Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Vetus Ossa
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Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

I recently bought a New Stronglight Impact triple chainset from Spa Cycles, and am very pleased with it, though so far I have not covered any great distance with it.
I liked it so much I was going to order another for my best bike, but unfortunately at the moment they are out of stock. Talking to a salesman there he told me that there were better options anyway, based on the TD – 2 cranks and different chainrings.
I am curious to know if the chainset I have is generally regarded as not being quite up to scratch, do the rings wear more quickly, or are the cranks inferior to the TD – 2 cranks, which at £20 seem very cheap to me.
I am sure many here will have experience with most of the touring type chainsets that Spa sell.

Thank you.
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TrevA
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by TrevA »

Been using mine for a year and it's fine, though I've had to replace the Stronglight BB with a Shimano one, as it was making grinding/knocking noises. Probably done around 5000 miles on it so far, mostly winter and commuting miles.

The chainset is remarkably good value for money.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

The chainset is remarkably good value for money.[/quote]

Hi Trev. Thanks, I use a shimano B/B with mine and agree about vfm.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

I'll figure out how to do the quote thing one day...maybe :wink:
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MGate
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by MGate »

Yep as above - great value and available in different lengths. You can put chainrings of your choice on the cranks so if its your best bike you can go TA or Stronglight Zircal which are hardwearing. I have 2 sets running at the moment, both on Campagnolo BBs (yes I know ISO and JIS and all that) and working just fine.
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andrew_s
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by andrew_s »

I would regard the TD-2 and New Impact as being pretty much the same thing as each other, and the XD-2 and Old Impact as being the same, likewise.
The alloy is different, but I'd doubt it makes any difference, as it's knackered tapers and fatigue cracks that generally see off cranks rather than lack of outright strength.
All 4 are good, and there's not much point in spending more provided that square taper and 110 or 110/74 bcd is what you want. I've broken TA, Shimano XT and Middleburn cranks in the past, but not Impacts (which I've used for longer).

Similarly TA, Stronglight Zicral and Spa's own brand chainrings are all 7075-T6, and can be regarded as being the same, with the differences being in available sizes and black/silver rather than anything functional.
Stronglight Dural (5061, iirc) are much less hard wearing than the 7075 chainrings above, but they are also much cheaper (than Zicral or TA at least), roughly in proportion.
Probably the Spa chainrings are the best balance of price and lifespan.

I'm not sure what chainrings the Impact comes with, but memory and the photo on the Spa website leads me to believe they are the Dural rings.

If so, TD-2 with Spa rings at the same price as New Impact with Dural rings is good value, and even better value if cranks and separate rings works out cheaper (don't forget to allow for the cost of bolts).
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Thanks for the info all.
I'll mull over the possibilities while on holiday next week and order something when I return.
I must say I really like the 24/34/46 combo, it makes the hills around here so much easier.
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MikeF
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by MikeF »

Vetus Ossa wrote:I must say I really like the 24/34/46 combo, it makes the hills around here so much easier.
That combo suits me as well. However I'm not sure if the 115mm BB for my New Impact gives the right chain line so I have a 118 mm to try.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

115mm works for me Mike.
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reohn2
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by reohn2 »

FWIW,I'm running three sets of Impact triples(one is a tandem set),oldest pair(solo) are about 10years old,no problems at all.Most run on 115mm BB axles but I have one on 118mm but that's due to a Deore MTB front mech that wouldn't change to the inner ring due a 31.8mm seatube.
They're running a variety of chainrings,TA,S/light,dural and zicral,and just recently Spa's own brand.
By all accounts,though I haven't done a lot of miles on them yet,Spa's own(7075 alu)are as good as as anything else I've used,and cheap enough should they not last as long as say TA or S/L zicral.
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cycloret
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by cycloret »

Some of these five arm chainsets have one of their arms behind the crank and therefore need a captive nut with its serrated edge to stop it turning when tightening. It's not a big deal but I prefer to be able to access both sides of all 5 arms. In this regard, I'm not certain the photos of the chainsets on Spa cycles website are always of what is being offered for sale.

One Stronglight triple I have has 5 visible arms, another I bought later has a captive nut which I questioned at the time. The later was to replace a much used Mountain LX but the chainline was out. I would have had to change a perfectly good BB with one with a smaller axle. Instead I just replaced the chainrings with TAs from Spa. (Thanks Spa for stocking a wide range of chainrings.)

My preference would be a Stronglight chainset with 5 visible arms with TA Zephyr rings though in the last year I bought the bits to make up a TA Carmina chainset, because I'm worth it!
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Yes, I prefer the five visible arms too for the same reasons.
My next one will be the same, though at the moment I am undecided on the chainrings.
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Bikes-trikes&hikes
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by Bikes-trikes&hikes »

I got my impact triple stronglite a few years ago they are great to use from 7-9 speed but not sure if they fall under road or off road components really as used with 7 speed and a 9 speed off road XT/XTR Deore off road drive train but work pretty well. One major issue is the recommended 113 bottom bracket of stronglite maybe not long enough as I fitted the cranks to two bikes that hit the inside of the front mech no matter how it was adjusted it simply could not come any closer so I have the 115 bottom bracket from stronglite to bring the cranks out so as to clear this issue only time will tell if it works and hopefully it will not mess up chain line or alignment
ANTONISH
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by ANTONISH »

I have two sets of the Stronglight and one set of the Spa.
The Spa set has slightly different dimensions andI would recommend the Stronglight although there is not much in it.
The possible range of gears on these chainsets is for me the main advantage.
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Re: Stronglight New Impact Triple...any good?

Post by simonineaston »

Having first highighted and copied the text you want to quote, click the quote mark button, which instantly gives you the necessary two tags, then put the cursor between them and paste the text - something like this:
Screenshot 2022-11-27 at 10.17.55.png
The key is to check you have the correct pair of tags - you are nearly there, except you appear to have removed some or all of the first tag...
S
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