My favorite "bargain" cranks are Shimano's FC-R4550. At one point, I had three of them in service, but I'm down to just two sets (I sold one of the bikes). The 4550s are non-series components, and can be purchased quite cheaply online. The inner (34t) chainring has proved to be quite durable, especially compared to the stock rings found on the Sugino XD cranks. In fact, Shimano specs the same inner ring on the R600 and R700 cranksets (which sell for more than the R4550). Would it be more cost-effective to "upgrade" to an Ultegra crank? Probably not. I'd rather take the money saved on the cranks and spend it on chains, and replace those at the appropriate interval to increase the other drivetrain components' lifespan.
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 09:46:11 -0700 From: thill....@gmail.com To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: [RBW] Re: rene herse crank With all due respect, Jan, that is a highly dubious assertion that 105 cranks will cost less per mile than Ultegra cranks. The MSRP difference in the crank is $100 ($360 for Ultegra and $260 for 105), If you assume the chainrings to be the primary wear item, you could buy the 105 crank and spend the extra $100 on some new (supposedly more durable) Ultegra rings to use when the 105 rings wear out. Now we're at the same price, and we've got two sets of chainrings for the less costly crank. That to me sounds like the 105 crank will give more miles for the same dollars. Of course, there's the probability that the cranks themselves could break, but that probability is slim with either model. How to compare two very small probabilities and translate it usefully to dollars/mile? That an old Peugeot was costly to maintain is not too surprising. Those things are money pits. Would an equivalently priced, say, Miyata with Sun Tour parts, of the same vintage, have been less costly to maintain? I think yes, all else being equal, and barring crashes, and other mishaps. I can point at numerous Schwinn Varsities and similar machines that have been abused in many ways by many people for 40 years, and they're still on the road. Arguably, the Varsity is cheap for other reasons, but durability isn't one of them. Anyway, I suspect the dollars to durability correlation to be a weak correlation at best, and impossible to discern in the real world. This is the kind of overly simplistic thing you read in an article in Bicycling that attempts to give first-timers some basic knowledge to buy a first road bike. But even Bicycling doesn't have the audacity to make a definitive claim in terms of dollars per mile. I agree that a crummy bike will be less enjoyable and will need repairs, but 105 parts are far from crummy. On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ On Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:48:49 AM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote:On May 31, 6:03 am, Steven Frederick <stl...@gmail.com> wrote: > It's interesting how people prioritize bike build budget money. Lot's of > Riv's proudly roll with fairly low-mid range yet functional parts, Sugino > cranks, 105 derailers, Tektro brakes. And I see a lot of Surly's with CK > headsets and various high-end bits. "Bike Bling." I think a lot depends on how much you ride. 105 parts will be more expensive than Ultegra in the long run, if you ride more than 2000 miles a year. Quality components offer better durability and/or improved performance - for example, a high-end crank with narrower tread (Q factor) and harder-wearing chainrings will be more enjoyable and not much more expensive in the long-run than a cheap Sugino crank with soft chainrings. I learned this early-on. My mid-range Peugeot 10-speed ended up being the most expensive bike I ever owned, per mile. Once I started riding seriously, it needed repairs and replacements almost weekly. When I switched to a custom frame with Campagnolo components, which cost three times as much to buy, my per-mile cost went way down. At the same time, my enjoyment of cycling went way up. It can be a win-win situation, once you get over the sticker shock. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly http://www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/cxFx2cBgKL4J. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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