Submitted by
Erik
a Cross Country Rider
from Minneapolis
Date Reviewed: February 1, 2006
Strengths: Extremely nice finish, quality, workmanship and design. Reasonably light. Very stiff for the weight. Absolutely gorgeous. Very nice milling on back of crank, I consider it artwork. Made in USA. Unbelievable warranty. Company was run by a decent guy that actually rides
Weaknesses: I cracked two of these cranks from the botom bolt hole out. But I am a 180 lbs rider and put out a lot of power. The third pair have lasted long enough to wear out the JIS taper. Which will death talisman of every 4 sided taper crank. So, in the end, I have concluded that Grafton superlight cranks were too light as he beefed them up to the 415g model. Almost all the breakage was due to his subcontractor ripping him off. Very few people would have stood behind their product without a class action lawsuit.
Bottom Line:
I am still using my Joystix in 2006. I am still riding my Excelerator pedals. Hence they value rating. They have outlasted several cranks. They have the gouges to prove they have been abused. I met the guy personally. The reason he decided to close his shop had nothing to do with the quality or design of his product.
Grafton Performance was Unconditionally Guaranteed. It takes a lotta love to do that.
Similar Products Used: Topline SLS, Sims(Grafton copy), Bullseye, Shimano XT, Suntour XC Pro(Sugino), ACforged7000, Caramba 7000 machined cranks. Raceface (North American made)
Bike Setup: American frame, real skf bb, raceface rings, grafton excelerator pedals, rohloff chain
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jerry Snyder
a Cross Country Rider
from Fremont
Date Reviewed: April 8, 2002
Strengths: I have owned these same cranks for about 10 years. They are wonderful, stiff enough for me and look great. Man have complained about the cracking, but I must have been one of the early customers and got the right stuff. They now sit on my 1991 Merlin and will stay there until they are stolen or break because of my stupidity.
If you find some on a classic MTB, grab them, If they are recent vintage, pass on them.
Weaknesses: I have two pairs, black and chrome. The black are somewha schratched up but are still going strong. Funky screw caps are not the best.
Bottom Line:
Best money I have spent on a custom part in the past ten years. I wished they were still around. I have the brakes, cranks, bottom bracket and brake levers. Great groupo. Have been offered serious cash for the set up. No complaints from me.
Submitted by
Lee
a Cross Country Rider
from Orange County, CA
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2001
Strengths: Very Light,and Stiff
Weaknesses: Can no longer buy them
Bottom Line:
The one thing I have never had a problem with on my bike is these cranks. I have ridden them hard from the downhill at Brian Head to Cross Country in Mexico. I have never seen a hint of Cracking. I only wish Grafton was still around.
Bike Setup: Cannondale, XTR, Syncros, and Marzochi
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Caribou
Date Reviewed: March 20, 2000
Strengths: Stiff and light
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I have had these mated to an XTR bottom bracket for 4 years and never a hint of trouble. I weigh 180 lbs and ride my bike hard as i can. sucks that people had trouble cause they are really a great crank.
Bike Setup: Bridgestone Mb-1, syncros stem, Ringle post, Bulls Eye hubs, XT, Answer Hyperlights.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Cdale
a Weekend Warrior
from Stockton, CA
Date Reviewed: June 22, 1999
Strengths: Sharp looking, make good swizzle stix.
Weaknesses: They crack!
Bottom Line:
Be very wary if you still own a set of these! Mine cracked down by the bolt on the non-drive side. Grafton was as good as they could be about replacement (they were probably just about ready to go out of business). They sent me a replacement crank- I sold the pair to a friend, and soon after, he cracked them. YOW!! Had the Race Face for a while and love 'em! (See the Race Face reviews if you don't believe me!)
Submitted by
Mark
a cross-country rider
from Ridgefield, CT
Date Reviewed: February 8, 1999
Bottom Line:
This is my third set of Joy Stix. Snapped the first pair (during their well-publicized recall), bent the spider on the second, and to date, no problems on the third. (Knock on wood.) At all times the company was apologetic, and shipped me out a new pair immediately. I like 'em in a 178 mm. They do flex, but only in trials type stuff. Could be their ti b.b. too. Raced two hard seasons on them, with no complaints. Weigh 190+, but am also light on my bike. Don't recommend big air stuff on these. Quite light.
Submitted by
Tim Nielsen
a racer
from Arlington, VA
Date Reviewed: February 7, 1999
Bottom Line:
I think its only fair to Grafton to point out that the reason why the original run of Joy Stix had so many cracking problems was that the idiots contracted out to do the CNC of John Grafton's design intentionally substituted a slightly more inexpensive and much weaker alloy for the 7005 that John spec'ed in a effort to increase profits by a few cents per crank. Grafton sucked it up and warrantied countless sets of cranks nearly bankrupting his heretofore nicely-up-and coming company. Grafton makes top quality stuff and stands behind it.I have a polished pair prototypes I bought at Interbike years ago that are the only old part on an otherwise brand new $4500 ride I put together last summer. They flex a little under hard loads, but at 360 grams I can't complain.
The Grafton cranks look nice, but they suck. I have a pair of Kooka cranks that I have bin riding for 3 years now, and they still work. The reason I mention this is so that you dont believe I dont know how to land. The grafton cranks broke after an icredible 1 MONTH at the bottom bracket on the left side. If you get them for free, melt them, and do not buy them!!!
Submitted by
Richard Kaak
a cross-country rider
from Hanover, Germany
Date Reviewed: July 23, 1998
Bottom Line:
My father and I bought quiet at the same time two bikes and each of them had Grafton Components. Round about three years ago my drive crank cracked and I had a knee injury. I had a lot of trouble and even the only sales representative denied helping me. After al lot of unsuccessful expenditure I gave up. Yesterday the left crank of my father’s bike broke, too. Now just surfing through the net I’m really astonished that there had been a recall for the cranks. May it be possible that we still can swap and get back resistant cranks. On our high end bikes from Merlin and Marin they would surely look cooler.
My left crankarm cracked. It was a known defect. Unbelievable that they've had so many fail that they knew exactly where the thing cracked (bottom of the left crankarm.) Until then, they were super. Light. Strong. But, who the heck cares if the damn things crack on you. I ended up getting my money back.
Submitted by
Steve
a cross-country rider
from California
Date Reviewed: November 21, 1997
Bottom Line:
I bought these cranks 4 years ago when only 3 companies were making low profile cranks. I chose the graftons because they were the lightest and . Since I only weighed 125 lb, I noticed no flex. The anodizing was inconsistent between the two arms which worn off from ankle rub after about 6 months. They were then recalled, so I sent them back. I was told that only the non drive arm was recalled, but Grafton replaced both arms anyway. The pair they sent back had better anodizing, but the non drive arm was considerably beefed up pushing the weight from 380 to 430. I'm still riding the cranks and am happy with them. But I were to buy another pair, they would not be graftons. Although the weight is still competitive, there are many other cranks which are lower in profile and stiffer. Besides, 117 BB's are hard to come by these days. The crank is in need of a redesign, like race face did a few years back.
i have been racing on these BRIGHT red anodonized cranks for about 2 years now. on the NORBA circuit as an expert, i have had absolutely no complaints about them. the only prob it this..i am running them on a 115mm BB to compensate for my 48th chainring (strong rider:) and i have noticed my BB flexing a lot, but the cranks are very strong for the racing. my only complaint is that i also do a lot of trials riding on my bike, and they are a little flexy for controlled trials competitions. they are a comfortable crank, but flex under hard loads and bobbing...aka trials riding.
Submitted by
Eric
a cross-country rider
from Texas
Date Reviewed: May 26, 1997
Bottom Line:
I have used these cranks for about 2 years now and I have had no problems with them. They don't seem be be as stiff as the Cook Bros RSR crank on my other bike though.
Submitted by
Tim Kalina
a cross-country rider
from Chicago
Date Reviewed: January 24, 1997
Bottom Line:
I have been using these cranks on one of my bikes for over four years now. In the first two years, I cracked as many cranks. The last replacement, which was redesigned, has held up great for the past two years. But I don't trust CNCed cranks anymore as too many variables are involved in making a good, strong crank. Cold forged is the only way to go. Grafton did replace both pairs (charging only for shipping) but it took nearly two months to get one pair.
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