Pukeskywalker

I'm reviewing these because there is zero detailed info on the internet.

They are called "IRD Extra Long Crank Arms"


I decided to try an extra long crankset after reading Peter White's fit guide, which pegged me at 200mm:
How to Fit a Bicycle

The only affordable extra-long triple cranksets are made by IRD at $140, available in 180mm, 200mm, and 220mm. If these were not available the next cheapest option is a custom set, which runs about $300 minimum.

First Impressions:

The look nice and shiny on first glance. Closer inspection reveals some bad spots of finish and some rough looking aluminum. I don't really care at this price.


Here they are sitting next to a 175mm Sugino XD600. You can see the differences in finish and build.


Again



Weight:

These things are heavy. They have almost 300g on the Suginos.

Sugino XD600 175mm: 523g
IRD 200mm Triple: 818g




If you look at the crank arms from the side, you'll see how remarkably thick the IRD arms are compared to the Suginos.





Quality Concerns:

The middle-ring lip on the crank spider arms varies in depth across the 5 arms. I doubt it is intentional. I have emailed IRD

Note the lip depth here:


Note the lack of depth here:


Some sections of the aluminum look shoddy. This is the worst area.




I've put chainrings on the crank and they appear to be level.

I will update after the crank has been installed and test ridden. This will be a slow build so bookmark this thread if you are interested.

TrojanHorse

Can you attach the pictures?

Pukeskywalker

My pictures are too large to attach.

Here's an Imgur album with the originals if you want high-res:

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

TrojanHorse

Looks like you managed it. Looking forward to the review. Those things are BEEFY!

Pukeskywalker

Q-factor:

On a 118mm bottom bracket, they're measuring at 177mm (+/- 2mm). My measurements were rough - using a tape measure.

118mm is the minimum recommended bb spindle width

Here they are installed. The look big

Kobe 

Thanks for the excellent review. The outside of the IRD's look good, but the inside does look a bit rough.

I have been thinking of giving 200's a try for a while. The longest set I have is 180mm Campagnolo's on my Casati and I like them. My cross bike has an extra high bottom bracket that the extra length would work great on.

I am just worried about the extra pressure they would put on my knees.

superdex

baa! where's the LONG TERM review?

donalson

good stuff... I've looked at these in the past... look forward to seeing your thoughts down the line... what tooth rings you go with?

alfonsejr

I look forward to reading about your impressions. Could you tell me where did you found the info for the bottom bracket spindle length? I have these on a couple bikes and (so far) like the longer cranks. I did my best but couldn't find the recommended bottom bracket length -- i think I used 116.
Thanks,

RR3

I put about 6000 miles on a set of 200 mm cranks with no knee problems. They help power over climbs for short. The short ones that you have to jam hard. I am probably going to sell them to keep all my bikes at 177.5 mm cranks. They are light as heck. "Lightning"'

Never had any knee problems with them although it took a few rides to get used to them

Pukeskywalker

I found that info on Soma Fabrications' web store. I think they have the same distributer since they carry IRD and their webstores use the same content management system.

Here's the info:

IRD Extra Long Crank Arms


I tried them on a 112mm BB just to see, it was way too narrow.

116mm might have worked but I went with 118 and the clearance is very close for the granny gear

Pukeskywalker

Yeah I'm concerned about clearance. I need to measure but I think they are about 85mm above the ground and people shoot for more. I'm going to use thin VP Vice pedals which save you about 4mm on clearance.


I've got 36 and 26 rings, I like low gearing and spinning. The longer cranks could make these feel too small though

My preference for low gears should help preserve my knees -- if I understand correctly that spinning is easier on them Vs. mashing

donalson

well I look forward to your response... I'd considered these some time back... if they had a 130bcd I'd have done it a long time ago as I'd just swap out the cranks... would even put those large road rings into a better fit for me I think...

these would also put the fit on my klein frame better (little long top tube for me)... the 20mm effective shorter TT length would more than make that all while bringing the effective fork length and therefore stem height up... all good things for the fit on this bike...

maybe one day...

alfonsejr

Excellent, thanks. I first tried 113 and the inner chainring mounts (?) were just grazing the chain stay.

Pukeskywalker

There is a major wobble in the chainrings. Concerns about the uneven spider arms have been confirmed.

I've got a second email out to IRD. They have a 10-day turn around on emails so I'll have to wait it out. Haven't heard back on my Oct 27th email.

Video of the wobble

These are properly installed. The wobble is caused by the uneven spider arms, pictures in the first post of this thread.

alfonsejr

That wobble looks bad, unacceptable. One of my sets has some wobble but nothing like yours. Certainly they'll (hopefully) replace them.

trailangel

Is that crank tightened all the way?

79pmooney

118 is for single chainrings, 123 for doubles and 127 for triples. I wouldn't expect the inner chainring of a triple to clear the chainstay unless it was very small (maybe a 22 tooth?) or the crank was on securely and the crankbolt properly tight. I'd try a 127 BB. If with a fully tightened crank I had more than 4mm clearance inside the inner chainring I would consider going for the intermediate (double) BB in the future if I found in my riding that I never needed the top two small cogs when on the inner.

Ben

Pukeskywalker

the 118mm is clearing with a 26t granny, but it is very close. I still have to evaluate the chain line, but my objective is minimal Q factor

Pukeskywalker

That's interesting to hear. I'm concerned about receiving a wobbly replacement but I'm willing to risk it for an affordable 200mm

without a doubt. check this pics in the first post to see how the spider arms differ


Update:

IRD responded quickly to my last email and is going to accept a return on these. Updates won't come for another month since they're getting mailed across the country

XXLHardrock

How did this turn out?