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FSA gravity vrs. shimano hones

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
anyone want to enlight'n?
which is going to be lighter but stonger?
Using it for fr,dh
Cant recall which is lighter, although id be steering clear of both of em.

I clipped one rock with my gravitys just 2 days ago and bent it real out of shape, theres barely a mark on 'em yet it still managed to bend the drive side arm quite alot - wont be getting gravitys again!

Unless you can find the Hones with the stainless pedal insert (even then they are just glorified LX's) id look elsewhere.

Ive tried the whole lightweight crank route and have wrecked 3 sets doing it (XTs, Hones, Gravitys - although im not sure on their weight). I had a set of of ISIS holzfellers that lasted 3 seasons...
 

Dogboy

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2004
3,208
581
Durham, NC
I clipped one rock with my gravitys just 2 days ago and bent it real out of shape, theres barely a mark on 'em yet it still managed to bend the drive side arm quite alot - wont be getting gravitys again!
Funny, they seem to hold up fine for the fastest man on the planet. :twitch:
 

Sir_Crackien

Turbo Monkey
Feb 7, 2004
2,051
0
alex. va. usa.
i hope that you are refering to the gravity light's because the gravity crank itself is very burly and not light at all. i have a set and its comparable to the saints and the current raceface dh cranks.
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
Funny, they seem to hold up fine for the fastest man on the planet. :twitch:
Sure about that buddy?

Just becasue Hill is fast, doesnt mean his cranks miraculously become stronger... There has been a few occasions in which he has bent cranks mid run at World Cup level, then theres all the other times...

In any case, a DH crank should take more than one faily insignificant hit to bend them.
 

Dogboy

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2004
3,208
581
Durham, NC
Sure about that buddy?

Just becasue Hill is fast, doesnt mean his cranks miraculously become stronger... There has been a few occasions in which he has bent cranks mid run at World Cup level, then theres all the other times...

In any case, a DH crank should take more than one faily insignificant hit to bend them.
Yeah, I'm sure about it.

I've seen pics of his bent cranks - Ft. William 2 years ago comes to mind. The point is he hits stuff waaayyyy faster and harder than you or I ever will and still has enough confidence in them to run them. They are PLENTY strong.
 

DBR X6 RIDER

Turbo Monkey
Hones are great FR cranks...never really raced w/ mine when I had them, but they sure took a beating. My buddy has them now and has been running those on his HT for several months.
Currently running Gaps and have nailed them several times w/o major issues. Almost a year into them and I finally need to replace the bearing cups. Not too shabby considering how much I ride.
If I was going to run another brand, I'd likely go w/ Raceface.

For the record, I weigh a little over 140lbs. - 145 with all my gear on.
 
May 12, 2005
977
0
roanoke va
I was in the same position a wile ago and got a set of gaps mostly due to stocking issues. no issues so far on a bike with a 13" BB. you'll be fine ether way.
 

Pip3r

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2001
1,112
0
Foxboro MA
Yeah, I'm sure about it.

I've seen pics of his bent cranks - Ft. William 2 years ago comes to mind. The point is he hits stuff waaayyyy faster and harder than you or I ever will and still has enough confidence in them to run them. They are PLENTY strong.

sure they will get him to the bottom of the hill fine. The difference however is that he can have them swaped out 5min later for free and not be stuck riding with a bent crank the rest of the season.

I have been running Saints the past couple seasons on all my bikes and havn't had to think twice.
 

jonny dh

Monkey
Oct 26, 2007
223
0
under my feet
race face is probably heavier than the hones,I'm trying to lose some weight off my 7.3 but want to find out where I can lose that without ruining parts to fast. any suggestions?
My first thought was the crank.
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
race face is probably heavier than the hones,I'm trying to lose some weight off my 7.3 but want to find out where I can lose that without ruining parts to fast. any suggestions?
My first thought was the crank.
best spot to lose weight (most noticable anyway) is the wheels.

If you run dual ply tyres, use xc tubes.

Im a bit jaded as Ive had bad luck with cranks, so im never skimping there again.
 

jonny dh

Monkey
Oct 26, 2007
223
0
under my feet
I'm running minions 2.7 front and rear,rims are wtb dual duty.I live in mstly deserty area and have huge cactus well not as huge as arizona but there like weeds here so I stuck with 3.0 tires to help that situation.probably could do better on the rims and spokes.
 

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
i'm looking at getting some new cranks as my gravity gaps are the older 6061 model and are not only heavier than the newer model but also not as stiff. i might get gaps again to save cash, but i'd ideally like to get some light cranks, right now it's between hones, gravity lights and the rf atlas'. i like the pedal inserts on the hones and gravity lights, but after hearing about the gravity lights bending and also having seen some of sam hill's a little bent, i'm starting to lean away from them. i've also heard about issues with the hones though....what gives? i should probably spend the money elsewhere for weight savings, but if i want to upgrade my cranks anyways, should i go for light stuff?
 

big cal

Monkey
Nov 18, 2001
177
0
Melbourne, Australia
Yeah, I'm sure about it.

I've seen pics of his bent cranks - Ft. William 2 years ago comes to mind. The point is he hits stuff waaayyyy faster and harder than you or I ever will and still has enough confidence in them to run them. They are PLENTY strong.
Actually i've read a story in an aussie Dh mag that quoted sam hill saying he 'ran soft cranks so he didn't bend his pedals' and found that quite amusing...
 

top_dog

Monkey
Jan 27, 2006
209
0
Australia
Pedals are worth more than cranks. Especially when that story was written and he was running Cully's.

I'm still running my five year old ISIS Holzfellers and they are straight as a die, and I destroy pedals and bashies. They are pretty light too.
 

TWeerts

Monkey
Jan 7, 2007
471
0
The Area Bay
i'm looking at getting some new cranks as my gravity gaps are the older 6061 model and are not only heavier than the newer model but also not as stiff. i might get gaps again to save cash, but i'd ideally like to get some light cranks, right now it's between hones, gravity lights and the rf atlas'. i like the pedal inserts on the hones and gravity lights, but after hearing about the gravity lights bending and also having seen some of sam hill's a little bent, i'm starting to lean away from them. i've also heard about issues with the hones though....what gives? i should probably spend the money elsewhere for weight savings, but if i want to upgrade my cranks anyways, should i go for light stuff?
the FSA moto cranks are only about 75g heavier, and are about $200 at retail., where as the lights are about $280
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
So i did some research...

Gavity gaps gaps are forged, where as the Lights are tubular and apparently far stiffer and stronger (and lighter!). The cranks im talking about are the Gaps which are by all comparrisons, crap! When Hill bent his cranks i belive they were the cromo (or forged alu) version before the Lights were produced... So disregard anything I said about the gravitys if you thought I was talking about Lights.

Anyway...

Continue!
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Yeah I was gonna say - get a clue before you start posting so aggressively!

For the record I've been thrashing the gaps for about 6 months now with no dramas whatsoever, they're nothing like XT's. Nor are the Hone doubles for that matter, they're NOT glorified LX's by any means, and are essentially a completely different crankset. Different spindle design/material, steel pedal inserts and washers make them a "light" Saint crankset. Essentially the same as what the Gravity Light is to the Gravity.

For the thread starter - the Hone's are lighter, but still plenty strong. Where they lose out to the Gravity Light is in aesthetics, and configurations. The G-Light lets you pick from 68/73/83mm versions and the all important 165mm length. The Hone is limited to 68/73 and a 170mm minimum.
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
^^

There was some ambiguity with the gravitys as we didnt establish exactly which ones he was looking at. I never compared them to XT's or Hones either, I dont know where you pulled that from, I was merely stating my experience with those lighter cranks. Im dfinately not going to be shouting praise for Gaps as the 1st rock I clipped bent em...

Can you enlighten me as to the difference in the crank arm of a Hone (minus the insert) to an LX? My understanding was that the arm itself was Identical to an LX - Ill gladly be corrected!

I wasnt posting aggresively Udi, just stating my experiences...
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
The comparison was drawn when you said -
Ive tried the whole lightweight crank route and have wrecked 3 sets doing it (XTs, Hones, Gravitys - although im not sure on their weight)
Fair call on the ambiguity though, but seriously given the question (light + strong) it was easy enough to figure out which cranks he was after.

Anyway, the whole issue with the LX crankset (which is the same as the Hone triple) is that it has an alloy spindle that is relatively easy to snap/bend, and no pedal inserts/washers which means decent rock hit = bye bye. The Hone double crankset has the chromo spindle that the Saint crankset runs (and XT as well), as well as the same pedal insert / washer system that the Saint set runs. So that solves all the issues the LX crankset has (for heavy use - to be fair, the LX is an XC crankset), and on top of that the Hone arm is slightly thicker in the section that the XT bends.

Don't forget that there's a lot more to a crankset than just the arms, in this case that's the key. You can't just compare the arms, and in this case the spindle and pedal insert are part of the arm/s anyway.
 

jonny dh

Monkey
Oct 26, 2007
223
0
under my feet
right now I'm running truvativ hussefelt 06 crank 170 mm with funn pedals,I've Hit plenty of boulder with these and haven't bent them, loose allot pins but haven't bent an arm yet,with all my gear on I weigh between160 and 165,just need to know if I should stay with it or could I change it out for a better crank,don't want to sacrifice weight to much that I'm bending crank arms,are dual duty rims contributing to any weight problem,running minnion 2.7 slow reezzay rear and super tacky front
 

sbabuser

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2004
1,114
55
Golden, CO
I bent a set of 3 ring hone cranks in multiple directions, and that was all at the spindle. It bent down on both sides (as you stand on them w/ the arms horizontal) and also twisted the spindle. I switched to the 2 ring hones and they are still going strong.
 

jonny dh

Monkey
Oct 26, 2007
223
0
under my feet
okay I see that this is going back and forth,am I on broken record player.J/k
I'm just looking to see if its a wise idea to change out what I have for better quality and save some weight and also on my rims?
 

seismic

Turbo Monkey
Dec 22, 2003
3,254
0
South East Asia
sure they will get him to the bottom of the hill fine. The difference however is that he can have them swaped out 5min later for free and not be stuck riding with a bent crank the rest of the season.

I have been running Saints the past couple seasons on all my bikes and havn't had to think twice.
I will second that ! It is stupid when people compare to the pros and say " X rider use Y product so it must be good". As mentioned, they just get new stuff if it fails and I am sure the pros will have confidence in many products which the average rider should stay clear of considering that the pros only need to have the confidence for a few minutes (then it can be replaced).
 

Hydraulicman

Monkey
Sep 25, 2001
133
0
Belgium
Like Udi said. Get the hones with the 2 rings and the bashguard they have the pedal inserts and the chromo spindle. The 3 ring Hones DON'T have this.

I'm about 160lbs and been running my hones in 2007. I hit my crank once on a rock and they are still straight.

If you need a 73mm setup I would seriously consider these. I have them with a E-13 chainring and it's a very light setup
 

jonny dh

Monkey
Oct 26, 2007
223
0
under my feet
is this the hones you are talking about?Hone FC-M601-2. 2 ring crankset with outer ring replaced by a 5mm thick bash guard.
Features and Information

* Hollowtech II design, right arm includes integrated 24mm O.D. spindle
* Includes BB set for 68mm or 73mm BB shell
* E-type front derailleur compatible
* Outer ring replaced with a 5mm thick bash guard

Item Specifications
Color Gray
Crank/FD Type Mountain
BB Shell Width 68,73 mm
Crank Intended Use DH/Freeride,Mountain
Chain Compatibility 9-Speed
BB Thread Type English
Spindle Interface Type Hollowtech II
Pedal Spindle Thread 9/16"
Bolt Pattern 4-Bolt
Chainring BCD 104,64 mm
 

Attachments

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,181
media blackout
best spot to lose weight (most noticable anyway) is the wheels.

If you run dual ply tyres, use xc tubes.

Im a bit jaded as Ive had bad luck with cranks, so im never skimping there again.
yea wheels are a good place to lose weight. same with ditching the 3 inch tyres. seat/seatpost is another place to lose some weight.

ajay, how much do you weigh? i'm just curious because that plays a good part of in how long cranks will last, same with the speed you hit at.
 

MouseMonkey

Monkey
Jul 29, 2006
116
0
Salt Lake City
I am sure the pros will have confidence in many products which the average rider should stay clear of considering that the pros only need to have the confidence for a few minutes (then it can be replaced).
Nobody rides a product if they think it is going to break. It doesn't matter if they have five more cranksets in the truck, a busted crank on the course could result in a race/season/life ending injury. Few people, especially pro racers, are going to roll the dice like that.

I think it's safe to say that if it's on a pro bike, the team trusts the product to make it down the hill every time and if it does fail, it does so in a non-catastrophic manner. That's all you can ask of a bike part.

If you don't want your cranks to bend, get cromo cranks. If you want light cranks, expect to eventually bend them and don't bother blaming the cranks. It ain't rocket surgery.
 
Everyone is gonna have luck with certain things, i ripped 2 sets of pedals out of Holzfellers this year, both OCT and regular using the Howitzer BB version and had run the ISIS ones for 3 years without a hitch. They were tightened correctly and everything (I am a wrench and know the torque specs). Just tore them out tagging small rocks in corners. Switched to Saint and havent had an issue. Meanwhile my buddy bent 3 pairs of Saints this year. Depends upon the batch and riding style. I will running Saint and XTs next year and he will be running Deitys.
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
Jon - I weigh about 75kg (160-70 ish lbs?).

I didnt hit to hard and I wasnt stomping either. Maybe all the force was concentrated at the point of greater weakness...

Frontrage DH - You didnt include the financial insentives offered by the sponsors to entice a team to use their product either. Which does have quite a bearing on what some teams will use... Although I presume you're right in saying that teams wont use a product if they think thats its strengh is hazardous, I dont imagine that FSA cranks fall into that catagory.
 
I currently am running for a drivetrain sponsor and trust me, I know the whole thing about a person not running something that will break and also the financial incentive. Having a drivetrain sponsor locks you into a company and also gives you more suport on broken things as well as money in your pocket, but that doesnt mean riders will give up strength, durability, and quality to save some grams. I hate to break you theory up, but i am not gonna risk a race run let alone my personal health/life on a bike part taht i dont trust, regardless of weight. Pro teams are especially rough on parts, and weight is an issue especially when Hills bike weighs in way below 40. But i can tell you with Hills low bb he probably smacks cranks quite a bit even with 165mms. He isnt going to want to run something that could ruin a run because a bad run means the end of a season as far as winning the overall.

I used to run carbon bars till a brand new set snapped on me on wide open ski hill at about 30.

The cycling industry goes through periods where they try and make stuff lighter and lighter, but then things start breaking consistently so they beef them up again. Then things are too heavy so they lighten them up. We are seeing the lightening trend in cranks and trailbike frames and trail forks. We are seeing a beefing up in handlebars with the increasing widths.
 

ajay

Chimp
Dec 29, 2007
16
0
Melbourne, AUS
I currently am running for a drivetrain sponsor and trust me, I know the whole thing about a person not running something that will break and also the financial incentive. Having a drivetrain sponsor locks you into a company and also gives you more suport on broken things as well as money in your pocket, but that doesnt mean riders will give up strength, durability, and quality to save some grams. I hate to break you theory up, but i am not gonna risk a race run let alone my personal health/life on a bike part taht i dont trust, regardless of weight. Pro teams are especially rough on parts, and weight is an issue especially when Hills bike weighs in way below 40. But i can tell you with Hills low bb he probably smacks cranks quite a bit even with 165mms. He isnt going to want to run something that could ruin a run because a bad run means the end of a season as far as winning the overall.
We are essentially saying the same thing :)
 

Ian Collins

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,428
0
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
Sure about that buddy?

Just becasue Hill is fast, doesnt mean his cranks miraculously become stronger... There has been a few occasions in which he has bent cranks mid run at World Cup level, then theres all the other times...

In any case, a DH crank should take more than one faily insignificant hit to bend them.
that was either pair of truvativs i believe....it wasn't gravity lights....may have been some other gravity cranks but not the lights......i actually think i just bent my left gravity light crank though......i have to throw a new pair of pedals on the bike to find out
 

Hydraulicman

Monkey
Sep 25, 2001
133
0
Belgium
is this the hones you are talking about?Hone FC-M601-2. 2 ring crankset with outer ring replaced by a 5mm thick bash guard.
Features and Information

* Hollowtech II design, right arm includes integrated 24mm O.D. spindle
* Includes BB set for 68mm or 73mm BB shell
* E-type front derailleur compatible
* Outer ring replaced with a 5mm thick bash guard

Item Specifications
Color Gray
Crank/FD Type Mountain
BB Shell Width 68,73 mm
Crank Intended Use DH/Freeride,Mountain
Chain Compatibility 9-Speed
BB Thread Type English
Spindle Interface Type Hollowtech II
Pedal Spindle Thread 9/16"
Bolt Pattern 4-Bolt
Chainring BCD 104,64 mm
Yess, these are the ones.