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Submitted by
swanny81
a Cross Country Rider
from Sydney, NSW, Australia
Date Reviewed: August 26, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | All | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | Came with bike | | Strengths: | Price | | Weaknesses: | Strength
Design
Weight
Square taper | | Similar Products Used: | Cheap, low-end Truvativ cranks | | Bike Setup: | Trek Fuel 70 with a few bits and pieces | | Bottom Line: | Used these cranks for a little while, approx 3 or 4 months.
They look reasonable, and you can pick them up for next to nothing, but Id very, very, VERY strongly recommend that you steer well clear of them.
The crank arm and spider that bolts to the chainrings is, for some ridiculous reason, not one piece. As such, mine has come loose so the chainrings have free play relative to the crank, and this has stretched my chain (and obviously means the cranks are 100% stuffed).
For reference I am not especially heavy - I weight 75kg, and whilst Im reasonably tough on cranks, I havent done *any* notable drops (2ft at absolute most?) on this bike - pretty well exclusively cross country riding.
The design is a massive flaw, and they really arent worth bothering with. Even for a casual rider, spend a little more and get something that will last indefinitely. These are utter junk. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sinisa Kovac
a Cross Country Rider
from Osijek, Croatia
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Volf servis | | Strengths: | Cheap, reliable, looks OK. | | Weaknesses: | Little heavy, teeth worn out after a year of hard riding. | | Similar Products Used: | Ritchey comp crank, shimano XT Hollowtech II | | Bike Setup: | 04 GT Avalanche 2.0 | | Bottom Line: | Its a good, entery level, inexpensive crankset for XC riding. Yeah it is a little heavy, but for the money what can you expect? Mine never left me out and i did whit Alivio more than 4000km. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Stock on my 1996 GT Ricochet | | Strengths: | Did the job of what a crankset is supposed to do. | | Weaknesses: | Chainrings can not be removed/swapped for other chainrings, Rings are in a smaller tooth size then the usual 44/32/22, Weight a little heavy. | | Similar Products Used: | Whatever came on my 1994 Raleigh Matterhorn, Sugino 44/32/22 crankset (replaced my Shimano Alivio) and my Bontrager Comp. 44/32/22 crankset that came stock on my 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Disk. | | Bike Setup: | 1996 GT Ricochet. | | Bottom Line: | These were a good stock item on my 1996 GT Ricochet, but they were a liltte heavy, inexpensive crankset as you could not swap-out the chainrings, gear ratios were a little smaller at 42/32/22 & I needed to buy a $15 Park crank puller to remove and then install a Sugino 44/32/22.
Bottom Line: Good for 1yr until I started to do 80-120km roundtrip rides. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Anthony willetts
a Weekend Warrior
from bunbury
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Mt Leonard | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | Came With Bike | | Strengths: | Cheap, fairly stiff and look cool | | Weaknesses: | not very strong in either the pedal thread or BB connection | | Similar Products Used: | RPM, Shimmano Hollowtech, Truvativ ISOflow, Truvativ Hussefelt | | Bike Setup: | Shogun Floater, Truvativ hussefelt cranks, Gigapipe BB, Alex DM18 rims, Suntour XCR forks | | Bottom Line: | these crank lasted me about 2 weeks before they started breaking, first it was just a case of the square hole at the BB conection wearing out and the bolt consistantly soming loose then after presoviering with that for a couple of months and having to replace the BB the pedal thread on the driveside crank gave way and stripped out! ofcourse i used these cranks for a few jumps/drops which wasnt very smart but if you need sum cranks that can take it, go sumthing a bit stronger! | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris McKendry
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Woodlands National Park | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | Cecil Walker Cycles | | Strengths: | Lasted 5500 KM of on-off road use. I heavy rider at 98Kg but these cranks lasted well throughout that time. I am only replacing them now with the new look 2005 Shimano Alivio cranks because the chain stretched thus ruining most of the drivetrain componets. However for the money, cant go wrong.
2005 Alivio looks good.
| | Weaknesses: | The weight is quite heavy at around 1kg but then again its a relatively cheap crank. | | Similar Products Used: | Suntour | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Giant Iguana SE, Deore running gear | | Bottom Line: | I believe its a very good crank for the money. Having riden around 5000km with these cranks i have the testing behind it to say they are worthy of using. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hui Chuen Chuang
a Cross Country Rider
from Penang, Malaysia
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | anywhere | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | cane with bike | | Strengths: | cheap... | | Weaknesses: | cannot withstand jumps...heavy...doesn't look good | | Similar Products Used: | Deore | | Bike Setup: | 2005 trek fuel 70, manitou axel comp, rock shox bar | | Bottom Line: | cheap to buy but not satisfying... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Grant
a Weekend Warrior
from Whitehouse Station, NJ
Date Reviewed: November 23, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Bike Setup: | gt tempest frame, Indy XC, STX shifters, Decore rear mech, decore Vs, some cheap light bars, everything else crappy stock | | Bottom Line: | this came on my bike when i bought it 100 years ago in 1997. they seemed fine till they broke. unfortunatly i was poor at the time, just like now, and replaced them with teh same thing but they have held out thus far. i'll give them 3 for value because they aren't the absolute worst, but only 2 overall because i wasn't doing anything very rough when they broke. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
sam
a Weekend Warrior
from perth, western australia
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | john forrest/mundaring | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | ....was ok while it lasted....looks ok | | Weaknesses: | pretty flexible, not very strong | | Similar Products Used: | truvativ hussefelt, entry level truvativ, ac forged | | Bike Setup: | avanti montari + rhino mammoth rims + truvatuv hussefelt dh cranks & gigapipe dh crank etc | | Bottom Line: | crank seemed ok at first. im fairly heavy - ~95kg (190pounds) and it didnt seem to flex too much for a cheaper crank. started doing some drops and it started to bend. first bent at about 1m (only a little) and then bent heaps over a 1.5m drop onto grass...was only 3wks old. no good if youre heavy and do relatively hard riding | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rubén García
a Cross Country Rider
from Madrid (Spain)
Date Reviewed: May 1, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Every XC | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Zweirad Staedler Nurnberg | | Strengths: | Price, looks, rigidity | | Weaknesses: | Weight…really heavy | | Similar Products Used: | Some Taiwan Crap, Old LX, Acera and Deore | | Bike Setup: | My old self-made Chromoly Tange bike, with a mix of Shimano Alivio, STX-RC and Deore | | Bottom Line: | I am very pleased with them; they are an effective component, with a good compromise between rigidity and shift effectiveness. With the Shimano STX RC I had never a shift problem. The have done their work.
I’m a bit heavy, 75 Kilos; nevertheless I don’t have problems with their rigidity, even by powerful climbing.
For me, they have only a weak point, they are very heavy, around 900 grams. For me it is the only reason to change them. Highly recommendable, four flaming chillies for them.
Sorry for the writing mistakes!
| Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Lexa Doig
a Cross Country Rider
from Philippines
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Slipstream | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: | Will probably make a good defensive weapon | | Weaknesses: | Everything | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized cranks, hollowtech cranks, sugino cranks, altus crap cranks, etc | | Bike Setup: | Alu hardbutt, deore alivio sugino RST blah blah blah | | Bottom Line: | Don't buy this crankset! Heavy heavy heavy! Poor styling, poor design, crank/spider is not 1-piece typical shimano crap crank.
Here's a tip, Get Sugino Impel Cranksets! They're not trick... but have a utilitarian beauty. Most of all you can't go wrong with them! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Cross Country Rider
from London
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Redlands | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | Leeds UK | | Strengths: | Cheap | | Weaknesses: | Heavy, Bends | | Similar Products Used: | Deore DX, Mountain LX | | Bike Setup: | Orange Gringo, Manitou Black Comp | | Bottom Line: | This crank came as standard on a bike setup with a good frame and cheap components. The Crank Lived happily through 2 years of very light use but recently its taken some reasonable XC riding. The result is the middle ring bending under peadling pressure, with one symptom being it now changes to the big ring on its own. I will try and hammer it back, but at the end of the day its lasted thtough only 200 miles of real use
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JC
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$38.00 | | Purchased At: | Tommy And Lefebvre | | Strengths: | Gets the job done, shifts well | | Weaknesses: | non so far | | Bike Setup: | Stock CCM Cliffrunner with Hellbent XC handle bars and Kore stem with a [redish] Shimano derailure. | | Bottom Line: | My old cranks died along with the bottom bracket, so far these cranks are lasting and its a decent price and so i'm gonna give it 5/5 for now. I'll repost later when it breaks. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
kenif
a Weekend Warrior
from australia
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Strengths: | hell cheap | | Weaknesses: | pretty heavy | | Bottom Line: | pretty heavy but nice and cheap. gets the job done. shifts well and still going strong after a beating on the rocks. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ron
a
from austin
Date Reviewed: January 30, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Stiff enough, shifts good enough | | Weaknesses: | So damn heavy you could beat the crap out of someone with the left side crank arm | | Bottom Line: | What are you people doin with your bikes? Its a cheap crank, treat it as such. Dont do stupid sh*t with it and it will be fine. Its still workin great and puttin up with my 235 lbs. Yeah, its heavy but who freakin cares. Loose a pound of fat and get the same results all while you save money from not eatin at Mcdonalds. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
adam foster
a
from NS Canada
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | everywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | cyclesmith | | Strengths: | if ur talkin about the 2002 alivio it is awsome i went off a 9 foot roof and 10 foot stair gap wit em on a hardtail. on a hardtail!!! and never bent. but if you mean the older one where the 3 chain rings are all together the chain rings were tough they were bashed on god knows how many rocks and concrete ledges and never bent | | Weaknesses: | for the 2002 a little heavy i guess but i ride wit sun rims mammoth and ryno lite to i cant complain. for the older one all the chainrings were together. o and the thing bent and the inside went from square to oval. | | Similar Products Used: | shimano acera, sugino, deore | | Bike Setup: | 1999 norco bigfoot with juddy tt sunrim mamoth in the back and ryno lite up front deore and alivio drivetrain | | Bottom Line: | the 2002 alivio crank is pretty nice it has all replacable chainrings and it looks awsome in black. dont listen to all those people who say they bent it in crosscountry wossey stuff cause i can go off roofs and 10 foot stairs wit mine and not bend it and on a hardtail!!!!!
the older alivio is ok it took all my drops but i bent it once on a jump but i bent er back wit a pipe wrench with a big ol pole on it but then i bent it again doin sumthin stupid goin off my friends garage which bent it and rounded out the inside of it it also left me a nasty bruse above my eye where my head hit my handlebars. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
brad
a Weekend Warrior
from halifax
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | NOTHING | | Weaknesses: | EVERYTHING!! | | Similar Products Used: | no name cranks ect they lasted 4 years b4 they seized up and broke my arm and I had to get these now lousy ones | | Bottom Line: | These things where put on to just convert my old bike into a travel bike I take them on ONE XC trail and then there bent and creaking and not shifting with 2 missing teeth and several damaged teeth WTF! I coughed over like 100 cdn bucks to get this thing fixed and the next day its broken big time. I dont reccomend anyone buying these things and now im stuck waiting for my new bike for another wekk or so BAH! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim
a Weekend Warrior
from State College, PA
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Blue Marsh, Reading PA | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | came with bike | | Strengths: | Strong, took a beating | | Weaknesses: | On the old five bolt model: the three rings are welded together as one unit. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano STX | | Bike Setup: | '96 Giant Iguana SE, stock set-up | | Bottom Line: | It was a great long-wearing crankset...got 6 good riding years out of it before a replacement was neccessary. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX
Date Reviewed: April 4, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1.00 | | Purchased At: | Came with bike | | Strengths: | its strong | | Weaknesses: | heavy? | | Similar Products Used: | shimano biopace | | Bottom Line: | These came stock on my 2001 Raleigh M60 and they seem very solid. Im sure these are heavy compared to others, but who cares. I like the term the reviewer below used: "weight nazis." I like good old steel. Its strong and cheap. I would probably be riding a new bike with a steel frame (Fisher Wahoo), but I found this M60 for super cheap so aluminum I went. Anyways, I digress, these are good cheapo cranks. All you "weight nazis" look elsewhere. Im sure people who buy the best will never read this review because they know better, but still, these arent for racing but for recreational mountain biking. I give them 5 chilis because they perform very well for what they are. You do get what you pay for and that doesnt necessarily mean that you have to rate something low because it doesnt give you XTR performance for alivio prices. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dennisd
a Cross Country Rider
from Cornwall, Ontario
Date Reviewed: January 22, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | -inexpensive
-good, though not spectacular performance
-Strong, because of steel construction | | Weaknesses: | -HEAVY
-steel rings can bend
| | Similar Products Used: | XT, LX, Sugino, Specialized, etc. | | Bike Setup: | Tricked out GT Backwoods | | Bottom Line: | What can I say? I was looking for a replacement for the crappy Sugino cranks that came stock on my GT. I was short on cash that day, so I picked the Alivio. They are still on my bike two years later. This ia a very good XC crank. Big hitters and Downhillers will probably be looking for something else though. Also racer types and weight nazis won't like them. So what?
Alivio cranks compare favourably with a lot of the junk out there. They aren't performance oriented though. So know what you're getting. I like them because I'm 230 and these things are tough: I have yet to break them and I ride hard. They aren't the stiffest cranks out there, but will do the job as far as the average trailrider goes.
So anyone looking for a budget crankset and isn't too obsessed with weight might want to consider Alivio. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brendan
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Doongala | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Bicycle Superstore | | Strengths: | Cheap, Looks Nice, Fairly Sturdy, Alloy Chainrings | | Weaknesses: | Alloy Chainrings | | Similar Products Used: | The only other cranks I have used were Shimano Altus (on my old bike) | | Bike Setup: | Norco Bigfoot 2001 (6061 Aluminium Frame), Down Hill Handlebars, Alivio Crankset, STX-RC Hubs, STX-RC Rear Derailleur, Alivio Front Derailleur, Alivio Shifters and Brake Levers, Deore Brake Calipers, Alex Double Wall Rims, Kenda Kinetic Tyres, Rock Shox Jett. | | Bottom Line: | After about 4 hours solid X-Country riding using mainly the middle chainring it was stuffed. The middle chainring is bent to the max. I am now investing in Shimano Deore Hollowtech, I hope theses will be a fair upgrade. I would suggest this crank for the rider who uses their MTB on the road only or the rider who has a lot of money to be replacing chainrings as needed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
weather expert
a Weekend Warrior
from iowa
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | oem on a 96 trek 850 | | Strengths: | cheap, strong for its purpose, turns, shifts. | | Weaknesses: | heavy. rings are kinda soft | | Similar Products Used: | sugino, lx, suntour crap, raceface prodigy | | Bike Setup: | trek 850 | | Bottom Line: | this crankset is oem on my old trek (guess both are 96 model). for the duration this trek worked as my only functional bike, i had to say it's a pretty impressive piece of equipment for the money. it delivers your power to the rear wheel with good efficiency. shifting performance (with alivio front der) is surprisingly good compared to old lx with lx front der. the chain rings are a bit soft though, but i am yet to bend any beyond repair.
i feel like to remind some of the riders that this is an economic crankset that's NOT designed for DH, DS, jumping or trials. also, for you newbies, you have to learn to use your equipment properly. mountain bikes and its components are built tough, but not for misuse. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brad Toy
a Cross Country Rider
from Greenville, South Carolina
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | any thing around Isequena | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | Great Escape | | Strengths: | umm, its works for a while | | Weaknesses: | its weak, bent so easyily | | Bike Setup: | Trek 6500 w/ Avid Arch Rival 50's and Speed Dial & levers | | Bottom Line: | This crank set came on my bike when I got it, but I really just started to ride the bike a little over a month ago, so I would say the crank really doesnt have much milage on it. The thing is toast already the 2 biggest gears are so bent and out of round. I can remember hitting a log with it once, but it was a soft log and i didn't hit it hard at all. I wouldnt get this crank unless you like to replace them often. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
R J
a Downhiller
from BC Canada
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | stock | | Strengths: | Haha, I guess they are good for XC... Nothing else though. | | Weaknesses: | Everything. I used them stupidly for drops and high speed stuff.... The pedal thread thingies stripped out, I bent the middle chainring to hell when my chain skipped when I was powering uphill, and the first ring has a wobble. How does my third ring stay fine? | | Similar Products Used: | Low end stuff. | | Bottom Line: | Get these if you ride paths or XC. Why do bike companies spec these crappy cranks on "freeride" bikes? My cranks are toast, nothing can save them. On to some 3 pc Cro mo! 4 for value cause they are so cheap and they lasted about 6 months before they died. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cody Whynot
a Cross Country Rider
from Liverpool
Date Reviewed: August 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Cow Road | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Purchased At: | Bike Barn | | Strengths: | *Strength
*changable chain rings
*price | | Weaknesses: | not too many so far.... paint has come off where shoes rub against it | | Similar Products Used: | lx, race face | | Bike Setup: | trek 6000, lx bb, judy xc fork, bontrager rims/tires | | Bottom Line: | This is a good crank for the price payed, I have put 310 k on them in less than three weeks and they still work like new, only problem is that the paint is wearing off. The gram counters might not want to try this crank, its not aluminum, but its sure as he|| stronger. Most say thats its not good for more than a four foot drop, but I weigh 150lbs and it still works fine after a five footer. I will upgrade to a higher quality crank when my funds are enough, but in the mean time im happy with what I have!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian Widentrack
a Downhiller
from Springfalls
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | you break it, you buy it | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1.00 | | Purchased At: | Garage sale | | Strengths: | It appears to have the proper shapes required to be a crank. | | Weaknesses: | These are cheap alivio cranks, what more can you ask for, they spec these babies weak. That's their selling point.
Alivio - the weak just got weaker! Flex for me! | | Similar Products Used: | Truvativ, Raceface, profile. | | Bike Setup: | VPS 1 | | Bottom Line: | I didn't have this on my VPS incase you were wondering. But I did use this on my hard tail for a week, I needed a quick replacement, and found this one for a buck (with BB). I must say it really is cheap, but you can't complain, it is a cheap crank put on cheaper bikes.
Now I don't know about all of you, but I give this sh!t kicker 5 chill smokes for value, wooooooooooo hooooooo
and a dog pile 1 for overall, aleast in my case.
Now the crank is molten melt somewhere, a friend cast metal thongs (yes underwear, J/K). He melts metal and makes things so he has them alivio's. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ruefus
a Racer
from Akron, OH
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | The Knob | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Y-Not Cycling | | Strengths: | Cheap, no nonsense | | Weaknesses: | For what they cost, they really have none. Ok, they're heavy. | | Similar Products Used: | LX, XT, Sugino, White Industries | | Bike Setup: | Trek VRX, Marzocchi | | Bottom Line: | These came stock on a bike I bought last year. I've done nothing but clean them. They work as well as any other crank I've used. The chainrings may be wearing out after a year of hard riding, but what do you want? They aren't sexy, but they work and work and work. I've jumped them hard on the VRX without problems.
I woudn't buy them as an upgrade, unless you're really strapped for cash, but I wouldn't use them as a reason not to buy a bike that comes with them.
Much better performance than I ever expected. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve Power
a
from Newfoundland
Date Reviewed: June 2 |
|
$ 40.00
