I ordered the TA knock off cranks the day they came out, here is my review thus far…
I feel the quality is subpar for the price, it has Tiagra/Mirage level chain rings with a slightly higher quality finish.
One of the crank arm bolts wasn’t properly made as I can’t get an allen key into it (I bet they will send me another as soon as I email them)
I purchased the recommended 113 width bottom bracket and spacers which is too narrow for my application. The website now recommends a 118 or 122 width bottom bracket.
All in all I am frustrated but dedicated to getting the cranks to work but there are some serious issues.
there was an extensive discussion on vo on the ibob list, their products, their quality about 3 weeks ago.
many of the list members came to the conclusion that they were cheap, inferior quality knockoffs.
Sounds like typical VO quality IMHO. Their customer service is kinda meh, too, though in fairness I did get treated right when one of my “moderne” bottle cages broke in the middle of my 300k.
This has been my impression of VO. Their shit looks the part, but doesn’t really deliver. I just can’t get the cartridge bearing headset to feel right, and we ordered some of their house brand stuff for the coop and it really wasn’t all that good.
On the other hand, it’s cheap. I feel like VO is the Alien of the “classy bikes” niche.
is alien still around? anyone still buys it?
sorta wished I had gotten in on the cheap chromed 48/34 cranks, but I didn’t and oh well whatever… I can put together the same setup through swaps and ebay with XT cranks for about the same price. I have resisted ordering any VO, and will continue to do so. Nothing I’ve seen is ‘gotta have it’, more like ‘oh I could order from them right now but… I’ll just wait around on ebay and get the original Shimano/TA/Brooks/whatever that’s proven to be of high quality.’
Dang. Was totally banking on these to go with my SKF BB.
Move this thread to reviews mebbe?
Velo Orange products generally suck… a friend of mine is also not impressed with his crankset. “avoid” was his advice.
TA is re-releasing their cyclotouriste crankset winter/spring 2011, by the way.
Might as well get an original instead of a knock-off.
…or just save up for the Sugino OX801D Compact Plus+ – arguably a better crankset (on paper at least) but $$$, though. If the White Industries VBC crankset wasnt quite as ugly, I’d be all over that.
The primary reason I got the VO TA cranks is that they have been respaced to work with a modern indexed drive train, which doesn’t work well at all with older TA cranks. There is no word from TA if the reissue cranks will be respaced or not.
TBH I really like how the VBC cranks look on certain bikes.
you mean the spacing between rings?
I think rene herse/boulder bikes has custom spacers for 10spd…or used to.
edit: or I guess you mean the space between outer ring & crank-arm. I use friction up front (shimano 600 fd), but yeah, that would be a problem w/ a modern indexed/brifter setup.
you mean the spacing between rings?
I think rene herse/boulder bikes has custom spacers for 10spd…or used to.
edit: or I guess you mean the space between outer ring & crank-arm. I use friction up front (shimano 600 fd), but yeah, that would be a problem w/ a modern indexed/brifter setup.[/quote]
Chainring spacing but a friend just said “The TA reissue will be even better than the originals since they fixed the too small gap betw. arm and chainring. They will be from the new mold they made especially for the anniversary crank.” so, don’t buy the VO cranks if you can afford to wait 3-4 months.
No way, they’re rad, and very very nicely made.
After I saw a pair of the VO cranks in person I wasn’t as impressed. They just don’t quite look right. And, given they could possibly support some nice ring combos in the future, but for now, people are getting em for the look. I have a set of the TA cranks that I haven’t installed or anything yet and might sell (anyone looking for a triple, 175 length?), but the TAs are impressively made, I’d expect the new run to be great.
This has been discussed on here before, but I am very happy with the quality of the Grand Cru seatpost I have, and my fenders are just fine, although a non-drilled version would be nice. I’d like to try a set of the new drop bars. Seems like some stuff is nice, and others maybe a bit rushed to the line. Things like the racks and bike frames certainly fill a gap, it’s just obvious that they have a hard time balancing the price level they try and meet and the quality/style the customers want. The fork bends, frame details, quality of welds on some of the racks, and other little things…
Looks and function wise the suginos are probably best for my needs
but friggan external bearings. I want SKF BB.
White industries scares me cuz chainring replacement.
The seatposts are good. I’ll give them that.
the suginos are sexy as fuck.
oh the cost of faux-retro cool
yup.
those are the cranks I want.
46/30.
$400 from japan. too pricey for me.
if someone in the US decides to pick 'em up and import them, the price should go down significantly.
[quote=I don’t live in the US]
White industries scares me cuz chainring replacement.[/quote]
The WI rings seem like they kinda last forever. I’ve got about a thousand miles on mine and the anodizing hasn’t even worn off yet.
Got one of these on our tandem, after around 500 miles one of the rivets that holds the little d rings on the side failed. We were not amused, but it seems like it would be easier to fix ourselves than to warranty. Should have got something from Riv.