These cheap carbon cranksets are failing...
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- These cheap Racework carbon cranksets from AliExpress have been failing, but what’s the problem, and is there an alternative?
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Lightweight carbon cranksets are generally VERY expensive, but earlier this year a Chinese company called Racework produced their N1 crankset. It’s a lightweight carbon crankset, at a REALLY great price, and I bought one from their store on AliExpress as soon as I could.
I fitted it to my Chinese carbon road bike, but after 1000 miles, problems started to show. The steel inserts used to help lift the chain onto the big chainring started falling out, and reports of the carbon arms cracking were coming to light.
In this episode, I'll cover these issues, show you if Racework have addressed them, and also provide a fantastic alternative from a brand called RIRO.
RIRO Carbon crankset:
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDr...
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
00:23 - Carbon crank arms cracking
02:52 - Racework chainring isues
06:36 - Siroko sponsor
07:50 - Riro carbon crankset
10:52 - Considerations & caveats
Intro roll:
Created by Dev Joshi - www.go2dev.co.uk
Instagram:
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Email:
tracevelouk@gmail.com
Please note:
I am not a professionally trained bike mechanic. There can be risks associated with using products that are unbranded, untested, or come from sources where the provenance is unknown. Please talk to a qualified bike mechanic if you are in any doubt.
In essence, be careful, do your research, and cycle safe!!! 
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I'm the guy from Paris that posted these pictures on WW ! The seller did end up sending me a replacement crank arm ! However, the axle then failed ... The knurling on the end of the axle got destroyed due to the too low pinching forces leading to play in the non drive side crank arm. I should have known better with such a cheap crankset. In the end I got a Praxis crankset that worked flawlessly since ! Btw I of course used a torque wrench to tighten everything, and the arm cracked at 4 N.m
That is bad, glad the Praxis crank is working out. The design is perhaps badly thought out.
Which crankset of yours broke? The Riro or Raceworks?
@@TwoTroutCreations the Raceworks
Bontrager said it best; light, strong, cheap. Pick 2
everyone has said that
@@ericmosher6969don't tell me what I've said! I've never said that!
But with CERTAIN Chinese stuff you can get all three. But you have to be careful about the brand, and guys like Luke definitely are part of the due diligence. Personally, I have great experiencexwith Cjinesexwheels, frames, handlebars and saddles. But cranks and groupsets would be a bridge too fsr for me at this point. Maybe later.
Or you go Italian and get light, weak and expensive
@@veganpottertheveganlight, italian, not chinese, strong, cheap. Pick 2½
Luke, you continue to do a real service to those of us who are trying to keep cycling affordable. Thank you for your integrity, and your humility and humor. Here's to health and happiness to you and your family.
As someone who has a RaceWork crankset that broke the same described in this video, and was only able to get a replacement (old design) ND arm after literally weeks of negotiation with an honestly totally clueless RaceWork rep (and I say this as someone who worked as a CSR for years), one thing that is additionally better about the Riro is that even the revised RaceWork's ND crankarm isn't sculpted to account for your heel. I've never seen a crankset that has one arm with a heel cutout and one without one. It's a RaceWork exclusive apparently. I'd just steer clear of them in general, both for design and customer support reasons.
I knew it! That crankset has been sitting in my Aliexpress cart for months. Undecided if I want to buy because some parts on your bike just shouldn’t be carbon. Your crankset receives a lot of power and focus consistently. Why would you want that carbon? This video this the deciding factor. Deleted from my cart. Great video thanks!
They just need to be made right. Sram and campy high end crank arms are also carbon, dura ace I’m not sure about.
It's so great having someone willing and able to try out the thing that us less fortunate people usually have to try blind because we can't afford the brand name products. It definitely lowers the bar of entry to the sport! I expect to be buying a whole setup soon and this type of content is extremely helpful. Thank you!
Brandname worth it. Entry, low costing, good quality, low weight bike components don't exist.
Thank you for the testing. I am going to stay old school and run what I got, but it is neat to learn about how these fail.
Best sponsor! The Siroko clothing is amazing! Fits well and looks unreal!
I can't imagine getting only 5000 miles out of a road chainring. I got 35000 miles out of a SRAM Red 22 large chainring while rotating four immersion waxed chains.
When is some TraceVelo merch going to hit the market? Love the show. Hope the new baby is healthy and happy!
Another informative video Luke, great info. Thanks 😊
Thanks for the update!
Thanks for making this video. Those cranks look just like my SRAM 22s (major difference is mine have 30mm spindles).
I'm rocking those Goldix-type rings as well. Sometimes a little crunchy in shifts, but I'm running 48/32 on my gravel bike and I love the lower gearing.
Those RIRO chainrings look really nice, a lot of Ali-ex aluminium stuff tend to be media blasted probably to make anodizing prep easier (but maybe to hide less than stellar machining/tool marks too). I highly recommend PassQuest and STONE chainrings form Ali' they aren't super cheap or mega light but quality wise I'd put them up there with brands I've used in the past like Wolftooth, Garbaruk and Blackspire.
yeah those two are pretty solid
Yes there is big difference on AE. For me, I stay away from Goldix, VG Sports and couple more. Oniri, SRoad cassette , Stone look like high quality.
I've got nearly 5000km on my Stone compact double chainrings on my road bike and they still look brand new. Definitely a fan.
I'd heard about the pinch bolt issue, but not the chainring issue. Will definitely steer clear of that style chainring. Thanks Luke.
🥖this is the video I was so looking forward to for it to come out!
Again, thank you so much for being so loyal to your viewers with your honest opinion and sorry for asking you so many times in the other videos about this same topic, this one covers everything I need and even gives an extra option with the RIRO crankset.
Cheers from Chile 🇨🇱❤
Excellent content as always. Thank you. I always look forward to your new videos.
Most of the time, you get what you pay for. Thank you for the excellent reviews!
Uh... see dura ace crank recall. Maybe why you said "most".
In the case of the recent Ultegra and Dura Ace recall, you get less than what you paid for 😂
@@KILLTHEREDDITOR In terms of percentage of failed unit per hundred manufactured my prejudices are more prone to set into the cheap versions would have a higher percentage than the shimano's
T7075 printed on components should ring alarm bells.
The 7075 is the alloy and the t number should follow after, this designates the heat treat, duration and temps drastically altering properties.
Thanks Luke from another Luke for all of your incredibly informative reviews. I had considered this crankset when I replaced my road bike crankset recently, but upon seeing this video I'm super glad I decided to stick with forged aluminum cranks from Litepro rather than going carbon. I'm not a super weight weenie so the extra 150-200g weight of aluminum really doesn't bother me.
Hey Luke, thanks for the video ❤ Happy rides 🙂
Yes, goldix 😂😂😂 funnies and editing is on point! Still too much risk to implement but always enjoy your work !❤
Interesting comment about the axle material at the end, which is one of the most important points. Aluminium axles are used in cranks, but generally on 30mm spindles, like BB30, so the larger tube diameter means that aluminium is alright for this. Now that you have pointed out that this crankset has a 24mm aluminium axle I would be very wary using it. The same strength to weight/density considerations are the reason historically you have small diameter steel tubes on bike frames and larger diameter but thinner walled aluminium frames, jokingly called "Coke can tubing" on some early aluminium mountain bikes.
Thanks to be the tester for all of us !
6:07 - not every day that you come across a Bianchi with putty chainrings.
well the biggest flaw is that they're 170mm only
a man needs 165mm!
How about 152 mm
@@samuelsloth6730how about 180
I have the siroko glasses, love them! Would recommend
I appreciate the work you put into testing and presenting. As you may be aware, there are moments where you tend to go quiet at the end of sentence or as you state a key word or phrase. Ciao.
I love your energy!
I had a crank arm break once, while standing up climbing.
Launched me over the bars but my thumb broke from being caught on the brake hood.
I didnt even fall down, landed on the road with no bike, with the pedal still attached to my foot.
Many years later the thumb isnt 100%.
I enjoy the videos Luke and keep them coming when possible. 🥖
Don't fret, Shimano is suffering lawsuits for similar issues.
I have the original racework crankset. Its one ring so no steel inserts to lose but I did strip the hole for the allen key in one of the bolts at around 6nm. I went to 5 different shops in town but couldn't find an m5 bolt that is long enough and has a small enough head to fit into the carbon recess on the non-drive side arm. I got step bolts with a small enough tapered head but they weren't long enough and other metric bolts tended to have 8mm heads which is just too large to fit. I ended up cranking it down as hard as I could without a torque wrench and completely stripped the hexbolt to a round hole. The cranks are on and have been working but I don't think I'll ever be able to remove them without destroying the non-drive arm. Oh and I'm 6'2" 250lbs with no cracks (so far)
Love the sponsor part its new to me nc transition more of this thanks
Years ago bought an Easton carbon crankset. Worked well for a while but eventually failed. Wanted to save the weight of the original aluminum Raceface crank
Decided on Rotor 3D crank and have never looked back. Aluminum crank saved weight due to their hollow crank arm design.
Also installed Rotor aluminum seat post and stem all weighing less than many high end carbon competitors.
Thank you Luke, very informative as always 🥖🥖🥖
Thank you.
I just think that carbon design with pinch bolts can last. So much stress between aluminium and carbon, it can’t be too long before it lets go… another great video Luke…
My ZEROING GXP MTB Chainwheel habe the same issue with loosing the shifting pins. The missing pins here are no issue, because with 36/26 it shifts anyway. But when it become loose it lift the chain and get jammed at the front derailleur. Looks is a pretty common issue
That 24mm axle at 11:57 looks like it's cast. A forged aluminium axle wouldn't need to be that thick. Torsional failures of these things are usually cup and cone fractures (that's not a pun on bearings), that failure looks like damage at a crystalline level.
I don't know what this means but I gave it a thumbs up 👍
cup and cone.. i believe my novatec alu freehub body cracked just like this, right below the pawls 👍🏿
Hey Hambini 😊
As some one who has fallen in a quite ugly way breaking my chain once and as i put out a well above average sprint wattage, I prefer to go for more tested cranks/chain (most certain not the breaking shimano cranks) and alu steer
Nothing better than Luke geeking over some faulty cheap chinese part. I love this channel 🥖🥖🥖
Always informative and non biased. Thanks TV
I prefer the pinch bolt design. I found if you take the sram style one on and off enough it squeezes the bearings as the taper spreads, Perhaps this is why shimano use aluminum in their cranks
To me the Riro Crankset reminds me a lot of Easton/Race Face... but yeah, havn't had a SRAM Crankset in a while - the last ones I held in my hands all head the spindle on the Drive Side Crankarm...
I had a "direct bolt" sram-style crank from Zrace (china) The bolt on the non-drive side snapped, the "head" part of the bolt separated from its threaded part.
Bummer, I was going to buy one! 😢
Hi Luke, I have the same crankset but the chain rings seem to be thicker around the shift pins. No problems with cracking carbon or shifting pins to date.
This video is doing nothing to curb my AliExpress habit. If it's a TraceVelo video I'll watch it and likely purchase the featured product. I no longer have the power to resist.
I have a strong feeling that Riro and Racework cranksets are basically identical and come from the same manufacturer. If you look at the design, they are identical down to the torque specification label (except the brand logo). I do have the new Racework crankset with the new clamp style. I still have not ridden them yet. I am hoping it will turn out well.
Hey Luke, just wondering if you can share some tips on how to keep those chains clean all the time?
Hello, what chain for 11s do you recommend? I use wax-based lubricant and I hate seeing a chain rust in the winter.
I really want to try Lexon cranks - a copy of the Cybrei cranks but 1/3rd the price, probably all from the same factory.
I’ve just ordered them. Hopefully with a DUB 28.99 axle should hold up better
@@poudreuse8391 Please comment back when you get it installed and tested. Really looking at this one aswell
Sometimes when I browse online looking for parts, I get to check out these lightweight cranks with holes in them with almost no more integral strength, Asking myself "why?" should it be weight savings or save myself a trip to the ER?
uh oh,, Riro is the product that are made from the same company, but with a different decal. I asked Ali and they said it is same product.(Racework recently launched newer version of crankset.) Correct me if I am wrong
is it possible to mount a spider powermeter with GXP rings (like the replacement ones in the video) or would i have to use a spider that then attaches to chainrings?
I just stumbled across this riro crankset in a 1x 52t configuration for 25€, so I picked it up. Are you still riding it and has your opinion on anything about it changed recently?
Best regards :)
funny I remember when you pulled the alu crank to use these cranks. I still have the Alu cranks on my bike, been a year and 4 months and around 800 miles and no issues at all. I was thinking on getting these cranks but like the old saying "if it ain't broke".
Oh, I was about tu buy one, I am building a monster cross bike with mixed parts, ¿What do you think about OG-evking carbon gravel forks?
Would the riro rings be compatible with a Magene P505? Looking for a crankset for a Elves Vanyar I’m planning - using the LTWoo ERx
I have bought like 3 older style FSA megaexo carbon cranksets for between 25 and 50 euros on the local marketplaces in the last years. If you sand the decals off and relacker them they look awesome. FSA just always put hideos white and red stripes and logos on the beautifull carbon work. They are reliable and use the self extracting crank bolts. With most being just 110bcd. They fit many chainrings. And in the older Megaexo versions they come with steel axles. This beats unknown chinese cranks for safety, reliability and looks.
Except when they fail at the bonding between the metal pedal spindle and the carbon crank arm as happened on mine.... And of course, just out of the warranty period... :)
Hi Luke. Have you or could you do a review of bike cameras please? Or the Ali express versions.
What on bike camera do you use?
What a friend, I bought some Riro cranks and mounted them on a 68mm BSA frame and it was not compatible. Can I know which center axle is your bike since it doesn't fit on mine?
which carbon crankset would you recommend? i would like to lighten my stock ultegra crankset for my climbing bike
For a CF crank, yeah I'd prefer SRAM DUB style too vs pinch bolts
Thank's for his video, can you suggest me crankset for my Trifox X10 with 12Speed?
they need to reduce the price. used red 22 exograms crankset cost around £100 and less, I don't see the point in paying more for aliexpress cranks with same weight
Even companies line Rotor and Easton have problems with merging carbon with alloy elements in crankarms.
That's a problem I'll never have.
Carbon parts are like plastic ones: they have a limited lifespan. Sometimes it can be quite short.
Best RUclipsr on Earth 🎉
"And a as a whole...." would like to add "this will kill you sooner or later" 🤣Kudos for daring to try these out.
If you are going for carbon crank why not go for second hand Sram Force which js carbon, had mine for £82 like new with two chainring, BB
I have a PF 30 bottem bracket, does this crankset fit?
that Riro crankset looks pretty much the same as my Force1 crankset. What is the BB? GXP?
can left arm of RaceWork be replaced by Shimano alloy one?
I've avoided such carbon-metal cranksets due to my FSA 24mm carbon crankset failing at where the metal parts are bonded to the carbon (pedal spindle on non-drive side and then where the axle was bonded into the crank arm on the drive side..) Luckily werent catastrophic fails but became "wobbly" over time....and of course just happens outside of the warranty period....
That's planned obsolescence for you. I'm sticking with aluminium all the way. The most I'd go for is Rotor ALDHU24.
4:16 Interesting, I'm wondering if that's why 5Dev cranks snap too, despite bein much beefier, they have 4 holes, with slightly egg shaped crank.
Well, if all you need is a torque wrench and some epoxy on these metal rollers, or simply the expectation to change the rings fairly often (a lot of riders don't actually ride their bikes much at all), then it's not bad.
Are you serious? Just buy a shimano 105 and it will last you a lifetime!
Very thorough breakdown on the flaws of the Z1 crank arm and chainrings. I'm curious as what constitutes a heavy rider? I'm 6'3"/183 (190.5/83.2).
im similar to you, id reckon over 75kg and youre heavy.
Most Titanium parts are rated to 175-180 pounds. I am never clear if that is total weight or just bare rider weight but I would put you in the heavy rider category.
@@jaycahow4667 I don't really think of myself as being heavy. In addition to biking and running/jogging, I lift weights as well. I'm certainly lighter than a lot of guys my height who I see at the gym. Maybe that skews my perception of what "heavy" is...
I got the race work crank, and am 100kg, no issues yet. Kept the two pinch bolts torqued to 5ftlb, and that was too low and wound up slipping off. At 10 ft lb now, no cracks
Jinxed it!, cracks have formed at the driveside pedal thread insert
I'm looking to buy a torque wrench but don't want to spend to much, what are you using?
Road cranks... Only 105 cranks are good system. They not fail like ultegra or dura ace. They spin freely unlike campagnolo or sram. Maybe Rotor or fsa do something good, I don't know.
my racework still work perfectly fine. it only got lose once by re tight the bolt it work fine until today.
I have bought some cheap reacework aluminium crank set in the pass and worked fine, but instead of this carbon stuff I have choose some Race Face Turbine crank set. Not as light weight but not far away and price was similar looks amazing and last for ever.
Waiting for that "extra clip" in the end of the vid 😎 Maybe next time 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
Do all of those use a HT2 BB?
Good
Austin Powers in Goldix? Nice.
I’ve got two bikes. One bent one piece crank with the huge ball bearing circa before the other one with the three piece and small bearings. The big one pedals easier sprockets are the same so we’ve gotten nowhere really
I was never able to get mine on, torquing the left side crank arm to 8nm destroyed the bolt heads....
Singlehandedly saving us collectively 1000s of $. Thank you!
The only problem with the riro is that the crank is only availible in the 170 size. I prefer to use the 172.5 size crank.
how about trying a magene powermeter?
hi, how do you tighten the crankset? what's the special tools called for the 4 holes
Just stick an 8 or 10mm allen key in the socket.
any recommendations for clydesdale/clydesdale+ riders? 115+ kg kinda riders. thanks in advance.
Please find that they released new version without the bolts about month ago
Ah, you mentioned it
My chainring failed, and the mounting plate for the chainring was not perfectly straight, they sent me another drive side crank quickly and only charged me 10 for shipping, good customer service but a slight below par product
High end Shimano carbon cranks are breaking too, clearly its just not a good idea.
did yo change the pedals bearing¿
Carbon...is the saving of ounces really worth it for non-competitive bike riding/racing? Overall I would say not.
Anything lightweight, not just carbon parts. The steerer tube expander plug is one of the parts where I don't care about weight reduction. However, Cane Creek has a very light one that actually digs into the carbon steerer tube with a very small surface area. When I first saw it, I already had a feeling it's no good.
So I'd say not all parts are worth the weight reduction.
I’m wondering if there are anymore carbon cranks in the pipeline. Looking at a Cybrei crank from Chinacycling however there are rockbros cranks on AliExpress that look similar for under £200 🤔