Firstly when Kookas were still made they cost nearly $200 new. They are quite hard to come by these days. The drilling I’ve had done on these was done by a precision machinist to exact tolerances. This work will cost $30 to $40 per set. It may seem like something easily doable yourself, but to achieve professional results you’ll need a 3 ton drill press with digital readout (and various other tools and measuring devices that I’m not that well versed in), and quality taps and drill bit which together cost well over $100. The only other maker of tri-bored cranks is Davinci, and they sell for $200+ and they’re not near as cool looking and possibly not as strong. I know they seem expensive, but I’ve sold 5 pairs to people on this forum who are happy with them.
The red set as you can see are cosmetically flawed. The square tapers and pedal threads seem to be in perfect condition. I ran my taps through the threads and they went through smoothly. The square tapers still have the red annodized surface indicating that there is no wear or rounding of the tapers.
These mate very well with the UDC Coker hub. I’ve installed mine once and have ridden them about 400 miles on hilly roads exerting alot of force. I checked them again last night and they are still tight.
Silver set sold. I will be soon getting all 3 sets drilled. I will probably do the remaining 2 sets at 125mm, 150mm, 175mm unless I get a different request shortly.
Truth. For Cokering in highly variable conditions, these are THE cranks to have. PDC, I never got around to a formal write-up, but I love my set. Most of the time I keep them on the 130 setting, but I’ve had several rides that started flat and ended with big multi-mile climbs, and shifting to the 150 setting before the climb has worked great. I have the process down to less than 2 minutes.
Generally, no, although you do need to be kind of precise when mounting when the pedals are in the shortest crank position. If you land your foot too far in on the pedal, the bump can knock your foot back off the pedal the first time it comes around. Not a huge issue, just a little less forgiving than a normal crank. Things which encourage precision are good.
Well a ran into a little problem. The machinist called me and told me the Silver set was mismatched, one was a 170mm, and one was a 175mm. At first I thought they were trash, and one was already drilled to 115mm, 145mm when he discovered it. Then I decided to have them cut off to make a 2 size 115mm, 145mm speed set. They came out very nice.
So still available:
Blue set at 125mm, 150mm, and 175mm - $185 including shipping USA CAD
Silver Speed Kookas at 115mm and 145mm - $165 including shipping USA CAD