Low Q factor cranks in ,160........square taper

[tenbikes]

I'm looking for short square taper cranks with a very low Q factor.

Any suggestions?

[Cyckelgalen]

Maybe you can reduce the Q factor with a shorter bottom bracket and keep your cranks. A lot cheaper.
103 mil is the shortest BB I know.

[cyclop]

Could you give us a bit of background info. please?How tall,inside leg,how long have you ridden your current bike ,dimensions of current steed ,particular reasons for changing,etc,Cheers?

[PT1029]

TA Cyclotourist cranks might work, came in many legths. The cranks were straight/no offset - that means a lot of modern front gears with angled out cages hit the crank when on the big ring.
Now rather a niche used market I suspect.

[grufty]

Ask Thorn. I have Thorn and Stronglight Impact in 160 , the Thorn seem to have lower Q to me , but I haven't measured them.

[JohnR]

Spa Cycles also has a big range of cranks https://spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p0/Drivetrain/Chainsets .

[tenbikes]

TA Cyclotourist cranks might work, came in many legths. The cranks were straight/no offset - that means a lot of modern front gears with angled out cages hit the crank when on the big ring.
Now rather a niche used market I suspect.

These sound ideal.....I'll follow that up, thanks.

[NickJP]

TA Cyclotourist cranks might work, came in many legths. The cranks were straight/no offset - that means a lot of modern front gears with angled out cages hit the crank when on the big ring.
Now rather a niche used market I suspect.

These sound ideal.....I'll follow that up, thanks.

They cost a bomb, and TA themselves appear to be out of stock of all lengths: https://specialites-ta.com/pro-5-vis/32 ... lles,160mm.

Spa Cycles have their version of the XD2 crank in 160mm. They won't be as narrow as the TA (I measure the Q on my pair as just over 150mm when setup as a double), but the crankarms without chainrings only cost 30 pounds, and they're quite nicely made.

[alexnharvey]

TA Cyclotourist cranks might work, came in many legths. The cranks were straight/no offset - that means a lot of modern front gears with angled out cages hit the crank when on the big ring.
Now rather a niche used market I suspect.

A surprisingly buoyant niche if every prices are a good guide.

[531colin]

Velo Orange do a crankset that looks like the old TA; might be worth finding the measurements.

[853]

Maybe you can reduce the Q factor with a shorter bottom bracket and keep your cranks. A lot cheaper.
103 mil is the shortest BB I know.

As well as getting a shorter axle, in the past I have used a angle grinder on a square taper BB and hand-filed the inner 'square' of each crank so that it fits further onto the axle.

It's a bit laborious, as you keep having to tighten the cranks to check they're not going to clip the chainstays before filing some more. I was a lot younger when I did this, but I've still got, and use, the cranks 40 years later so it hasn't effected their durability

[LuckyLuke]

Hi, coincidentally I was very recently looking for this very thing. Am building up a bike for my 13 yr old niece. Kids’ cranks from more enlightened manufacturers seem to be lower Q and shorter. E.g. Islabikes, Frog Bikes, Hup bikes.

Hup cranks do 160mm cranks:
https://kidsracing.co.uk/collections/sh ... 8278784063

Frog Bikes sell a cheap 155mm crankset:
https://www.frogbikes.co.uk/Crank-Set-155mm-78_2

In the end I brought a second hand Islabikes 160mm crankset from eBay. 104bcd, run as a single ring with a chainguard. Unfortunately not available new from the manufacturer.

One issue I guess with kids’ cranks is if they’re strong enough. The Hup ones look pretty solid?

Cheers,

Luke

[tenbikes]

The link above to Hup Cranks only goes to 155mm.........

Otherwise looks good.

T

[NickJP]

Another possibility are the TA Carmina cranks. Made in lengths from 155mm upwards. The spiders have a splined fitting to the crank and are held in place with a lockring that takes the same tool as Shimano MTB cranks, and they have many different spiders available - 130, 130/74, 110, 110/74 94, 94/58, 104, 104/64, etc. Q-factor when setup as a double is 150mm. I run one of those with a 107mm BB on one of my bikes.

https://specialites-ta.com/paire-de-man ... -pmca.html

[LuckyLuke]

The link above to Hup Cranks only goes to 155mm.........

Otherwise looks good.

T

Whoops, my mistake.
Measure twice, post once!

Hope you find the right crank.

Best wishes,

Luke