Old 12-03-13, 06:17 PM
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carleton
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Originally Posted by bigfred
Any reason not to get sram omnium cranks on a track bike?
There are a very few minor reasons:

The chainring spider is abnormally thick on the Omniums causing it to catch on the chainstay of a very very few frames. Just google "SRAM Omnium" and your frame and if people had issues, it may show up in the results.

Being that the spider is so thick, standard single chainring bolts only get maybe 2 turns of thread purchase. Not the 3 or 4 that you'd expect. Because of this, they come with aluminum road Double chainring bolts which is weird for a track crank (steel singles are standard for track). This also makes gear changes a pain in the ass because you have to use that little tool to keep the backs from spinning. But don't worry, there is a very easy solution.

1) Some people say that using single chainring bolts is no problem.

2) Buy 1 set of steel Single chainring bolts and one set of steel Double chainring bolts (you can get these at a MTB shop). Use the female end from the Singles (super glue these in) and the male end of the Doubles and you are good to go. You'll get 7-8 turns of thread purchase. I did this when I ran Omniums a while back.

Also, the bottom bracket has about 1-2 good seasons of use in it. This is how they keep the price low by including a budget BB. Think of it as a Free BB because all of the other manufacturers charge more for their cranks alone THEN have you buy the BB and chainring.

I think the Ominiums are a great choice. They are inexpensive and VERY strong. I've seen many elite national level sprinters using them. They also come in Silver or Black.

I've seen many people buy them them and ditch the BB and buy a new high-end BB and still come out cheaper than with Dura-Ace.

Last edited by carleton; 12-03-13 at 06:20 PM.
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