Crank - Silver3 - Arms only

Short version:

It’s svelter, lighter, not as versatile or all-welcoming as the original SILVER, which we still sell and endorse. The SILVER3 is for road use by riders 200lbs or less naked.

Detail etc.

We have all of our-branded metal mechanical bicycle parts tested to established international standards. Modern cranks, even cheapish ones, are “quite likely” stronger than the cranks Eddy Merckx rode to win more than 454 races. In the old days, you could make and sell cranks that “are probably strong enough,” and let 150lb racers ride them a million miles in competition and training, and if they survived, you could sell them with some confidence. Those were the days when all riding was road riding, and people over 240lb didn’t ride bicycles. And people didn’t sue so much.  Personally injury lawyers didn’t advertise on prime time or have giant billboards along popular freeways.

It’s different now, obviously, and that has affected bicycle parts. To pass the mountain bike test, a crank has to survive forced a skilled rider would never generate in normal riding.  But mountain bike riding advertising and YouTube stuff shows riders, even big guys, landing hard from high-up, and big dumb guys can and do sue.  It’s unlikely that the top mtn bike cranks of the early 1980s or even 1990s would pass today’s certification tests. A mfr can sell a mtn bike crank that doesn’t pass, or that hasn’t been tested, but we won’t.

But in this era we we want to pass the tests with a cushion of safety, because the most important thing here is to not hurt anybody. So we are conservative, and the original SILVER remains our top choice or an all-around, all-comers crank. It is not heavy. It has a weight-removing deep scallop on the tails-side of the arm that saves about a quarter pound. Its width reduces twisting and stress. It’s a strong crank and looks good on all of our bikes.

The SILVER3 is skinnier and flexier and not as strong, but it is stronger than Merckx’s crank. It would take a perfect storm of abuse to break it, and we want to steer clear of that, so we say it’s for road use only and riders 200lb or under. Knowing what we do of the tests, knowing how we had to modify this crank three times to get it to pass, we are confident that it is stronger than many cranks on the market that are commonly used off-road. No doubt cranks made by any of the famous top, high-volume makers pass.

The SILVER3 is (we think) a beautiful crank by historical standards, and an absolutely gorgeous crank by modern standards. It looks great on any nice bicycle.

Weight comparisons in OUNCES (x28.35 =  grams). Samples, all 170mm arms

SILVER3  36x24 with chainguard: 23 ounces

SILVER1 44x34x24 no chainguard: 27.125 ounces

SILVER1 38x24 with chainguard: 26.77 ounces

Other stuff:

• 110 BCD outer, 74 inner
• Lowish Q factor. 157mm with a 110mm bb.
• Chainline to the middle chainring on a triple with a 110 is 45mm