable so you can purchase the rings of your choice and not have to replace all when one is worn. | | Similar Products Used: | XT | | Bike Setup: | Homegrown Pro, Z2Bam, Caramba Sidewinder, XTR hubs, etc... | | Bottom Line: | In the last 4 1/2 years I have replaced parts on my bike and I've found that the ONLY original component on my bike is my Caramba Sidewinder crank AND rings. They have performed flawlessly and I am just now feeling the effects of wear on the pin risers. The crank arms are cold forged with somewhat of an I-Beam construction so they are very rigid which is great for sprints and open trails, more power transfer. The one piece ring set has held up better than I had anticipated and I couldn't be anymore pleased with the longevity of the rings. A very underrated crank that I would without reservation purchase again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric
a Weekend Warrior
from clarksville, md, usa
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Light, beefy, interchangable spider | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | shimano LX. STX-RC. Truvativ Stylo 2, Stylo Teams | | Bottom Line: | I don't know how much these cost, but i've been using/ abusing these for a little over 6 months and they work just great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
lefty
a Cross-Country Rider
from fairfax, va
Date Reviewed: November 24, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
wherever it leads me | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
beefy crank arms, looks spiify | | Weaknesses: |
integrated chain rings, gets creaky | | Similar Products Used: |
xt, suntour (years ago) | | Bike Setup: |
old elevated chainstay redline frame, zochi shock,titec and xt all around | | Bottom Line: | bought it for the good price and peoples previous reviews..it looks cool with the integrated outer and middle rings, cept i had to chainwhip the hell outa it to get it to sit right on the right crankarm...been using for six months roughly 3 times a weeek..works pretty well but now is starting to creak.. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Rahhany
a Weekend Warrior
from Boulder CO
Date Reviewed: May 2, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Very clean and simple design.
Stiff.
Light.
Creakless, integrated chainring
Inexpensive! | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: |
Merlin Mountain, '98 JudyXC | | Bottom Line: | For less than $100, these cranks with integrated chainrings (though you can get a removable spider for these as well) is the best deal on cranks I've seen. | | Overall Rating: |
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