Cycling UK Forum

Interesting articles here for anyone with an interest in the sometimes quirky Gallic alternatives to Japanese and Italian sets.

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/co ... -comp.html

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/co ... -comp.html

I have a 99 double with a variety of rings.

I use it in Single Mode with a 651 BB on Barbarella, with the spare rings in a bag in the workshop!

Lovely chainset, versatile and strong.

In my experience, a stronglight chainset lives up to the second part of its name but not the first.

Big T wrote:In my experience, a stronglight chainset lives up to the second part of its name but not the first.

Never found that to be the case myself. I've used a 49D, it's tandem version, a 99, an 80 a 100LX + its tandem version and the latest touring model and never had problems with any. Different rings are a doddle to buy, they have crank lengths Shimpagnolo can only dream of and various BCDs are maintained for years as spares.

Ditto.

Stronglight.
Both strong and light.

At least my 99 is!

Out in Derbyshire on a ride with Stronglight cranks on. We go over a cattle grid and the left crank cracks at the end where it fixes to the BB. I'm stuck in Ilam, with a bike with one crank. There are (up)hills in every direction. I have to ring my Dad to come and get me. He wasn't best pleased, as he was about to sit down to eat his Sunday dinner.

I've had a similar experience with an Ofmega crank, but never had any such trouble with either Campag or Shimano cranks. I know i'm a big lad and heavy on equipment, but some stuff just isn't up to the job. Stronglight may be OK if you're a 10 stone lightweight, but when you're built like Magnus Backstedt......

And I'm not the only one who's had trouble with Stronglight. As I said, Light but not Strong.

I've cracked plenty of TA Cyclotouriste cranks, but only one Stronglight, and that was an old 100 I'd had for years. Touch wood the Impact seems bombproof, we have 3 of those, and my Speedlight seems fine so far.

PW wrote:I've cracked plenty of TA Cyclotouriste cranks, but only one Stronglight, and that was an old 100 I'd had for years. Touch wood the Impact seems bombproof, we have 3 of those, and my Speedlight seems fine so far.

I'm glad to hear that having only ever ridden Shimano, SR and Sakea before that steel (which I can't remember the name) I must admit I was a little concerned when I bought an Impact triple earlier in the year, but that was mainly because it was so cheap,on inspection and riding I'm very impressed

The Impact has plenty of metal on it, I doubt you'll have any trouble.
TA Cyclotouriste and Stronglight 49D used to have a reputation for breaking but they are fairly ancient designs with very little heft round the pedal thread and some dubiously sharp machining. They did have a magnificently low Q-factor however. Beryl Burton used 3-pin Stronglight and the only one I personally saw break was a competitive racer who used to pull his wheel over starting off and went through components faster than any rider I've known.

For anyone wanting shorter cranks or a choice of rings not 10 teeth apart or just tourers on a budget, Stronglight have been a Godsend over the years.

Durability of chainset/cranks will also depend on the variety of aluminium alloy used. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_alloy - this shows the huge range that's available although cycle manufacture will only use a small selection. I know that Shimano hollowtech cranks are Duraluminium, the best. Not sure what Stronglight Impact cranks are, possibly 2014 - it was on the box; I've chucked it now. It's possible that old cranksets that cracked were made of softer alu, when understanding of the metals was less (proven).

I'm not certain on this, but I think the Impact is made by someone else (possible Sugino) and then badge-engineered by Stronglight.

To their credit, they were selling 'compact' doubles years before the Big Two thought it an idea worth pursuing. I had an Impact 50/34 a few years ago, and liked it, but not as much as a triple.

Mebbe this one. Does that look like an Impact? But then there's nothing wrong with Sugino cranks - they famously do a very strong Keirin track crank, now beloved of fixie posers.

Yep, Sugino XD and Stronglight Impact are the same. See http://www.hubjub.co.uk/stronglight/stimpactzm.htm for more details.
Kevin

speedsixdave wrote:Mebbe this one. Does that look like an Impact?

That's the one. The give-away is that the Impact has "XD2R" and "XD2L" on the back of the crank arms.

Kevin K wrote:Yep, Sugino XD and Stronglight Impact are the same. See http://www.hubjub.co.uk/stronglight/stimpactzm.htm for more details.
Kevin

My Stronglight Impact chainset doesn't have the Sugino "XD" on it