Originally Posted by
commutr4life
An excellent question. I guess I don't know, which is part of why I'm posting. You're talking to a guy who is new the to whole quality, well-maintained bikes world. I commuted for years on a mountain bike, then an old Schwinn Tempo, which is a great bike, but I basically rode it into the ground and didn't realize that the BB was almost siezed until I took it apart.
Anyway, when I hopped on the Capo I was like WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOW. So quick and responsive. Other reviewers have complained about the cranks, so I guess I'm asking...what would one expect from upgraded cranks?
It sounds like I'll probably ride these parts out before replacing. But on that note, you don't really wear out cranks, right? I would just replace them when the bb and/or chainring wear, right?
Other potentially relevant info, I ride ss, and with clips, mostly city, some paths.
As operator mentioned, eventually the crank arms can snap but that's after several years of hard use really. A dedicated roadie who trains constantly will "wear out" cranks and have them break, your average fixed gear commuter probably won't run into that.
What you'd expect from better cranks would be better looks, tighter Q factor (also called tread) and increased stiffness. If you're riding in sneakers with straps, you'll probably never notice a difference in stiffness between crank sets.
Which is to say, those cranks are probably fine for you in all regards except street cred.