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Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Temple,TX
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$90.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Light, Good looks, Pretty stiff | | Weaknesses: | Rings | | Similar Products Used: | Truvativ Team Stylo, Spec Strongarm | | Bike Setup: | Access Frame, XT drivetrain, Avid SD-25,RhynoLites | | Bottom Line: | These guys don't cost alot. My rings pretty much stunk up the joint, but traded them out on some S-works cranks with a bad arm and am pretty happy. Bent some teeth on the big ring, but it is very rocky were we ride. Put a $20 Truvativ middle ring and a rock ring on and along I roll. I weigh 190 and these guys are pretty stiff. Not as stiff as my Truvativ, but stiff. They were not ready to go 100% new, but being I am not a mental midget, I was able to tighten a little here and there and am now pretty happy. They aren't Race Face or XTR, but they are pretty good. I'm not tough enough to push big rings on XTR anyway. I'll leave that to all these guys that are so good they forget to tighten bolts.
Keep it in the dithces. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joel
a
from Lansing, Michigan, USA
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | All of them | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$179.00 | | Purchased At: | Local Specialized Dealer | | Strengths: | I paid with a credit card so I can take them back | | Weaknesses: | 1. Too many bad reviews on MTBR.COM.
2. Specialized does not say one word about these crank's on there web-site | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX. White Industries | | Bike Setup: | Klein Attitude race, with Shimano XTR/LX derailur's. Bontrager post, bar's, Wheel's. | | Bottom Line: | I bought the Strong-Arm II Crankset befor I read all the bad review's... I am returning the crank's unused, and getting my money back. I paid with my credit card, and have buyers protection, so the bike shop will give me my money back wether they like it or not... Specialized used to be a good name. I have a old 95 Stumpjumper that has thousands of miles and is still a good bike. I will probably stay away from Specialised from now on. I also have heard that they no longer stand behind there products. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Todd
a Racer
from Manhattan Beach,CA,USA
Date Reviewed: July 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | El Morro Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | It must have saved the Specialized corp. a lot of cash. | | Weaknesses: | Flexy like a noodle. Chainrings are too soft. | | Bike Setup: | 2000 S-Works (with Time) | | Bottom Line: | I am very disappointed Specialized slapped such a piece of junk crankset on such an otherwise sweet bike. I can't believe I rode with it for a year before I smartened up and went Raceface. I know that the 2001 S-Works bike has the same crappy crankset (at least they upgraded to Time pedals)so beware!!! Do not take this bike home with an S-Works crankset- have the shop switch it out to a capable product. Get rid of THE WEAKEST LINK!I give it one flaming turd. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Daniel Richardson
a Racer
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | S-Works | | Strengths: | Super Light.
Only made for racing.
| | Weaknesses: | The bolts are aluminum(always change them to steel)(This also may be why people hate this crank so much.
The value on the crank is a little to high($270) | | Bottom Line: | The Bottom Line is that this Crank is not made for freeriders, its made for racers. The crank is super light and is not that strong. If you are freeriding with this crank, I would recomend that you swich to Race Face LP series or the Shimano LX or XT, but I would stay away from shimano in this department, expecily the XTR cranks because there not worth the money and it's built with an integrated system that does not work. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JP
a Cross Country Rider
from Ft. Lauderdale
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | They're easy to remove so I can throw them out | | Weaknesses: | It doesn't work. It ruins rides. It isn't fun. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX, Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: | S-Works FSR-XC | | Bottom Line: | The problem with these cranks insn't so much the cranks themselves (which are flexy but rideable), but the rings. They don't shift (not to be read "they don't shift well" - I mean they don't shift). I even tried just staying in the middle ring, and riding it like a 9-speed. It then started shifting - by itself. Even this would have been acceptable had they at least shifted themselves into the correct gear, which they didn't. Worse still, these rings caused shifting problems with the cog-set (which corrected as soon as I dumped the crankset).
It is incomprehensible to me why Specialized would spec a bike with such gems as Crossmax Wheels and XTR components, and then put these jokes for cranks on their top bike. Every review of the both the bike and the crank laments their failings. They must know the cranks don't work. I would suggest the following: anybody considering a bike with these useless rings on them should refuse to buy the bike unless the seller changes these pieces of garbage for parts that at least work. Or, if the seller wont provide a functioning bike, don't buy it. Either through reduced sales or complaints from bike shops that are made to replace these lousy pieces of trash, perhaps Specialized will get the message.
The chili displayed below is given under protest. These things deserve negative chilis but I am forced to give at least one. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hunter
a Cross Country Rider
from Baton Roue
Date Reviewed: March 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Hooper | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | The Bicycle Shop-LSU | | Strengths: | Pretty | | Weaknesses: | Weak, flexy, garbage! | | Similar Products Used: | XT Hollow tech | | Bike Setup: | FSRxc with full XT(now), Thompson seatpost, ritchey rizor pro bar, Cane Creek ergo control barends, Body Geometry grips/saddle, XT ht cranks(had to upgrade), ATAC pedals | | Bottom Line: | Specialized should be ashamed of themselves for spec'ing a bike in this price range with crap like this. I stripped out the cranks on the 3rd ride. They flex like one of those orange flags 6 year-olds put on the backs of their tricycles.
Imagine the look on my face as my left crank fell off in the middle of a technical climb. I was lucky (damn lucky) that I already had enough momentum to make the top of the rise. I had to carry the bike 2 miles back to my jeep!
I replaced this Toys'R'Us-worthy crankset with XT hollow-tech and am loving life, but come on Specialized, get with the program! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
peter
a
from gawja
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | the one 2 the liqa sto | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Purchased At: | bikes usa | | Weaknesses: | very flexible, chainrings only serve to hold the chain in place during shipment-otherwise useless | | Similar Products Used: | xt,lx,r-face | | Bottom Line: | test rode my stumpjumper in the parking lot and noticed right off how flexible these were-to be fair; i'm 195 lbs
but i test rode many other bikes and didn't notice anything
like this in other rigs, evidently, specialized builds nice frames w/cheap crap hanging off of them, the only exception
to this is the ritchey headset, the spec b-bracket failed after about a month as well which was preceded by the bending of the seatpost-i'm rambling-bottom line these cranks are sub-par at best on a bike in this price range
p.s. i love the r-r derailleur | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mel S.
a Weekend Warrior
from Guam, USA
Date Reviewed: November 4, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Nice looking crankset. | | Weaknesses: | Chainring bolts back out by themselves; chainrings are weak. | | Bottom Line: | Chainrings snap like a cracker! Check your chainring bolts every ride (maybe even during)! I don't know about the S-Works crankarms though, they seemed to work okay. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brendan C
a Racer
from Carbondale, IL
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | They look cool. | | Weaknesses: | Chainrings. They really suck! The middle ring folded like a tortilla when I was shifting into the granny. I only weigh 135 lbs and that just shouldn't happen! | | Similar Products Used: | The older S-works cranks that came on an M2-- they were flexy, but well made and the chainrings were very nice. | | Bike Setup: | I have these cranks on my mostly stock FSR Enduro, which is more or less my fun/ freeride bike. | | Bottom Line: | I was pissed about the cheesy chainrings, but Specialized did replace the cranks, so that was cool. I wonder if the 4-bolt pattern is the real problem?? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
BullBalz
a Weekend Warrior
from Norman
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | New Draper/Devils Den | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Came with the bike. | | Weaknesses: | How much room does this box have? Well, I'll just say this: Specialized is on their third attempt to remedy this sucky component. As soon as Christmas rolls around I'll be riding with a Raceface crank. The pedals suck too, Wellgo needs to take some lessons from Time and Speedplay. | | Similar Products Used: | None yet, I'm not that lucky. | | Bike Setup: | S-Works FSR XC full suspension, Black ano, Stock except upgraded to XTR Shifters b/c I got a great deal. | | Bottom Line: | Don't upgrade anything else until you've upgraded this. It sucks to have your chain lock on the chainrings while trying to shift. Especially when you're making a climb at Devil's Den. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Erik Downing
a Racer
from Courtice, ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Project Mayhem | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | D'ornellas | | Strengths: | nil | | Weaknesses: | Flexy arms, noisy, loosening arms, bent arms, BB sucks and couldn't hold up to water,didn't sift and wore far to fast | | Similar Products Used: | Fore arm cranks, race face turbine LP | | Bike Setup: | S-works M-4 with race face cranks (now) | | Bottom Line: | If you buy this bike or another bike with this crank change it immediately, it is unsafe and it will make you think your bike is a piece of junk buy causeing other drivetrain problems and wierd noises. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bigfuzfuz
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Endor | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Light weight | | Weaknesses: | El cheap-o rings. Mixed up 4-bolt pattern XTR/XT specs confuse the heck out of you ! Flexier than XT Hollowtech. | | Similar Products Used: | XT Hollow, Kooka, LX | | Bike Setup: | FSR-Pro, CK/Hayes, SIDs | | Bottom Line: | I am 135 lbs. I can't believe I actually bent the middle chainring teeth through pedaling and shifting. I know it was damaged through this and not a rock because the teeth that are bent are exactly 180 deg apart and they would have been shielded by the crank (for the most part) if I had hit a rock. BUT, I am going to be fair about this. After all, this review is about the crank and not the aluminum foil rings.
When I read the reviews of this crank bending, I didn't believe it. But then again I don't weight much. However, due to my bent ring predicament I ended up trying an XT-Hollowtech and WOW, there actually was flex in the S-works crank afterall ! Though not a lot (for me), the difference in flex (or lack thereof) in the XT convinced me I need to switch. So,...minus one chili for the flex.
Now for some more factual stuff...
The S-works crank needs an XTR splined bottom bracket (M950 or M952); NOT XT (in case you don't know, the XT spline is NOT the same as the XTR spline). However, if you want to replace the rings (which you will need to) you need XT 4-hole pattern for the middle and outer but NOT the tiny ring. For crying out loud, the tiny ring is NOT the XT 4-bolt drilling (it looks like XTR 68mm but I haven't confirmed it yet) !!! I wonder if this mixed up bolt pattern was to avoid some stupid patent infringement; like there's any big secret in the discovery of a 64mm diameter pattern. So, minus two chilis for making this crank an XTR/XT inbreed for no good reason and making it 4-bolt pattern to limit your selection of replacement rings.
On the good side, the S-works crank (no rings) is actually the SAME weight as the XTR (true apples to apples test here). However, the XT-Hollowtech is 30g LIGHTER than either of the two; lighter even than Raceface. The dumb thing is that to use the XT crank you need a lousy 255g XT splined bottom bracket !! Oddly enough, this dumb Shimano spec is to the credit of Specialized. Since the splined XTR bb is lighter than the XT, you can use it and save up to 75g (M950) while being able to use the lower cost XT rings (minus the tiny ring !!!); which shift incredibly well in my opinion. No gain back in chilis because to make it all work $-wise the tiny ring should also have been XT compatable.
My verdict ? Get the XT-Hollowtech crankset. Take just the middle and outer rings and put them on the S-works crank which fit onto the XTR bb that's already there. THEN, wait till CK comes out with their XT splined bb, get that, then chuck the S-works crank and install the XT-Hollow with the tiny ring that's been sitting there waiting for The King to make all things right !!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Velvet Hog
a Cross Country Rider
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | The best thing about these cranks is that they have teeth on the chainrings. The second best thing is that you can attach pedals to them. The cranks are expensive. This is a definite plus also. | | Weaknesses: | These cranks would make a good paperweight if they weren't so large. They take up too much room on my desk. Zero chilis for paperweightability. | | Similar Products Used: | LX, XT, Race Face Prodigy | | Bike Setup: | 2000 SWorks M4 Hardtail | | Bottom Line: | These things are truly useless. The chain suck started on the first ride and has gotten progressively worse despite repeated attempts to remedy the situation. This thing will not shift from the small ring to the middle ring half of the time even with judicious use of "over shifting". In a word; JUNK. I have been riding off road seriously for 12 years and have never experienced anything that can rival the poor performance of this crankset. I was forced to abort my last ride due to the cranks non-shifting. The fact that the "BIG S" specs this crap on its top-of-the-line bikes is a testiment to their quest for profit at the expense of all else. I am glad that I just spent very nearly $3000 for a hardtail bike and now must spend several hundred more to replace the derelict crankset. By eliminating the middle man Specialized makes more money per bike sold. It isn't the case that Specialized doesn't know how poor these thigs perform. NO member of the Specialized XC race squad uses this crankset. Their bikes are all equipped with XTR cranksets. If they raced on the S Works cranks they would be GUARANTEED of not winning ANY races. If Specialized claims that the use of the XTR cranksets by their pro racers is due to "contractual obligations" or some such then they are lying!!! These things do not work. period. Stay as far away from these cranks as possible!! S(don't)Work cranks are not worth the aluminum they are stamped out of. Specialized should leave the manufacture of the components on their bikes to companies that are up to the task. Excellent excellent bike, but the crankset is garbage. This product deserves zero chilis because it doesn't work, but I can only go as low as one chili so here it is. Did I mention that these things are pure crap? Now stop reading reviews and got out and ride!!!!!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
WIll
a Racer
from CO
Date Reviewed: April 1, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Pretty, light. | | Weaknesses: | Probably the flexiest crank ever made. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR, Race Face, Flite Control, LX, Xt. . . | | Bike Setup: | Black Sheep steel hardtail, XTR, Race Face. | | Bottom Line: | Stay far away from these babies if you weigh more than 75 pounds. I can't imagine why they made these cranks so flimsy laterally, they literally can swing in and smack the chainstay during hard efforts. The ones I was using were 2 years old but the new ones don't sound any better. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James Remmer
a Weekend Warrior
from Virginia
Date Reviewed: January 23, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Super Light
Very stiff
I like the gray color | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | XT cranks, RaceFace | | Bike Setup: | Stock S-Works FSR-XC | | Bottom Line: | At first I thought I would have to change these cranks, but I have been very satisfied by them. They are lightweight.
They are also very stiff, and transfer the power to the wheels like the best of them. I had a RaceFace crank on another bike, and these S-Works cranks were just as stiff as those. I am about 155 lbs., so I didn't have the flex problem some heavier people might. Specialized made a solid crank that rivals XTR and RaceFace. I was pleasantly surprised by that...
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cranky Harry
a Weekend Warrior
from Japan
Date Reviewed: December 18, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
strength? what fing strength. the things were stuffed after 2 months and now just getting worse. | | Weaknesses: |
where do I start? design, the materials, the looks, the durability, shall I go on? | | Similar Products Used: |
STX RC
LX
XT | | Bike Setup: |
FSR Enduro as Stock with new shorter stem. | | Bottom Line: | Buy them?? I wouldn't cross the road to pee on them if they were on fire. They have been fully destroyed in two months doing only minor free riding, I'm no unit either at 176 pounds. Bad stuff. Don't consider buying, ask for them to be changed out before you buy a bike with them on it.I've seen better for less. 1 chilli cause I cant give none. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James Dean
a Racer
from Austin TX
Date Reviewed: October 14, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
City Park | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Came on bike didn't have to sring for new ones. | | Weaknesses: |
All those people said they suck!
I guess the one backwards bolt is kind of lame. | | Similar Products Used: |
LX, XT | | Bike Setup: |
'98 M2 | | Bottom Line: | I wiegh 190 and standing on the pedals I can't make them flex. I'm not sure where this flex comes from. Before I bought the bike I read a couple of reviews. One said the only weakness was the cranks deflecting. The other had the cranks as one of the high points. I have no issue and 1700 miles on them. As for the finish wearing off they are polished! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Graham Curkendall
a Weekend Warrior
from Bothell, WA
Date Reviewed: September 21, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Walker Ranch - CO | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Holds the chain
good paperweight | | Weaknesses: |
FLEXES!!!
Sugino rings wear really quickly
Ugly
Not particularly light | | Similar Products Used: |
Kooka, XTR, LX, STX-RC | | Bike Setup: |
Specialized S-Works M2, Manitou SX-Ti, | | Bottom Line: | These cranks sucked. The end of the cranks almost hit the chainstays when i twist my foot. The total side to side flex I measured was about 20mm.
The finish on the arms also wore off fairly quickly compared to XTR.
I went out and bought a Kooka as soon as i could. It's much better. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
rtertertert
a Weekend Warrior
from ertertertret
Date Reviewed: April 26, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
retretertret | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
ertertret | | Weaknesses: |
teer tert eert | | Similar Products Used: |
etet rt et | | Bike Setup: |
ttr ertet | | Bottom Line: | retetet ret e retr rtertretret retret ertret ttretretre tretrtreeee jtykjhjkh u kyuityu tr r ertyre ytrytrytr uytrtr u yrr tr tr utrutrutru knbmbncv gfdgfdtewth jj kuk fger gfhtbfhtrbhdhre threhbdhn | | Overall Rating: |
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