Originally Posted by
jet sanchEz
No, I go it, I just think that, as a whole, the thing is pretty sketchy. I've ridden plenty of 1-piece cranks and even had a problem similar to the one that the OP is having but I had brakes in the front and rear so it didn't matter. 1-piece cranks are junk and are crafted out of cheap metal because they are not meant to bear an undue amount of stress....the OP is putting an undue amount of stress on them. I hope he is running a front brake, that is all.
Absolute nonsense. One piece cranks like the one pictures are made out of cheap metal. That's because steel is cheap. However,
they are about as durable as cranks get. The forged one piece cranks simply don't fail unless you're doing some crazy BMX stunts with them. BTW, one piece cranks are common on BMX bikes because they are cheap
and strong. They do fine backpedaling, too. Consider, they are very common on coaster brake bikes, which require backpedaling in order to stop.
Jakerock, if it really bothers you, I would just spend a few bucks to get the pin tack welded to the hole on the sprocket, like EatMyA** suggests, presuming it's a steel chainring. It won't significantly weaken anything. No sense in spending the $$$ on three piece cranks unless you must cut about one pound, which is what you'd lose by going to aluminum cranks.
The only one piece cranks I would avoid are the ones that look like a S-shaped bent piece of rebar. These were usually reserved for the lowest end bikes. The drive pins on these are bonded on, not integrally forged like the one in the pic, running the risk of breaking off at inopportune times. And they are just kind of crappy all around.