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Submitted by
Joe Mama
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbus, OH
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Colors | | Weaknesses: | Customer service | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, White Industries | | Bottom Line: | Customer service is terrible. Had the notorious creaking spyder in my first pair. Wrote the company and received a reply offering an upgrade to the forged crankset for $69 for solid colors. Took them up on their offer and sent them my old cranks back. Over six months and many phone inquires later, I received the new cranks. However, they refused to honor the price they offered me in their original letter. I faxed them their letter with their price circled, yet they still refused to honor it. After credit card disputes, many faxes, phone calls to employees who never seem to last more than a month, I still could not resolve the issue. Finally gave up and won't recommend these jokers to my arch nemesis. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bob
a Cross Country Rider
from fort collins, CO
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | ?? | | Strengths: | no complaints, until broken. | | Weaknesses: | non-driveside crank broke while riding. | | Similar Products Used: | shimano:) | | Bike Setup: | steel kona with wheels, handlebars, etc... | | Bottom Line: | cranks should not break. i thought i was unique with this failure, however it sounds like a common theme with kooka's cross-country cranks. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rick
a Cross Country Rider
from Canyon Country, Ca. USA
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | PCT | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Strengths: | Haven't broken the cold forged ones yet. They look trick. | | Weaknesses: | I broke a set of the original CNC cranks. None found with the cold forged set. | | Similar Products Used: | XT | | Bike Setup: | M2, XT - XTR, LP, Mavic, Avid, Titec | | Bottom Line: | After breaking a pair of the CNC cranks, I was offered a new set of the cold forged style for $65.00. I went for it and have had no real problems. No creaking, no flex, no shifting problems, correct BB length is necessary. For everyone who is having problems using the park BB tool, open your eyes. The problem is not with the tool threading into the crank arms, it's with the center part of the tool not being long enough to push aginst the BB spindle. Put one or two small washers inside the hole up aginst the spindle before installing the park tool and the problem is solved. I will agree with several reviewers about the lack of competent customer service. It took them about two months after I sent them the broken cranks to get me the new ones. 3 chillies for crappy service. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt happe
a Cross Country Rider
from Tahoe
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$125.00 | | Purchased At: | bykez,bordz,bladz Omaha | | Strengths: | light way too light | | Weaknesses: | crappy alu,weak design,terrible cust service | | Bottom Line: | After three pair I have given up. I have broken 3 driveside arms, the last one failed comletely putting my foot with pedal in the dirt. It seems that someone should sue Kooka.
There is no Cust service.Check out this site as I am not alone. http://www.spamracing.com/kooka.html | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Seth
a
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: April 5, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Galbraith Mountain | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Minimal Flex (150 lb. Rider) even during drops, airs and hammering. Natural aluminum color wears well. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano | | Bike Setup: | KHS Steel Frame, Syncros, Mavic, Blackspire, XTR, Titec, Sun Ringle, Salsa etc. Strong. | | Bottom Line: | Got first pair of Kookas off of a nice bike I bought used. Rode them and raced them hard for one year. Then they broke during a city ride. Paid $150 for lifetime warranty cranks since the former model had no warranty. Now these ones are busted. Should have scored Race Face and gotten no hassle. Customer Service SUCKS. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Conrad Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Mahia Hawkes Bay New Zealand
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | redwoods Rotorua NZ | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$43.00 | | Purchased At: | Pedal Pushers NZ | | Strengths: | Price of $100NZ dollars on sale, and the colour of silver arms and gold spider. These are strong when you take the time to clean the threads of every bolt.Result no creaking etc. I have gone to a coda 29 tooth along with a 42 outer to run a two by nine crank. Great on a lite bike. | | Weaknesses: | These puppies can be easily scratched, other wise no hassles just ride. A bit heavy now with the new products around. | | Similar Products Used: | Big S LX & XT cranks. | | Bike Setup: | Sunn Exact ti 2000 model frame with custom everything. | | Bottom Line: | A great product that I found for a BARGIN price. Catch a ride before you buy though as some do creak. I have seen a few welded spiders to arms to stop this, a drastic measure.
But I am considering the new Middleburn RS7 Duo cranks 523g's complete.
So 5 chills for value on sale or 4 at retail.
Three as the new products around pass them over. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joshua Bennett
a Racer
from Alameda, CA USA
Date Reviewed: February 6, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Not Giving That Up!- | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | From Company | | Strengths: | Light weight, Nice Looking | | Weaknesses: | Broke! Ok this is the third pair I've broken. This pair lasted about two years. These were on my SS. New company that took over Kooka, says pony up with $125 plus shipping for another pair. Thanks for sticking behind your product. Now looking for another company for cranks. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Cooks Bros, Suguno | | Bike Setup: | All sorts of stuff | | Bottom Line: | Can't wait to run into these clowns at an event. If you don't stand behind your product you will lose a lot of customers. There is a reason that more and more of us go with Chris King headsets and hubs. Have a nice (hopefully short) life Kooka! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a Racer
from Claremont CA
Date Reviewed: January 20, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Webb Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | These things are way light and look sweet. I thought they were creaking once... then I lubed the bottom bracket. No more creak, NOT the Kooka's fault. | | Weaknesses: | The black anodized finish has been wearing off, but they've been raced for at least 3 seasons now- whaddya expect? | | Similar Products Used: | STX, Sugina, Dura-Ace, Ultegra, some bmx gear. | | Bike Setup: | Kooka cranks, GT Zaskar, Total-Air Judy fork, SRAM 9.0 and XTR front, SPOX. | | Bottom Line: | Despite what I've been reading about creak and such, I've never experienced such problems. In fact, I don't ever really think about my cranks, except when complimented: as it should be. I've raced or ridden on these constantly for about a year, and they were raced for at least two years before I got my hands on them, so I'm pretty sure they're durable. This chainsuck/skipping issue I've never experienced. They look sexy and shift solid. I'd buy them again; you should if you ride cross country and like to climb like a rocket on light gear. I'd reconsider if you're heavier and tend to break stuff though: I'm only 160lbs. 5 flamin chillies. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ryan Noks
a Weekend Warrior
from University Place, WA
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Capital Forest | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | Shop I worked at | | Strengths: | Light, strong, great looks, excellent company to work with, great warranty | | Weaknesses: | Anodization rubs off after time | | Similar Products Used: | Race Face LP, AC, | | Bike Setup: | 98 Stumy set up for Trials | | Bottom Line: | I've owned 2 different sets of these (on 2 different bikes), and still love them. I've been unable to break these things, they have survived some big trials drops. THey have cool color options, and the company is great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bryan
a Racer
from Virginia beach
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Noble canyon | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$160.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS in Mira Mesa, CA | | Strengths: | Looks, wieght, cost | | Weaknesses: | Wimpy threads on cranks failed while removing cranks with a Park crank puller forcing me to remove left crank with a rubber mallot. Requires a non standard lenght BB and a lot of tweeking in order to shift properly, causes chain suck when shifting down to the little ring (Yes the lower limit is set to prevent this). Anodized aluminum rubs off on shoe after little usage removing color. Chain rings wobble and rub front der on big ring. The aluminum bolts used used to bolt crank arms to chain rings are too soft and also stripped out and failed both on the allen wrench side and threads. I also once had ALL of these bolts sheer under tension while climbing. I thought that the chain broke. | | Similar Products Used: | Spec strong arm | | Bike Setup: | Sepc FSR, XT/XTR, Mavic crosslinks, Kooka cranks, xt BB | | Bottom Line: | I wanted to upgrade the stock cranks on my racing rig and the LBS made me a 'good deal' on these. Appearantly they had been in the display case for a while. Hmmmm.
Anyway, They looked realy good and are extremely light. I had problems with chain suck from day one and all the problems mentioned above. I will say in thier defense that after countless hours of tweeaking, a new front der and BB they work now except for the wobble that causes rubbling on the big ring.
Bottom line: these are flashy looking junk. They are good for a 'free ride' bike but will not hold up to racing or hard riding. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Happy Rider
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | the one with the dirt | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | grand west outfitters - denver,co | | Strengths: | Light, stiff, and strong. Got mine cheap as a take-off part :-) | | Weaknesses: | mine were take offs from a GT Monster, and are anodized horrid colors to match that "bike" | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX and XT | | Bike Setup: | a 97 schwinn moab cro-moly, been upgraded to xt level | | Bottom Line: | The Kooka performs very well, NO middle ring slip, NO broken arms, NO bent ANYTHING. I purchased it for a stiff ride and got that without extra wieght (actually much lighter than most), and got 44T out of the deal too. I usually don't write into MTBR, but half the reviews for this product look as though they were written by the short bus web-team. Do these pepole even own the product? I read one where the reviewer said they were going to replace the kooka with a five arm crank! Last time i looked the kooka IS five arm. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Graham
a Weekend Warrior
from Bothell, WA
Date Reviewed: October 13, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | I'm sworn to secrecy | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Purchased from a friend | | Strengths: | ULTRA STIFF! Look awesome, shift well, durable. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | XTR, S-Works strongarm, LX | | Bike Setup: | S-Works M2 hardtail w/SPOX | | Bottom Line: | These cranks rule. I have the old style, which require a longer BB and were rumored to creak incessantly, but they have worked perfectly. No creaks, no flex. My crankarms are silver, so I've had no trouble with the finish. The rings seem light, but have been strong enough to withstand a few encounters with logs. Chainring alignment is still perfect despite the large loads on the bolt on spider.
Since these are about as stiff as the XTR's, look way cooler, and are cheaper, I give them 5 flamin' chilis. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Greig B
a
from Greenville SC
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any thing in Pisgah NC | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Sunshine Bicycle shop | | Strengths: | Light,Durable,they look great. | | Weaknesses: | None for the past 5 years. | | Similar Products Used: | lx, xt, raceface | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz,Z1,avid arch rival 50. sun-ringle rpm wheels. | | Bottom Line: | The bottom line is I'm 200+ lbs and these cranks were on my last Ti bike that I broke and now over 1yr on my dual sled and still kicking ass. There may have been a problem with some of these cranks but I think mine are ok, hell over 5 yrs and 2 bikes later, yea I like them just fine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
william busbee
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbia S.C.
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Strengths: | looks great, durable, very light | | Weaknesses: | too light? | | Similar Products Used: | various shimano cranks | | Bike Setup: | Stumpjumper M2 | | Bottom Line: | Kooka has made a great crank here, and you get what you pay for. On my first pair i cracked the non-drive side crank within a few weeks of purchase. My local bike shop returned the damaged cranks and i was soon givin a new pair of slightly beefed up Kooka's (the first pair was among the first around) So that was 5 years ago. for the past 5 years i have only been burdened with the occasional compliments on them, while i wouldn't recommend them for use with a titanium spindle bottom bracket (not without using a thin plastic film as a bushing between the two metals) they have held well. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim South
a Cross Country Rider
from Middletown OH
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Caeser Creek | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Light, they look good | | Weaknesses: | Poorly designed | | Similar Products Used: | Coda, LX, Sugino | | Bike Setup: | Used on a hardtail with a titanium spindle bottom bracket (world class brand). | | Bottom Line: | The non-drive side crank arm literally snapped off! At first I thought my chain broke, that was until I noticed I was walking around with a crank arm attached to my foot. The machining around the taper area of the crank seems excessive and does not leave much cross sectional area. This is where they broke. These are the pre-bonnie cranks (1997 vintage), so they only had a one year warranty. Kooka was willing to give me a crash replacement price through my local bike shop, for get this, $125 plus shipping. Nearly the cost of a new set of cranks at the normal price! So, don't buy these cranks. Save your money and get XTR. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Geoff Jensen
a Cross Country Rider
from Pullman, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | pete's dragon (sun mt.) | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | The kooky's are lightweight and relatively cheap. | | Weaknesses: | They started creaking really bad. They also ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with rapidfire. Middle chainring slips all the time. | | Similar Products Used: | Shi(t)mano LX | | Bike Setup: | 99 Fisher big sur, too many upgrades to list. | | Bottom Line: | I would not reccomend the kookys to anybody. At first i though, wow, light, cheap, cool looking.... so i bought them. Then i rode them for aobout 2 weeks, and got a major case of kooka specific chainsuck. very odd. we "fixed" that, but not totally, by replacing the middle chainring. Ok. problem solved for now. then the started creaking all the time. my bike sounded like a 2 week old huffy! very embarrasing. We fixed this problem by taking the entire crankset apart, and putting massive amounts of grease at all places where alum. touches alum. this solved that problem. Because the middle chainring is unusable right now, im going to trash the kookiesk, and get some nice Sugino Mighty 900's. Please do not get kookas. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Servant
a Cross Country Rider
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: April 7, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | any that makes you stop and say WOW! God made this! | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | -cost
-astetics
-durability
-strength and stiffness
- no special bottom bracket needed | | Weaknesses: | -none except people who think things that are earthly last forever. | | Similar Products Used: | -xt
-xtr
-lx
-specialized strong arm (also a great crank) | | Bike Setup: | -DB Apex full xtr
-CD Super V full xt/xtr
- Haro full scram shifters and brakes, plasma derailer, nuke proof wheels, Kore stem, seatpost, and handlebar.
| | Bottom Line: | This crank it like many other things in life. IT WILL NOT LAST. But, the have for two years without any faults. Then again, I do really good up keep and take of my investment. So then again I exspect that.
I do not buy things that are going to have to need alot of repair or are cheap.You will pay for that later.
SO since everything eventually does fade away, you should have the best crank going while you and your bike are here.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben Finn
a Cross Country Rider
from New England
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any tight fast singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Light, stiff, looks bullet proof. Lifetime warranty | | Weaknesses: | Haven't found any. | | Similar Products Used: | Only cheep crap that didn't last. | | Bike Setup: | Pro-Flex 957. Sram 9.0sl shifters and rear derailleur. Shimano xtr front derailleur. | | Bottom Line: | The crankset is awesome. This thing takes a lick'n and just keeps on tick'n. I've bashed them pretty good on rocks at high speed and they show no damage. Maybe the paint gets scrached. My only complaint is about the chain rings. I have a lot of trouble shifting up front, especialy from the middle to the smallest ring. Other than that they're bullet proof also. I can't seem to bend them. Because of the shifting problems I am considering upgrading to Race Face however, I don't like their warrenty much.
I would recomend this crankset to anyone who likes to ride hard and keep the weight down. If you ride in places where stone walls and downed trees are common obsticles this crank can take the abuse. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
stogee
a Cross Country Rider
from NC
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Weaknesses: | WEAK is the word! They are weak! | | Similar Products Used: | Strong Arm, Race Face | | Bike Setup: | Hard Tail | | Bottom Line: | After having these cranks on my bike for less than two years they broke at the spindle. I am bummed. I have heard a lot of negatives about them for a while and now I see why. a $200.00 crank should last longer!!
The Cust. Service Rep. said sorry send them to us and for $85.00 we will replace them, YEA RIGHT!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
King Kona
a Cross Country Rider
from WY
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | light, stiff, great looks | | Weaknesses: | noticed the 44 tooth chainring isn't perfectly straight. Of course I have bashed it off of a couple of concrete walls doing trials. | | Similar Products Used: | cheap factory equipment cranks(I don't even know which ones) | | Bike Setup: | Full XT Kona Lava Dome(its steel), magura HS 22, Manitou SX-R, | | Bottom Line: | The bottom line is that even though I have the old two piece Kooka cranks I still love them. I haven't noticed the anodizing wearing off(except where they scraped the wall), and I have not even heard a peep out of them. Between urban assault, trials, XC, and other hard riding these cranks have performed flawlessly...I would like to see them pin the rings, but they still shift great. The BB spindle needs to be a little longer for derailleur clearance, but other than that I think they are a great product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cooch
a Cross Country Rider
from Clearwater
Date Reviewed: February 1, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Santos | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Pretty stiff crank and you can't beat the price. | | Weaknesses: | A little flexy and the anodization comes off over a period of time. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano and Sugino | | Bike Setup: | Jamis Diablo, Marzocchi Z4, XT components | | Bottom Line: | I got my Kooka for $69 with the chainrings at NASHBAR. I mean I looked at everything else from $100-$200 and I couldn't pass up this deal. These are really good cranks. If you can't get them for a really good deal than I would go with Raceface. Another alternative crank that seems to be doing well are the Truvativ cranksets. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dylan
a Downhiller
from longview washington
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
this is a light durable well designed crank and is well worth the money | | Weaknesses: |
a little flexy | | Similar Products Used: |
race face | | Bike Setup: |
straiat eigth boxer | | Bottom Line: | this crank is the s*@# it is a good value and can be ridden all day with no problems | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Racer
from Castle Rock, CO
Date Reviewed: November 11, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Colorado trail | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Very cool looking and NOT flexy, in spite of what the guy below said. Good customer service and again, in spite of what the guy below said. | | Weaknesses: |
Mine came in Yellow Powder coat to go with my yellow Wams and yellow Litespeed stickers. Some of the paint is wearing off already. Bummer. | | Similar Products Used: |
XT, old style, five arm. | | Bike Setup: |
Unicoi, Race face rings (99) and Speedplay pedals. | | Bottom Line: | Excellent product! In every way, except that the paint wears off from my shoe rubbing against the arm. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bend, OR
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
light weight | | Weaknesses: |
Flexy
Durability
Customer Service | | Similar Products Used: |
'old school' Shimano 5-arm LX and XT | | Bike Setup: |
Fat Chance
Shimano drivetrain
Judy XC | | Bottom Line: | I've broken 2 pairs of these cranks and have generally found them to be a waste of money, unsafe and Kooka's Customer Service sucks.
As stated above I'm a XC rider not a Downhill racer, the cranks should not have broken. I've since gone back to Shimanos 'old school' 5-arm cranks for their durability. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jhon
a Cross-Country Rider
from Kent Wa
Date Reviewed: October 17, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Tape worme, Tiger Mt. | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
cool looking | | Weaknesses: |
none yet | | Similar Products Used: |
sugino. stx, lx | | Bike Setup: |
DBR | | Bottom Line: | Cool looking crankset especially if you can get for 69.00 stone. I install this baby and my front dereilleur wont shift to small chainring. i this i need a long bb i currently using 110mm. if anyone kwons what size bb i need please email me. I will review this baby again after I get the rigth setup and take this baby on the trail. Right now i will give 5 chile for price and looks. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Elliott Boston III
a Cross-Country Rider
from Long Beach, CA
Date Reviewed: October 11, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Strong Crank for a Heavy rider | | Weaknesses: |
Cost | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized M4 1999 Hard-tail Full XTR | | Bottom Line: | I think this is a good crank for the cost. I have read alot compliants but I have none! I am 5'11 and 198lbs and hav been riding and racing for years and this crank is good! However, When buying this crank on-line be careful..... and make sure it is not the old KOOKA crank that had many problems. Buy any Kooka made in 1998 and later. The old ones were not cold forged so they can break at any given time. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim(Jm) Howery
a Downhiller
from Ok
Date Reviewed: October 2, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
12MOH/anything rocky, single track, and downhill. | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Stiff, strong, look great. | | Weaknesses: |
Very wide cranks, so you need a long BB spindle. Also the rings are unramped on earlier models. | | Similar Products Used: |
Sugino 700x, LX, Alivio.
Demoed others. | | Bike Setup: |
Rocky Mtn DH race, ESP 9.0 drivetrain, XT BB/hub, BoXXer, and other goodies. | | Bottom Line: | These cranks are awesome. Mine are 44T without ramps, but I cant knock em cause they shift every time. Probably works better with the ESP shifters like I have. They are pretty wide, but very beefy, I can feel the difference in stiffness from my older suginos, which I busted on a rock. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James
a Racer
from Washington DC
Date Reviewed: September 14, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
once again...looks badass
light
strong
kooka is a good brand | | Weaknesses: |
expensive
i have heard that the color comes off
must be tuned perfectly with derailleurs to work well | | Similar Products Used: |
xt xtr lx | | Bike Setup: |
haro a4 race. xtr. total air judy's | | Bottom Line: | cool looking fork, performs well after a period of derailleur adjustment, light and strong is a good combination | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Fat Sergio
a Cross-Country Rider
from nc
Date Reviewed: September 2, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
looks cool
light
strong
custom | | Weaknesses: |
anodization wears off | | Similar Products Used: |
stx
xt | | Bike Setup: |
kooka rings | | Bottom Line: | This is a light stiff crankset that looks cool and performs well. It is definetely of better quality than xt. The only problem I have had is that the blue color began to wear off after about 10 miles. I really don't care too much but you would expect more out of a crank of this caliber. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bay
a Weekend Warrior
from Bothell, WA
Date Reviewed: September 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
St Edwards | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
My Kooka is anodized, blue, red, black with gold alloy screws. Where else can you get a customized setup that looks as hot and is stong. | | Weaknesses: |
Initial setup needs longer length bottom bracket. | | Similar Products Used: |
Stongarm w/sugino gears, XT, Sugino w/stl gears, Redline Flight. | | Bike Setup: |
Bike setup, Specialized extreme. | | Bottom Line: | I have been riding the Kooka crank with Kooka gears on a Specialized extreme. I am using a Shimano XT bottom bracket with the length properly setup for the Kooka so the crank can be tighten against the bottom bracket without interferance. I measure the TIR (Total Indicator Runout) with a digital dial indicator, calibrated to 0.0001 (1/10,000 inch). The entire 44 gear face was measuring 0.0098. That's 98/10,000 inch! The middle ring was measuring 0.0062 and the small ring is measuring 0.0071. This is after riding over tree stumps and none of the measurements were over 10/1000 inch TIR. Hum? ... looks good to me!! To those who are measuring higher runout, learn to ride the stumps will you. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
meado
a Downhiller
from Denver
Date Reviewed: August 24, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Porcupine Rim | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
Fairly light, good price, stiff | | Weaknesses: |
None for me | | Similar Products Used: |
LX, XT | | Bike Setup: |
Heckler, Z1, XT, SRAM, Nuke Proof, etc | | Bottom Line: | I have had no problems with my set of Kookas; older CNC type cranks. Have used generic rings, Real and Kooka. No problems there. I am about 185lbs and used them on my XC bike and Heckler. I would buy again. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross-Country Rider
from Jonesboro
Date Reviewed: August 20, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
RICH MOUNTAIN | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Spider looks cool | | Weaknesses: |
We'll get to that | | Similar Products Used: |
Tioga Revolver, TNT, Cook CBR, XT, and many others | | Bike Setup: |
Full tilt Adroit | | Bottom Line: | Let me start by saying that I'm probably the most anal weight freak/tech weinie you'll ever meet. That said, let me explain why you should never buy these cranks. I installed them with new RF rings on a new RF ti bottom bracket. When I spun them the wobble in the rings was obvious. I whipped out my handy dandy dial indicator and measured big ring wobble at .0823 (thats a lot). I took the rings off and measured the spider arms. Their distance from the top tube varied by .0326. Their is no way this thing can shift properly. I hade a difficult time removing them because my park crank tool wouldn't engage the threads properly. After changing the rings and installing them on a TNT ti bottom bracket, the problem was the same. I am removing them and installing a set of RF cranks. I spoke to you know who and was told my problem isn't possible because all of their cranks are forged on the same machine.
I guess I'll have to throw out my dial indicator. After all, these cranks are perfect.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bay
a Weekend Warrior
from Bothell, WA
Date Reviewed: August 8, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
St Edwards Park | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
I am a 195lbs., 40 yr old nut with BMX and Mountain bike in my blood. I resently purchased a Kooka Crank with forged ring set and Al bolts as a replacement for a Specialized Stong Arm with sugino gears.The Kooka is light, strong with no flex, incredible looks.Lighter than the Specialized Stong Arm on my Extreme. I bent the big sugino gear over a log. Did not experience problem with Kooka gears. When I went in to a bike shop they offered the entire crankset for about the cost of a raceface gearset.Not quite as stiff as a redline flight on my BMX.Beats the Sugino crank hands down. | | Weaknesses: |
Tuning to replace existing crank. The Kooka crank require a slightly longer bottom bracket. Without the correct length bottom bracket the back base of the crank will hit the frame or bottom bracket locking nut. This will not allow you to tighten the crank and the gear spacing will not line up with standard XT, XTR front der.. The crank must be off set correctly for the gears to work and allow the crank to tighten against the bottom bracket shaft. If you sense the crank is binding, your bottom bracket is too short for the kooka. Shimano XT has a nice replacement. The worst thing is it took several trys to figure this out. I don't even remember the final length because the shop guys just kept trying until it worked. This is not always the case. I strongly suggest Kooka publish a tech. sheet on set-up requirements for there crank. Nice product but too easy for some bonehead to just replace from a standard crank without checking the bottom bracket clearance and ring gear spacing dimension. | | Similar Products Used: |
Specialized Stong Arm, Sugino, Shimano LX & XT, Redline Flight Cranks, Shimano 600, | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized extreme, Rock Shoc XL and coupe delux backend. | | Bottom Line: | Kooka is a show-off pieces. An on-looker will focus on this piece. Please be smart and check your clearance and ring dimensions before final installation. Use a stong bottom bracket with a correct length. If you are 190+ lbs like me, don't even think about Ti bottom bracket with this crank. The crank is stong enough to bend the Ti bottom bracket and cause all sorts of problems.Kooka, Please put out a better installation and spec. sheet. Please update your web page, so the information gets out there.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross-Country Rider
from Memphis
Date Reviewed: June 10, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
strong,light looks good | | Weaknesses: |
I haven't found any yet. I bought the polished ones because the color comes off of the others. | | Similar Products Used: |
Nothing, my Kookas last and last.....I can't bend them. | | Bike Setup: |
Calio (IDIS being put together now)EFC fork, XTR hubs,everthing else is XT | | Bottom Line: | I quess I have the older CNC's. I'm around 195 lbs. I just cracked my Calio frame. The cranks are still strieght. To me they're one of the best buys I made. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
rtj
a Cross-Country Rider
from Los Gatos CA
Date Reviewed: June 2, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Light, stiff, problem free | | Weaknesses: |
Chain rings don't shift well | | Similar Products Used: |
Sugino 700 series
CNC Kookas | | Bottom Line: | The old CNC cranks came with my bike. They creaked had a thread problem. Kooka offered a trade up to the Bonnie for a nominal fee and I took it. After ~4000 miles I have had no problems with the arms and I don't expect I ever will. Recently I did wear thru the anodizing but what do you expect. I could never get the stock rings to shift welland an using Reals which work great., The arms have never given me a reason to think about them.which is my definition of a good product. I weigh about 190lbs and spend a lot of time on tough single track so I am not easy on my parts. I would buy them again without hesitation | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
nomad
a Cross-Country Rider
from california
Date Reviewed: April 12, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
light, good looks | | Weaknesses: |
too light for the big boys | | Similar Products Used: |
xt, sugino | | Bike Setup: |
khs alite 4000, manitou | | Bottom Line: | I'm updating the four star rating I gave these cranks earlier. I got to say that I was fired up on these cranks when I got them. After just three months they've been tweaked. No crashes, just riding. the only explination is the fact I'm a feather over 200 lbs. Regardless of a rif=ders weight, normal riding shouldn't lead to a products failing in just three months. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Win
a Weekend Warrior
from New York, NY
Date Reviewed: April 1, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Any | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Extremely stiff and light | | Weaknesses: |
None | | Similar Products Used: |
'89 Shimano Deore II, '92 Shimano Deore XT, Cook Bros. E, '99 Shimano Deore LX | | Bike Setup: |
'98 Merlin XLM | | Bottom Line: | I posted an earlier review, but I wanted to post this one also because a definite distinction should be made between the cold forged Bonnies (which are all Kooka makes now) and the older CNC'd cranks (which some people had problems with). One year later, I have not had any problems with my Bonnies, creaking or otherwise. These are unbelievably tough cranks. No flex at all. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike McD
a Cross-Country Rider
from All Over
Date Reviewed: March 24, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Bethel MTB Trails | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Bottom Line: | I can't believe the things I read on this site sometimes. The people complaining about the creaking need to learn a little simple bike maintenance. I have had 4 sets of these cranks, along with just about every other major brand, and they outperform them all when it comes to bang for the buck. I have NEVER had a creaking problem with them. Either I'm just super lucky, or most of these complainers need to learn how to install and maintain them. One dude even rated these cranks on hearsay without even trying them himself! I am a 180 pound rider, and I ride anywhere from 100-200 trail miles a week. I have used and abused many cranksets, and these are the best to date. I felt compelled to post this because many people use these ratings as a resource while deciding what to buy. I would hate to see them decide against a great set of cranks simply because some idiot without any grease on his bottom bracket says his cranks squeek. Anyone who's cranks squeek can email me, and I'll help you out. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kim
a Cross-Country Rider
from Willoughby, OH
Date Reviewed: March 24, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Excellent rigidity and durability. | | Weaknesses: |
Anodizing does seem to come off easily (shoelaces or heel-rubbing). | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano, RaceFace. | | Bike Setup: |
ProFlex Animal (Girvin Pipeline); Cannondale CAAD3 custom-built (Manitou SX-R). | | Bottom Line: | Originally, I had my ProFlex Animal setup with the cranks and chainrings, and when I decided to build my custom Cannondale, I moved the Kookas to that bike. I've never experienced any creaking on either bike. The Cannondale is setup with a 68x107 titanium bb and cranks just as smooth as anything. When the crankset was on the Animal, I had ridden the bike through creeks, raced in mud, ridden in snow and the crankset never creaked. I recently took the crankarms to an anodizer who stripped them and re-anodized them. Any creaking may be attributed to poor maintenance on the bb, or you may want to check the spider, which is pressed-on to the right crankarm and has a stabilizing screw which may be loose. Mine have been trouble free with zero flex! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
NOMAD
a weekend warrior
from Berkeley Ca.
Date Reviewed: February 2, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
What??? A crank that doesn't work with a Park crank puller, who ever heard of anything that a park tool couldn't be used with. Well the guys at Cambria who sold it to me for $149 (Good price) told me that they were sire that it fit a park tool. But after i almost dethreaded the crank, I'm not so sure. Not only did I unsuccessfully use the park puller but two employees of The Missing Link tried without success as well. Then after the crank was finally installed I took my brand new custom hardtail to the China camp trails in Marin. The bike is great the cranks are perfect but in just the first 22.5 miles of service the black Anodizing is rubbed off the left arm. I guess that my shoe rubbed the crank arm. It's one of those things that I had expected to notice next year not after one ride. I called Cambria and it looks like I'm stuck with them. I have no problem with the performance... I have to remove a point for the color fade and puller problem. Honestly i have to give them 3.5 but it'll have to round out to four | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff
a cross-country rider
from Traverse City
Date Reviewed: February 1, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I still own one of the old Kooka kranks. I bought it in 1994. I still ride it. I will be replacing it this year. It doesn't creak but it's got 5 seasons of riding on it and it's time to move on. The durability has been tremondous as its the only crank ive ever owned except the lx that came on my very first bike. I weigh 150 pounds and do alot of riding. So if your looking a a dependable product I'm sure the new ones are just as good as the old ones. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J.J. CArlson
a downhiller
from Vancouver Canada
Date Reviewed: January 27, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I am a bike mechanic, and all of your creeking problems are not caused as a direct result of the cranks. It is because the bb that you use is so long-122.5 Cranks don't creek but bb's do. So I suggest that if you are using kooka's make sure that you have enough grease on the threads of the bb, more the better. And once the bb is installed, run silicon around any area especially the threads where the bb is exposed to air or dirt etc. This way, no dirt can get in and cause the bb to creek. For anyone who doesn't know, creeking is caused by dirt rubbing in the threads of the bb!!!! The long spindal required by kooka's just make creeking worse because there is more pressure exerted on the cups of the bb!! I have had this happen to me. I thought that it was the cranks but when I took the bb out, regreased it and put it back in, no creeking.
Problem fixed!! Don't dis the cranks, they work great!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
j.j. Carlson
a
from vancouver Canada
Date Reviewed: January 27, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
These cranks rock.. They are very stiff and deliver tremendous power. I don't see how raceface or any other crank could be better because Kooka's are cold forged making them just as stiff as anything out there. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
nate
a weekend warrior
from utah
Date Reviewed: January 16, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I have to sy some things about this crank. I like them they have been good to me I have a proflex 957 I had a hard time with shifts into the big ring, I later found out that I needed what proflex called a shift kit. All it was is a wider bb and a non indexed grip shift shifter. My real problem was in that kooka machined the 44 tooth big ring flat!!! I mean not a ramp one so ihad to bang the chain onto the ring. I use a 42 tooth raceface right now I will switch back to a 44 kooka if they have ramped it. I did have a few creaks but after I had the new bb instal.led and they reassymbled the crank no noise since. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Lynn H. Johnson
a cross-country rider
from Ketchum, Idaho
Date Reviewed: October 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've read some of the reviews on the Kooka cranks and decided that I should include my experience with Kooka. I weigh about 185 and ride trails that require a great deal of climbing. I ride about 1000 miles in the mountains each year and have been doing so for the last 8 years on a Fat Chance ti. The bike frame has been bulletproof and has good geometry so there has been no need to change. Various parts have had to be replaced over the years, but not the Kooka cranks. Because the climbs can get a bit techical and steep I need a smaller granny chain ring. At the time I built my bike, you had to put an adapter on most cranks to get the smaller chain ring to bolt on. Because the Kooka crank had extra holes I didn't have to add the adapter which is a real plus. As far as their durability goes, some days I feel strong enough to tear the cranks right off a mountain bike (just bragin'), but the Kooka's have stood up for over 8000 hard miles. I try to ride at least every other day. As far as the Kooka's being noisey, I did have some creaking going on; but found that noise was in my bottom bracket, and so I replaced the BB at about 7000 miles. I hope I never buy another Kooka crank, because I really like the ones I have now. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron
a cross-country rider
from northfield, mass.
Date Reviewed: October 19, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had the Kooka bonnies for a month now, and they are great! They are stiff, and light. For $150.00 cranks and rings it can't be beat. Plus the life time warranty. I race here and there, and I have not ran into any problems. I am a hard rider, I have gon through 3 bikes in four years, and have had bad luck with cranks before, but not these. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Monroe
a weekend warrior
from Northampton, MA
Date Reviewed: October 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Wanted to get this because I like their minimal brake levers - and these were light - but 2 different bike store dudes said that there were complaints from customers that they squeaked. Ended up getting Race Face which I like. Forerly had Cook Brothers (the later model with the cutout in the back which were O.K. But want to try the Kooka (even though I've heard bad stuff) | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Charles Stevens
a weekend warrior
from Atlanta, GA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I see alot of whiners out there, they need to consider a few things before passing judgement. Did they torque the cranks properly? Did they use a proper grease when installing? Most people don't have a clue when it comes to properly installing bicycle components.For the novices out there, please take your Kooka cranks to a reputiable dealer and let them install them correctly. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brendan
a weekend warrior
from Massachusetts
Date Reviewed: August 18, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had Kooka cranks for a couple of years. No major complaints except they do creak quite a bit (I weigh 200 lbs). My other complaint is that they require an especially long BB. I guess I'm not that impressed b/c I'm currently looking for replacements! Pretty cool looking, but I suggest you spend it elsewhere! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bikrdog
a cross-country rider
from Colorado Springs
Date Reviewed: August 6, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
After running these craks (bonnies) for about a year, I only have one thing to say. Why me? I have a couple other friends running these cranks with no problems. Me, creak creak creak creak creak. Did I mention mine CREAK? I am now tightening and adjusting chainrings on the average, once a week. I work as a tech in a bike shop so performing this ritual is only a minor pain-in-the-butt. I use this bike not only for fun, but back and forth to work ( total mileage per week about 70 - 100 miles depending on where we ride on sundays). I only weigh in at 160 lbs, so I don't think weight is a factor. I ride hard, but am not abusive and don't break a lot of parts. But hey-they still look great though, gotta say that the anodization IS done beautifully, and has held up VERY well ( maybe they should just FINISH parts for other manufacturers ). I am awaiting delivery of a new frame this week, and when it gets here, everything EXCEPT these piece-o-crap cranks will go on it. Anyone wanna buy a set of cranks? I don't feel that I have gotten my money's worth. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tony
a weekend warrior
from Cali
Date Reviewed: July 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Hey, these cranks bite. They make noise, they break a lot and you can get other cranks for about the same price. I mean just get the race face or some cooks bro's for the same amount of money, check the reviews. Why buy a lesser product for the same amount? I broke one pair and me my brother and a friend all have creaking noises from our cranks. I got rid of them for the synchros and it solved all my problems. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Win (not races, just my name)
a weekend warrior
from New York
Date Reviewed: June 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had Bonnies for 6 months now and I think they're great. They're a lot lighter than the Deore II cranks I used to ride and a SHITLOAD stiffer (you
could actually see the Shimanos bend). Plus there's a lifetime warranty.
Can't beat that with a stick. I love 'em. They definitely work for me. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a weekend warrior
from CA
Date Reviewed: June 8, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Now I know what you guys are talking about when you say these are stiff cranks. And for everyone else that maybe looking to upgrade. When you pump the sprokets don't flex over so the the chain hits the derailer. You can have they derailer right up on the chain and no flex, no noise, no anoying adjustments. I agree with other reviewers that this particular crank set locates the chain rings too close to the bottom bracket making you either buy a wider one (no thanks I already have a TNT ti) or deal with not using the lowest three gears while on the granny sproket in front. That's a god trade off with the zero flex. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a weekend warrior
from ND
Date Reviewed: May 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have a pair of these cranks that I really dig to no end. I recommend getting
them and use the hell out of them. I have put over 2000 miles on them in some
great place in the USA. And I tell you I would never buy anything ealse. There
are a trick. And for the price you get a great pair of cranks. Keep up the good
work Kooka. I liked them so much I name my cat after them. Enjoy them. You will
love them. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
CG
a weekend warrior
from SF, CA
Date Reviewed: April 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had my Bonnie cranks for over 7 months now and have ridden them hard since. I have had no problems whatsoever. In this review, I've noticed that the a large portion of the remarks that were negative came from folks that were from outside of the U.S. Are they getting bum forks out there??? I don't know...but all I know is that these cranks are a lot better than the LX's I had prior... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
chedder
a weekend warrior
from brantford, ontario,canada
Date Reviewed: April 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had my kookas for 9 months now. They have reacently started to creak and make anoying noises. Ihave problems with the chain rings in proper place. Other than that they are strong and don't flex. I am 165 pounds, 5'9 . I ride my bike extremly hard. I ride my bike like it's a bmx .These cranks hold up better than I had expected to. Kooka has really improved on these babies. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kris
a cross-country rider
from Ottawa
Date Reviewed: April 14, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Review UPDATE -- In my last review I hadn't had a crank failure yet. Well, it happened, they snapped at the bottom bracket. The scary thing is that I wasn't even on a trail when it happened, just riding in the city (just hopping a few curbs). Lessons learned, I've got raceface now, and am quite happy (hoppy). | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
HTmaniac
a
from Taipei
Date Reviewed: April 12, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Noddles, pastas, noddles, spagetti, etc ... difficult to fit non kooka rings on them can never get proper spacing between rings etc...Most most scary is how much they flex particularly around the BB spindle. After 2000 km the square taper in the crankharm was disformed. Did I say noddles yes only one chili for the sauce | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Yuki Miamoto
a racer
from Tokyo, Japan
Date Reviewed: April 8, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I got this crankset from friend after he use. He bought raceface instead. After 1 week of using his crank (I weigh 56 Kg) it broke under me. Fortunatly I was going on road! Bad crankset!!!! Get raceface instead!!!! fja d a dk f a dlfk a dkf a dkfd d d d dfkf f f sl adk alkdj a d a dfa!!!! Maki wa pro boarder!?!? N | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Colin H
a racer
from Lewiston, N.Y.
Date Reviewed: April 2, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I love these things. The Bonnies are just sweet. I have bent tons of stuff on my bike including: Coda cranks, Titec ti bars, Two suspension seatposts, seat rails,and i have destroyed an amp f-3 shock. At 137lbs i'm a light rider and so far these cranks haven't given me any problems, stiff and durable. They look sweat too. I would advise anyone that these cranks can take a beating on the trails and come back the next day for more. Two cheers for Kooka! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a weekend warrior
from PA
Date Reviewed: March 19, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had the forged cranks for a few months and they have been great. They are very stiff, quiet, and look good. The rings are very tough and shift well once set up properly. I weigh only 135# and could not imagine breaking these things. I'm light, but they have alreay handled some pretty nast crashes with no problems, and I have yet to bend a tooth. I cant say that for my last two cranksets. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rui Brito
a cross-country rider
from Lisbon, PORTUGAL
Date Reviewed: March 13, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I had a pair of Kooka cranks bought for me by a friend in Texas in 95. Rode them for about 1 year (around 5 times a week, no races, 80kgs) on a Cannondale frame with Shimano XT BB. They developed a transversal crack (with some loss of material) at about 1 inch from the pedal threads on the LEFT ARM (no problems whatsoever at the right arm) while going uphill - hopefully !! I sent them back to the US shop where they have been bought (following indications of the portuguese Kooka representative at the time) but i never received any answer (letter, fax, nope...). I still keep some photos of the offending stuff. Although this might not be of Kooka´s fault i have to say that i won´t trust Kooka products any more. I now run the same bike with a pair of Shimano LX compact cranks on a TNT Ti BB and i´m quite happy with it. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a cross-country rider
from CT
Date Reviewed: February 20, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
At first I was a little nervous about getting these cranks(the Bonnies) because of the horror stories I have read here and...umm....not here. Anyway, my local shop offered me a deal I could not refuse on a brand new gold set. Hey, when you save a lot of cash, it is easy to forget some bad reviews. I have been running these cranks for about 7 months with nary a problem. Whew. I consider myself a fairly abusive rider, and my maintenance routine is fairly remedial, but these things have never given me any trouble. To say that they are lighter then my previous cranks is the understatement of the millenium. The only thing which keeps them from floating away is the bottom bracket. To end this rabbling review, you get an undeniably beautiful, light, strong piece of alloy to replace the old crank/boat anchor. Being the envy of all your friends is sweet too... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff W
a cross-country rider
from Frankenmuth MI
Date Reviewed: February 20, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I am such a huge fan of the Kooka Bonnie cranks that I would recommend them to anyone that is in the market. They are well worth the money. For me after I break something I want to buy a really high quality product that looks real good. I have broken the brake arch on a Manitou and really messed up a set of Son of Strongarm cranks. I have a lot of confidence in my Kooka cranks and I am proud to have them on my bike. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a racer
from Minnesota
Date Reviewed: February 10, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
They are very light and run very smooth the first season. Then they creak and creak and creak. Not to mention they have rouble satying tight, and are easily over torqued. They are very light (I mean to say it again) but a forged crankset (Race Face, TNT, Syncros) lasts a lot longer. I replaced my Kooka crankset with a TNT and have gotten tow race seasons out of them with no problems. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John B.
a cross-country rider
from United States
Date Reviewed: December 11, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Kooka cranks, they are stong but the most poor design I have ever ridden. I had two sets of them and they never shifted properly. I sent both cranks and letter to Kooka explaining to them the problems I was having. They never even wrote back. Don't buy them! Kooka is in it for the money only, not to design light function parts. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a weekend warrior
from Seattle, Wa
Date Reviewed: December 4, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had Kooka cranks for two years, and recenly suffered a bent spider. These cranks are a waste of cash. I've got a set of coda 900 tarantula cranks on order, and will post a review. They look stiff, and solid | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a downhiller
from Norco Ca.
Date Reviewed: November 11, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Hi I have raced and built bikes for people for over three years. The upper end bikes I used Shimano XTR and The older style Kooka cranks. The other cranks I used was XT cranks, Lots of bent crank arms, but the cost and in voge ness of Shimano I kept using them. Now in retrospect no more. Kookas new cold forged and improved design took care of all my needs and you cant beat there lifetime warranty and super customer service. Plus there made in the U.S.A.. So buy U.S.A. before its to late. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jimbo
a weekend warrior
from California
Date Reviewed: September 24, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I purchased some original Kooka Cranks back in '94, and just as I had read in other reviews, also discovered that a small stress crack had developed near the bottom bracket flange. Crank bolt over-torquing was not the problem, since I always used a torque wrench and applied the factory (Kooka) recommended pressure.
I must give Kooka the full 5 chiles though, as they honored an expired 1-year warrantee and replaced my old crank with their new Bonnie cold forged model (for a small upgrade price). They mailed the replacement crank immediately! Their service record in my dealings has been impeccable. They always seem eager to keep me happy. Sure those old cranks experienced problems, but that's Research & Development. If you're going to live at the cutting edge of new technology, then you will have to learn to live with the pittfalls of experimentation. The new Bonnie cranks are strong, light, beautifull and come with a full lifetime warrantee. What more could you ask for? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tub-0-lard
a downhiller
from fat city
Date Reviewed: August 15, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
i broke these cranks but i supose i brake a crank at least once a month | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Philip
a weekend warrior
from MN
Date Reviewed: August 12, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
For those of you who keep complaining about the pedal threads stripping, it might help to keep the pedals tight. It's your nads and your money so do what you like, it's just a suggestion. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin W.
a cross-country rider
from Simsbury , CT
Date Reviewed: August 12, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I recently bought this to put onto my Schwinn Homegrown, and while I loved the crank it wasn't three hard rides and the spider was off. (Pressed on-- yeah right)However they are standing behind it and replacing it with a forged one, insteadof the machined one I bought. we'll see. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
koo-koo
a downhiller
from somewhere with big trees and rocks
Date Reviewed: August 1, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
You'd think that with all the hype these cranks would be good. Thruth be told, they suck. They may look like RacFace in design, but are not even close. They are more flexible, creaky, and break. I must admit that they look pretty though. Kooka products seem to be over designed and under engineered. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mike
a downhiller
from Peterborough, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 15, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
These cranks are great! They are stiff and strong. The best thing about them is
the company they come from. If you are able to break the cranks (very few of the
new ones have broken) Kooka will send you new ones within two weeks. The only problem
I have with them is that the powder coat is not very durable but that could be
common with all powder coated cranks. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gero
a cross-country rider
from charlottesville
Date Reviewed: May 22, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had Kooka Kranks for two years now, weigh 205lbs, and beat them pretty hard. I've had no problems with them - no flex, no creaking, no cracks rounding or stripping. It leaves me wondering what some of you all do to your bikes to break everything on them. Like the guys who crack or break titanium bottom braacket spindles. I'd think they'd figure it out and go with steel. So its a few grams heavier, but it will also last a lot longer. It would be very helpful to those of us reading these reviews if reviewers with gripes about problems would also say how they were riding - did you ride off a third floor balcony and your cranks snapped when you hit the ground, and by the way, your fork doesn't take big hits well??? Just saying something broke doesn't help anyone. hell, I was just riding along when...I think Kooka products are tough, well made, and beautifully designed. I've also found their customer service to be very helpful, both on the phone and per e-mail. I'm sticking with their products. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tyler Harmor
a weekend warrior
from Gaithersburg, MD
Date Reviewed: May 8, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I have aquired this crankset from a friend and have had them for about a year
with absolutley no problems. I love the things more than I've ever loved a
woman and would recomend them to anyone because of their little weight and
big strength. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Daniel Doyle
a downhiller
from Sydney, Australia
Date Reviewed: May 6, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I had a pair of Kookas for less than three months. Useless pieces of shit. They
snapped at the bottom bracket bolt. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff Kuao
a racer
from Atlanta GA
Date Reviewed: May 2, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had the 96 Kooka cranks for 7 months now and I have yet to have a problem,
they're stiffer than anything I've ever tried and plus they look really cool.
They're some of the best cranks ever made and I recommend them to anyone
with enough money to buy them. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter
a cross-country rider
from Flagstaff, AZ
Date Reviewed: April 23, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
All the bad reviews that Kooka has been getting really made them work overtime on these new cranks. I could break their old cranks within two weeks. I said that I would never ride Kooka again, but I guess I'll make an exception. I've been switching off between Raceface and XTR. These new Kooka are now in the same class (actually a class above because all the cool colors). These cranks are STIFF! I've had these for a month now and it's all I've been riding! No problems whatsoever. If your one of the people who felt the same as I did when they got the old Kookas, I highly recommend that you give them another try. You won't be disappointed. Would give them ten stars if I could! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike
a cross-country rider
from Ma
Date Reviewed: April 18, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
These cranks are awsome! I got these cranks months ago and have had no problems. These things kick ass!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin Grant
a weekend warrior
from MI
Date Reviewed: April 17, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Stiff feel, great looks with multi-color anodization! Appears to mount too close
to chainstay with rings installed (on a Klein frame). Overall...satisfied customer, but also look at Raceface. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Campbell Morton
a racer
from Australia
Date Reviewed: March 12, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Kooka's a Breaka. I've seen two fellow couriers break them really fast.They flex pathetically and are pure aftermarket dribbly doo doo. They obviously spend too much time thinking up colour schemes. For all those who buy things cause they look 'way cool' should ride more, and spend less time in front of the mirror. I love thrashing tricked up on the track. Buy Shimano- for they are smart and cheap.... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kris Ellis
a racer
from Gloucester, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 12, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
These cranks look great from a distance, but get a little closer and you'll find that the spider is attached to the crancarm by a single bolt. While I haven't had a failure at the spider yet I have had a pedal losen itself and strip out the threads. Also, the granny is attached to the spider by aluminium bolts and spacers, I've had them for two years and now the threads to hold the granny on are stripping. Add to that the fact that the model I have requires a massive bottom bracket width and I'd have to say that I'm not impressed. Oh yeah, there's no noticable increase in stiffness from my previous LX crank. Next time I'm going with Raceface. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben Miller
a weekend warrior
from USA
Date Reviewed: February 23, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I weigh 230lbs. I have the 97 style and apparently they use new 7014 metal in them. I am happy, maybee I have not ridden them long enough though. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bruce
a downhiller
from Halifax,Nova Scotaia,Canada
Date Reviewed: February 1, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Bought a pair of downhill Kooka's and they started to creak. Then one day on a night ride I thought I had bent some chain rings but the spider was working its way off. Took the spider off cleaned it up and put it back on, but this time I did what Kooka should of done, I put some lock tight on the screw that holds the spider on. Shame on Kooka saying in the instructions that the spider is pressed on. They said if it ever came loose you should send it back to them to have it put back on with a press. Well that is Bull, the spider just sides on and is held on the back of the crank arm by one screw. Since applying lock tight I have not had any creaking (even in winter) and the spider has never come loose again. You think these so called engineers wold think of that cheap fix. University don't mean ---- you either got it or you don't. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John Tinoco
a cross-country rider
from Greenwich CT
Date Reviewed: December 12, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
They're light,strong and really cool looking. I have had them for about a year and not have had any problems with them. I would recommend to anybody | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a weekend warrior
from Ashland, Ma
Date Reviewed: August 5, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had the Kooka cranks for two years now. Not a single problem with them.
I've read the other reviews and wonder if they were installed properly, or if
the mounting surface wasn't damaged. I am not easy on my cranks by any stretch
the imagination. I flex my Cannondale frame under heavy pedaling. I've hit
rocks and the ends of the cranks show the scars. I've gone through two sets
of clipless pedals, two shock cartridges, and many rough New England trails.
Even under 260 lbs of heavy linebacker hammering, I've never had a problem.
My Kookas are still straight, tight, and working great. Can't say that about
a lot of other parts.....
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris Davies
a racer
from North Kingstown RI
Date Reviewed: June 24, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
these are not only the coolest looking things they are the creme of the crop they are lite strong and have nothing wrong with them | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
a
from Yokota AB, Japan
Date Reviewed: June 15, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
These things creak, the flex, and require a monsterious long BB. And worst yet
their customer service sucks. They will not stand behind it unless they break.
Stay away from them, they look cool but thats about it, if your gonna be another
poser I guess its ok.. But get serious these things are not ready for prime time.
If I could give them .5 stars I would. THEY SUCK!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chad G
a cross-country rider
from Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 15, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
these cranks are real nice to look at, they are real light, and an added bonus for
me...they haven't broke yet. I did however manage to bend the spider. No real
complaints though. They are as stiff as any other crank I have had/tried. I like them!
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff Gosztyla
a cross-country rider
from Salt Lake City, UT
Date Reviewed: June 12, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had a set of Kooka's for going on two years now. I weigh 225 lbs, and
beleive it or not, I have not had a problem. It seems as though Kooka has
been getting a pretty bad rap for broken cranks. Are you sure you guys aren't
overtightening your crank bolts? Maybe you ought to get a torque wrench and
torque down your cranks bolts correctly: it seems cracks that originate from the
bolt/spindle hole could easily be caused by overtightening.
So far as creaks, I had lots of 'em at first. I have a White Industries BB
and I got the following advice from either White or Titus. When you get new
cranks and the start to creak, pull them off and file down the lip formed in
the crankarm by the spindle. Don't take off too much metal, but get it as
smooth as possible. Using a jewler's file works really well. Volia the creak
is gone...(hopefully) Putting a light film of titanium anti-seize also may
have helped.
Flex hasn't been a problem with the Kookas, although I'll admit that my chain
probably stretches or my frame flexes before the cranks do. I don't notice it,
but I haven't tried to measure it (how do you guys?)
Overall I have been pleased. Hypocritically, however, I must admit I just
sent a perfectly good pair of cranks back to Kooka for a $66 upgrade. All the
bad stuff I've heard about them is supposedly fixed now with the latest design.
I'd hate for these puppies to give out under me on a downhill.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Colin Rowan
a racer
from Falmouth, MA
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Well in a race I won the Kooka cranks, at first I thought that they would be junk, but when I got them I slapped them on and took em' out for a ride I loved them, and I would recommend them to everyone
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brad
a cross-country rider
from Pittsburgh PA
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
These cranks bite big time....I was riding them one day, and I mean, I dont ride all that hard,
and I started hearing a creaking sound. I got home and found a crack going half way up the arm from the pedal hole.
I could design better cranks. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J. Daniel
a cross-country rider
from Vermont
Date Reviewed: April 3, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Kooka cranks...ah so beautiful, so shiny, so not very good. I'm now on my fourth set of Kooka cranks. No not because I love them so much, but because they keep developing problems. My first set of Kookas developed a really nasty creaking sound after about one week. After calling the company they admited a flaw and replaced the cranks with another pair. The second pair developed a different creaking sound. This time the creaking came from a three inch crack that developed from the pedal hole along the length of the arm to the spider. Kooka once again replaced the cranks for me. Two months later my third set of Kookas developed the same hairline crack, and were replaced. This time they sent me a pair of downhill cranks which are a little less machined, and perhaps a bit stronger. IT's not as though I'm truly heavy (165 soaking wet) or a thrasher. I do ride a lot and race as well, but I feel a $200 crank should at least last one season without crumbling. On a positive note the cranks do
perfom well with little flex and they are very nice to look at. Kooka also seems to have a great customer service thing going on and the warranty is unbelievable. So in a nutshell... the durability sucks, but as long as you have another set of cranks to run while the broken ones are being replaced, you should have years of trouble free spinning.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a weekend warrior
from Los Gatos, CA
Date Reviewed: March 28, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Previously, I had Shimano Deore DX cranks on my bike and had no
desire to spend $200+ to reduce the small amount of flex that I was
getting (or to lighten up the cranks by 1/2 lb). I won these Kooka's
in a raffle, and I must say THEY ARE AWESOME! I have noticed absolutely
NO flex in them ever, and they felt like they weighed 1/2 as much as
the Deore DX cranks that I had before. I would highly recommend these
to anyone who is thinking of spending the $ to get better cranks.
I now have a newly developed appreciation for not having ANY flex in
my cranks when I hammer down on them.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Keith Wood
a Norba racer
from Ann Arbor, MI
Date Reviewed: March 24, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
My friend stripped the threads out of the pedal hole. Not exactly a safe failure. Just say no to Kooka.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J. Kent
a downhiller
from Chico, CA
Date Reviewed: March 11, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
My Kooka cranks cracked when I started quickly from a stop sign. I hate to think what might have happened coming off a jump. If you weigh 180 lbs. forget these cranks.
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Claes
a
from Sweden
Date Reviewed: February 29, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Nice finish, looks cool but way flexy for my weight(75kg).
No low profile for -95 models.
| | Overall Rating: |
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