Friday, October 5, 2007

Andel Track Cranks Review

A couple of months ago I was on the prowl for some nice new or used track specific cranks for my locker. I had these old middle range road cranks. Drive side was Campy and the non drive side was Shimano. I painted them matte black so you couldn't really tell. Anyways, my good friend Phil was in need of a fixer to bring back to the UK with him. I found him a stellar frame on ebay and hooked him up with all the old parts on my locker. What better excuse for upgrading than a friend in need? I was looking high and low for a set of Sugino 75's in decent used condition. Even in used condition they go for like $130ish on ebay. Which boggles my mind seeing as how they're $170 new. I axed my boy Andy over at Ben's Cycle what I should get. I didn't want to spend $170+ for a set of cranks/chainring for my goddamn locker. Andy recommended the new Andel track set as a sort of middle ground. Not too high end but super sturdy and lighter than lower end gear. The Andels are track specific, one sided chainring mount and also have the more convenient 144bcd. I was atimate at first having never heard of the brand, but Andy re-assured me that they would be perfect for my application. And at $95 bucks for the cranks with pre-installed chainring the price was just right. I was very impressed with them from the moment I they arrived. They're very well made, quiet, nice and beefy, not too heavy at all. I weighted them (700g) along with a set of Sugino 75's and the difference was minimal (672g). I've been riding them hard for the past month or so and they're great! Nice and stiff. No problems at all despite riding brakeless and jamming back on them constantly through traffic...

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend these cranks for your current or next whip...
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to find out who manufactures these. They are identical to the Alien, IRO, Steelwool track/single speed crank sets.

I have a couple of the IRO sets and one Andel. Definitely beefy and fantastic quality for the price.