beautiful form in a demanding function.

creaks if not lubed regularly, and not easy to get reassembled so that the spider is properly aligned and the rings are properly centered.

Jack (Witmer, of the late Cook Bros. Racing) recommended i use a 111mm BB spindle with these, and the chainline has worked out fine with the 135mm rear axle spacing of the 'lügi.

while i love the look of these cranks and they don't seem to flex inordinately under my 215lb lard'ness, they're the only cranks i have that require periodic lubing where the spider attaches to the arm in order to keep them from creaking annoyingly. i've tried various grease and anti-seize products, but nothing lasts for as long as i think it should.

additionally, it seems more difficult than it should be to get the spider reassembled to the drive-side arm so that the rings don't wobble around the the BB spindle causing the rear Derailleur to bob slightly.

undeniably beautiful (and they polish up nicely with a little Simichrome, if you care about that sort of thing), but like so many beautiful things, more High Maintenance than they really should be with regard to something that simply shouldn't be an issue at all. sadly out of character with my experience with most other CBR products.

Similar Products Used:

White Industries, XT (various generations), Cook Bros. Racing RSRs, Specialized, Sugino, Campy, etc.,...

Bomb strength, light weight and great power transfer. I've put these cranks through everything. I'm 6'4" and weigh 220 lbs, so I even if I rode soft the pressure is tough.

I've read elsewhere that they are short crank arms, and this may be true (I've done no due diligence) but I don't notice any power loss nor have I had issues of clearance for my ankles.

I'm not sure what you could complain about? Perhaps I need to ride some other cranks, but I've had these for 10 years and I can't fault them.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano XT

Looks like a well built, sturdy crank (with one major "flaw")

Nowhere near the amount of offset as most cranks (e.g. Shimano, RaceFace, TruVativ, etc.)

These are very nice cranks. Their design is not only unique, but even intuitively, it seems like a very sturdy, rigid design. The back surface (i.e. the surface that faces the bb) is concave, thus making the crank appear to be like half an I-beam in cross section. The build quality is very nice.

Two problems I have with this crank. The first is that the place where the dust caps screw in are not centered around the point of rotation, thus, when you spin the cranks fast, the dust caps appear to wobble slightly. Although this has no functional consequences, it does indicate somewhat of a lack of precision.

The second problem is a major one. These cranks have almost an inch less of offset than most cranks, meaning that the end of the crank (where the pedal spindle inserts) is closer to the chainstays than most other cranks. Furthermore, Cook Brothers recommends that you use a bottom bracket with a short spindle, a 107mm!! If I do that, these cranks would clear my chainstays by about 2mm! That's way too close! If you use a longer spindle, my chainline is off and I have shifting problems.

The verdict? I have to dump these cranks and get something else. They are incredibly nice cranks, especially if you have a frame where the chainstays are pulled inward a little. But because they have much less offset than the industry standard, which renders them nearly incompatible with some frames, I'm gonna give them two flaming turds.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano LX

Look cool, very stiff, ok weight, work very well with shimano gruppos

none so far

I've had these cranks for a while now. First, I had shifting problems with my chainrings. Then I replaced them with Shimano chainrings (also have a Shimano rear derailleur). Now my bike shifts super solid. If you run these cranks with shimano chainrings and stay away from mixing up your shifting components, these cranks work beatifully. Try to get em on sale though.

Similar Products Used:

XT cranks

Stiff, looks, stiff, price, quiet & stiff

Like all anodized products the color wears off, but that shows you ride.

These are very nice cranks at any price and the fact that I can throw on Shimano chainrings is bonus. I would recommend these to anyone looking to spiff up their ride.

Similar Products Used:

xt, lx & stx

Looks, Quality, Racing History (BMX)

None yet. Possibly weight. See below

These can be had for very little money through Cambria Bikes at $149. They are awesome and I've always wanted them. I wanted them back when I had a BMX bike and when I heard that they were making cranks for mountain bikes, I knew I had to have them, but waited almost a year before I got them. These cranks are the most artworthy piece on any bike and they're as boutique as you can get. People do complain about their weight vs. RaceFace Turbine LPs, but I have a theory on this one: I weighed both my turbine lps and cook bros. F cranks on my company's digital postal scale. The Cook Brothers came in at 1 pound 1.6 oz. The turbine lps came in at 15 oz. That's a difference of 2.6 oz. Now here's where RF manages to beat Cook Bros on weight. They don't include the spacers for middle and outer chainrings into their crank arms. You have to get these large spacers separately. On Cook Bros. and most other cranks these spacers are part of the forged process so that all you need is the chainring bolt to secure the middle chainring and outer chainring. I'll bet these spacers (which are usually steel) weigh at least 2.6 ozs. Further, the chainring bolts are also larger and probably weigh a couple ounces more than standard chainring bolts. Conclusion: there is no difference in weight between RF and Cook Bros F cranks. I say this not to detract or criticize either cranks. I have both, but I want to clarify to Cook Bros. fans that you can buy these cranks and not experience a weight penalty vs. your trusty RF Turbines LPs.

Similar Products Used:

Race Face Turbine LP, Specialized Son of Strong Arm

stiff, look kinda cool

customer service- manufacturing probems

Got these when the toplines broke. spindle holes machines wrong, chain line was screwy, bought a 103 bb, couldn't get onto big ring, bought a new xtr front Derailleur(more throw), still no go. Sent them back to cooks may 1998, still haven't been sent back to me. On top of that, they don't even answer my e-mails wondering what's going on. I'll never buy anything from them again.

Similar Products Used:

shimano xt, topline Sl

they're strong and stiff.

They might have killed my bottom bracket

So far I have taken them of a 7 foot drop at Stanford University and the only thing that happened was my bottom bracket went out (XT)

Similar Products Used:

White Industries/Sugino mocks (piece of shit don't get'em they're only 50$ but they suck)

nice craftmanship, colors, strength, looks, name

price

looks sweet , havent had long enough to know of strength but they feel rigid and strong enough for xc riding. not happy with shimano products and thought to give this a try. i love the colors whether thwey stay on or not doesnt matter. if they work i am happy.

Similar Products Used:

shimano lx & xt, coda 502 crank

They look nice and are very stiff

They break easily

These cranks look great, but they break. I only used them for 3 months cos that's how long it took me to crack them at the spindle. It is posible that because they are so stiff, they crack easily. Probably OK for XC boys, but I broke them riding my SantaCruz Heckler full-sus frame and I only weigh 11 stone.2 stars because they are so good for power transfer, but they break.

Similar Products Used:

White Industries (currently), Shimano XT and LX