Anyone have a Lightning crank they want to sell?
#1
pan y agua
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Anyone have a Lightning crank they want to sell?
So the left crank arm on the captain’s crank cracked on our Dragonfly.
not really blaming Lightning, I’m pretty sure it happened when I dropped the bike getting it off the rack, and the pedal struck the ground first. Prior to that we did get 7 years of use out of it.
Problem is now, I’m having a hard time finding just the Captains crank. Lightning is checking their inventory, but based our conversation, I think I’m looking at a whole new crank, and several months wait.
And the alternatives, all appear to be heavier, and would require changing both cranksets. So I think Lightning cranks have a nice weight advantage, but given that they’re on the far end of the weight/durability curve, you pay both an initial price in the purchase, and potentially down the road on durability, and parts availability.
not really blaming Lightning, I’m pretty sure it happened when I dropped the bike getting it off the rack, and the pedal struck the ground first. Prior to that we did get 7 years of use out of it.
Problem is now, I’m having a hard time finding just the Captains crank. Lightning is checking their inventory, but based our conversation, I think I’m looking at a whole new crank, and several months wait.
And the alternatives, all appear to be heavier, and would require changing both cranksets. So I think Lightning cranks have a nice weight advantage, but given that they’re on the far end of the weight/durability curve, you pay both an initial price in the purchase, and potentially down the road on durability, and parts availability.
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You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
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#2
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FSA SL-K carbon cranks are readily available for $975. I'd be surprised if they are much heavier than your Lightnings. I'm not sure of compatibility with your Gates belt drive, though.
#3
pan y agua
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That might end up being the answer. However, since I posted, Tim at Lightning has offered to fabricate a new left arm to replace the broken one.
it will take awhile, but I think I’m going to wait and stick with the lLightnings for a couple of reasons.
The Lightning cranks are absurdly light. According to published weights the entire Lightning crankset, captain, stoker and bb’s comes in at 832 grams. The SLK’s are a surprisingly porky 1795 grams. So I just can’t bring myself to add over 2 pounds to what was pretty much a complete weight weenie build.
We have the SLK’s on another tandem, and they’re fine, however I don’t particularly like the wide Q factor, and the new bolt pattern would require new rings and belt for the timing belt belt.
it will take awhile, but I think I’m going to wait and stick with the lLightnings for a couple of reasons.
The Lightning cranks are absurdly light. According to published weights the entire Lightning crankset, captain, stoker and bb’s comes in at 832 grams. The SLK’s are a surprisingly porky 1795 grams. So I just can’t bring myself to add over 2 pounds to what was pretty much a complete weight weenie build.
We have the SLK’s on another tandem, and they’re fine, however I don’t particularly like the wide Q factor, and the new bolt pattern would require new rings and belt for the timing belt belt.
__________________
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
#4
pan y agua
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In fairness to Lightning, I think it’s likely that heavier crank would not have cracked the way this one did. However, imho, I think that’s part of the trade off when you go this far out on making something extremely light.
We’re a larger team and have raced the bike competitively, so we’ve put a substantial load on the cranks, and they worked fine till I banged a pedal into the driveway.
Also, the fact that Lightning is working with us to fix it makes me fee better about them.
Thus, I’d still recommend Lightning if you want a very light build. Just recognizing, the trade off includes not only the initial cost, but also, likely some degree in durability.
We’re a larger team and have raced the bike competitively, so we’ve put a substantial load on the cranks, and they worked fine till I banged a pedal into the driveway.
Also, the fact that Lightning is working with us to fix it makes me fee better about them.
Thus, I’d still recommend Lightning if you want a very light build. Just recognizing, the trade off includes not only the initial cost, but also, likely some degree in durability.
__________________
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
#5
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I'm going to guess that the Lightning weight does not include chainrings, and possibly not spiders, given their design. And that the SL-K includes rings and spiders, given that they are sold as a complete set. I'll pull the front right crank arm off this weekend to see what it weighs without ring or spider.
#6
Full Member
So the left crank arm on the captain’s crank cracked on our Dragonfly.
not really blaming Lightning, I’m pretty sure it happened when I dropped the bike getting it off the rack, and the pedal struck the ground first. Prior to that we did get 7 years of use out of it.
Problem is now, I’m having a hard time finding just the Captains crank. Lightning is checking their inventory, but based our conversation, I think I’m looking at a whole new crank, and several months wait.
And the alternatives, all appear to be heavier, and would require changing both cranksets. So I think Lightning cranks have a nice weight advantage, but given that they’re on the far end of the weight/durability curve, you pay both an initial price in the purchase, and potentially down the road on durability, and parts availability.
not really blaming Lightning, I’m pretty sure it happened when I dropped the bike getting it off the rack, and the pedal struck the ground first. Prior to that we did get 7 years of use out of it.
Problem is now, I’m having a hard time finding just the Captains crank. Lightning is checking their inventory, but based our conversation, I think I’m looking at a whole new crank, and several months wait.
And the alternatives, all appear to be heavier, and would require changing both cranksets. So I think Lightning cranks have a nice weight advantage, but given that they’re on the far end of the weight/durability curve, you pay both an initial price in the purchase, and potentially down the road on durability, and parts availability.
#7
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FSA SL-K crank arms are 192 gm each. Full tandem crankset w/o BB is 1244 gm
#8
pan y agua
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Co-Motion on their website puts the weight much higher than that. https://co-motion.com/collections/st...-tandem-cranks
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
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You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
#9
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Source was me weighing mine. Although I did not include the spindles and presumably Co-Motion included them.
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Spindle is attached to one arm, but removable from both. So I just pulled the front right arm - they are all identical except for pedal thread direction. The spiders are easily removable with the right lockring tool - and I had already switched out the 50/34 on a spider they came with to 46/30 direct mount rings.
#12
pan y agua
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Spindle is attached to one arm, but removable from both. So I just pulled the front right arm - they are all identical except for pedal thread direction. The spiders are easily removable with the right lockring tool - and I had already switched out the 50/34 on a spider they came with to 46/30 direct mount rings.
So virtually the same weight as just the arms of the SLK. I would imagine, the spindle and spider together would have to add at least 150 grams.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
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You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
#13
pan y agua
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I'm fairly certain, that 832 grams for the complete set is an error because if I recall correctly, the Lightning tandem set was approximately 200gm lighter than the SLK-Light crank set we had prior. Also be sure to use weights sans BB cups which are sometimes included in the weight posted.
User Plowhorse may have a spare set to sell you. They had more than one issue with these cranks not holding up.
User Plowhorse may have a spare set to sell you. They had more than one issue with these cranks not holding up.
However, Lightning’s website claims that 832 with bb’s which I don’t see, if the weight of our captain’s crank is representative.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
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You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
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My SL-K crank spindle is on the bike but I weighed the spider at 67 grams. I have a White Industries crank with nearly identical spindle which weighs 100 gm. So the extra weight of the SL-K compared to the Lightning is 170 gm for each crank set, so 340 gm for the set. Way less of a difference than the 1 kg difference we started at!
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I've never been able to figure out how that Lightning spindle works. Is the notched spindle aluminum? It looks very beefy compared to most current spindles. Does the threaded rod get tightened from the outside of the crank arm? Is the threaded piece steel? I'd think it has to be but then the weight would be difficult to achieve.
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I've never been able to figure out how that Lightning spindle works. Is the notched spindle aluminum? It looks very beefy compared to most current spindles. Does the threaded rod get tightened from the outside of the crank arm? Is the threaded piece steel? I'd think it has to be but then the weight would be difficult to achieve.
#17
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I've never been able to figure out how that Lightning spindle works. Is the notched spindle aluminum? It looks very beefy compared to most current spindles. Does the threaded rod get tightened from the outside of the crank arm? Is the threaded piece steel? I'd think it has to be but then the weight would be difficult to achieve.
#18
Clipless in Coeur d'Alene
Spindle is attached to one arm, but removable from both. So I just pulled the front right arm - they are all identical except for pedal thread direction. The spiders are easily removable with the right lockring tool - and I had already switched out the 50/34 on a spider they came with to 46/30 direct mount rings.
Also, with the removable spindles, I would hope for other spindle lengths available as well since EVO386 is suppose to work with many other (non-BSA) BBs too.
If 46/30 suits your purpose, then great. What is your typical rear cassette with those chainrings?
#19
pan y agua
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Just to follow up. Lightning is sending us a new crank arm for $300, given that it is out of warranty. Not cheap, but cheaper than other options.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
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You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
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Finally got around to checking - I got 175 mm Q factor by my measurement on the current FSA SL-K tandem crank.