Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Velo Orange Grand Cru Crankset Update

We've been testing the Velo Orange Grand Cru crankset for a few months now, with great results--until this past weekend, when a thorough cleaning and examination of the big ring turned up a bent tooth (photo below). We checked with Velo Orange, who confirmed that this is not normal (we thought perhaps it was a special tooth profile to assist in shifting) and suggested we bend it back. We did that--gently--and we'll report on how it works as time goes by. For the record, the bike has not hit anything that we know of that could have bent the tooth.

The bent tooth is visible in the center of this photo--it is canted a bit to the inside.

Full disclosure--we paid full retail price for this crankset.

2 comments:

  1. Have to mention that I broke a Gran Cru crankarm that had about one year and 6000 miles on it. It split at the pedal threads when starting up from a standstill--dumped me to the ground unceremoniously as the pedal with my foot it immediately traveled down to the road surface. Arm was a 175mm right, pedals are vintage Specialized wide platform touring. It may be that wider pedals do present more twisting torque to the crank arm. I have broken two sets of T.A. arms previously, and was hoping the Gran Crus would be bombproof. Velo Orange replaced the arm immediately, no questions asked. Can't fault the company, but I no longer trust those arms' forging/metallurgy/execution. Have put a Taiwanese-made Sugino SR triple on for now, wider Q, chainring spacing is wider, which I do not like much, but the arms look beefier and there is considerably more material surrounding the pedal threads.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have to mention that I broke a Gran Cru crankarm that had about one year and 6000 miles on it. It split at the pedal threads when starting up from a standstill--dumped me to the ground unceremoniously as the pedal with my foot it immediately traveled down to the road surface. Arm was a 175mm right, pedals are vintage Specialized wide platform touring. It may be that wider pedals do present more twisting torque to the crank arm. I have broken two sets of T.A. arms previously, and was hoping the Gran Crus would be bombproof. Velo Orange replaced the arm immediately, no questions asked. Can't fault the company, but I no longer trust those arms' forging/metallurgy/execution. Have put a Taiwanese-made Sugino SR triple on for now, wider Q, chainring spacing is wider, which I do not like much, but the arms look beefier and there is considerably more material surrounding the pedal threads.

    ReplyDelete