[Notch Johnson]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be building up a new Inbred and am in the process of sourcing some sweet cranks for my new ride. I am a clyde @ 6'4" and about 225lbs w/gear. I would like to run something in the 180mm - 185mm neighborhood. I have not had good luck with square taper cranks, so I am looking for something with a spline drive. Up until now, I have been running my 175mm Saint cranks (overkill, I know) on my singlespeed and have loved the stiffness and maintenance free operation, but I definately want to go with something longer on this new build. The only alternatives to the Mr. Whirly that I've found that have the long length and the spline drive are BMX cranks. I was all set on the Surly Mr. Whirly until I saw this pic... :eekster:

Perhaps it's just the camera angle, but it looks to me like the spider is visibly bent, or twisted, counter-clockwise. The pics around the web of the spider itself do not show this offset.

Can anyone confirm that this is a bent spider, or has anyone had any other problems with the Mr. Whirly?

 

[nOOby]

does the spider thread on?

 

[Schmucker]

The spider bolts on with the bolts for the granny. Some different parts are used if you are running it without the granny. Shorter bolts are used. When using a granny, spacers are used between the spider and the granny along with the longer bolts. The spider appears to be only twisted. The bolts might not be tight enough or properly torqued.

http://www.surlybikes.com/files/SurlyCrankInstructions.pdf

 

[slocaus]

It is just camera angle.

 

[Captain_America1976]

i think its very clearly bent. look at about 2:00 - 3:00 there is a spot where the chain isn't sitting all the way down on the teeth.

 

[fishcreek]

not a fan of their interchangeable spider design. failure is increased as there are ten bolts used just to turn a single chainring. am i gonna torque every single one of them to have a safe ride, no. plus, if the chainring is not centered and having tight spots, am i gonna loosen every single bolt, spin and retight them. probably not. i'll pass, even if they make the spider stainless steel.

 

[slocaus]

i think its very clearly bent. look at about 2:00 - 3:00 there is a spot where the chain isn't sitting all the way down on the teeth.

Might be, but I have had that happen with a crappy chain (SRAM PC-1) and a bent tooth after I smacked a rock step. We just cannot tell from the picture if it is a defective product or user abuse (not always bad - $h!t happens).

 

[~martini~]

Thanks for stealing my picture foo!

What you're looking at there is indeed a bent spider. And that ring does indeed have a major bend in it.

There's a HUGE but in there though.

Its an early production run of the 94mm bolt circle spider. The supporting ring was machined too thin at the factory. Surly is well aware of this and all the new spiders are fine, machined to the proper thickness.

I have the correctly machined spider on those arms now with no issues what so evernall season long.

fishcreek, I haven't any loosening problems with those nuts. If you're that concerned, a dab of blue loctite will easily cure any fears.

As an aside, I think the Surly stainless rings aren't really all that strong. I've got four here that just haven't lasted all that long. Bent, twisted, egged. You're better off running an aluminum or Ti ring, IMO. I put a Salsa ring on and haven't had any more issues.

 

[~martini~]

User abuse. That's funny slo! I'm about as far from an abusive rider as you can get. The scenario went down like this:

Rode up to a large log, attempted to power the front wheel onto the log to ride over. In that power move, the spider gave, and ring, having nothing to support it, folded. let me dig around for the other angle of the ring....

 

[Notch Johnson]

Thanks for stealing my picture foo!

What you're looking at there is indeed a bent spider. And that ring does indeed have a major bend in it.

There's a HUGE but in there though.

Its an early production run of the 94mm bolt circle spider. The supporting ring was machined too thin at the factory. Surly is well aware of this and all the new spiders are fine, machined to the proper thickness.

I have the correctly machined spider on those arms now with no issues what so evernall season long.

Sorry for stealing your pic, I totally forgot to give you cred for that... I guess that's what happens when you stay up too late and are asleep @ the keyboard.

Anyhoo, thanks for clearing that up about the spider. I'm very interested in this crank and that was the only holdup. Glad to know it's not an issue. :thumbsup:

 

[~martini~]

No worries, I was just jabbin' ya.

I've been really happy with the Whirly's, especailly after the spider thing turned around.

 

[slocaus]

User abuse. That's funny slo! I'm about as far from an abusive rider as you can get.

I did not mean to imply that you are an abusive rider, but in this event, you whacked the ring in the attempt to get over the log. That is what mountain biking is all about, and abuse happens as the result of our off road antics, as opposed to failures just riding along the bike path.

 

[Schmucker]

The one nice thing about the Surly rings is that they can always be hammer straight again. I still prefer alloy ones though. In a sense, due to the ability to fix the Surly rings, one could argue that it is a combination less likely to leave you stranded.

 

[Frs1661]

The one nice thing about the Surly rings is that they can always be hammer straight again. I still prefer alloy ones though. In a sense, due to the ability to fix the Surly rings, one could argue that it is a combination less likely to leave you stranded.

I doubt you'd have much luck straightening a bent chain ring with a rock out on the trail somewhere.

Cool crank

 

[Schmucker]

I doubt you'd have much luck straightening a bent chain ring with a rock out on the trail somewhere.

Cool crank

I've done it. A chainring bolt blew out and folded the ring. I flattened it and used my allen wrenches to pull the bolt hole back into alignment. It's round and all the teeth are in alignment.

 

[Frs1661]

Impressive. Was this a surly ring? (just curious)

 

[~martini~]

I keed, I keed!

THe fold actually happened before hitting the log. Not saying it didn't get a hit before that, but this was on the first ride on the cranks. Srsly.

 

[Schmucker]

Impressive. Was this a surly ring? (just curious)

Yep.