Truvativ Stylo Cranks : Long Term
July 23rd, 2008 by ArleighBack in May I gave my 1st impressions of these single speed cranks on my 650b hot rod.
The cranks are still doing well and have my thumbs up. They are very durable with the finish standing strong against my ankle rub and the arms are pretty stiff.
The bottom bracket has my thumbs down but as I went through in my 1st impressions - I am very wary of outboard bearing cranks for the durability factor. So far I have gone through 1.5 sets of bearings. After the current set wears out I will be upgrading to Paul or maybe ceramic to see if the upgrade does fix the short life span. The other thing I want to mention of these bearings is the have been submerged multiple times in creeks and deep water. This isn’t normal and your set might last longer than mine.
For the price I wouldn’t balk at purchasing these cranks again. The bottom bracket failure I hope will be fixed with a better type of bearings or maybe I should run BMX 3 piece cranks on my foul weather bike?
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I’ve had a good experience with my set as well. They’ve held up to more than a year of clydesdale singlespeed abuse, including creek crossings and sub-zero temps and whatever else I can throw at them. Bonus that they come in 180 mm.
I have noticed some creaking lately and my drive side bearings are feeling rough. I’ll probably replace them at the end of the season.
That being said, I love my Profile Racing cranks even more. They’ll replace my Stylos when the time comes.
I agree, the Ext. BB idea just hasn’t quite lived up to the marketing hype. Maybe there’s hope with BB30?
Arleigh, try replacing the bearings with Enduro’s bearing replacement kit. I’ve had good success using these bearings in FSA and Shimano bottom brackets (not done a Truvativ model yet) and at under $20 for the bearing kit, it’s less than the cost of a new bottom bracket.
Also, a lot of problems associated with external bottom bracket bearing failure is due to overloading the bearing when fixing the left crank arm to the axle. That cap that snugs the arm to the bearing only needs to be tightened just enough so the arm is against the bearing - then the pinch bolts hold the arm in place. Too many times, the left arm has been tightened against the bearing way too much. This mainly is on FSA or Shimano systems as Truvativ’s is different.
Strange, I absolutelty No problems withe the FireX BB on my XXIX, but it only took me 2 months to burn an LX BB, but now I am doing fine with an FSA external BB.
Mike: I may be off on this, but I believe the SRAM outboard bearing stuff runs a smaller OD on the BB spindle. Something to be aware of if you go looking for replacement bearings on any Truvativ outboard bearing BBs.
I have had better luck with Shimano stock outboard BB bearings, but neither the SRAM nor Shimano stuff can hold a candle to the square taper cartridge bearing BB’s of yore. In theory, these new bearings should last longer, but the execution of the design leaves much to be desired.
G-T - True on the Truvative bearing. There is an Enduro bearing kit that takes that into account.
The Enduro kit for Shimano and FSA does away with the plastic sleeve which means the cartridge is slightly larger with more space for the bearings.
Yeah, the UN 5x / 7x series are the best.