Hi there,
After getting my muni (sem xlw) I was sooo happy that I can now do some fun trail riding. On its maiden trip (just on pavement) the right crank arm came loose almost immediately. I thought nothing of it, and tightened it. So now I am back out riding, and the damn thing is loose again. I go back and tighten it. Finally, I’m off to my club meeting, ready to do some fun trails. I ride the muni to the band shell in Central park, and what do I notice??? Yep, you guessed it… The CRANK was loose.
Is this just what happens with Lasco cranks? Are they just junk, and need to be replaced by a better brand, or is there something I’m doing wrong? I wanted to put lock-tight on it, but the guy at the bike shop said that it was probably a bad idea to do that to a crank. Any suggestions?
-David Kaplan
I don’t own any Lasco’s- but I do have some low end cranks that kept comming loose, and employed the following method to make em stick:
Get a humungus C-clamp- a stout one. You will fit this over the cranks and press them on tight. There is a very real risk of pushing them so far on that the axel ends contact the clamp- you will have to tape several large washers to the clamp ends to form a receptical for axel. I believe they will break before they come loose again- that is, if you have not done exessive damage to the cranks or axel by riding with them loose.
By all means, USE THE LOCKTIGHT on the nuts. If you press the cranks on too far, you may also need to add lock tight washers.
Worked great for me- I only wish I had done it sooner (before I had ridden with loose cranks). I also wish I had periodicaly switched the crank arms to minimize axel twist. Switching the crank arms may not be an option if you go this rout- as I doubt they will be coming off!
You have lascos? Destroy them immediately! You might as well have to pieces of
wood for cranks, or better yet, 2 sticks of butter! I had lasco cranks and
within 3 days they were completely busted. The four-wall taper strips and they
will fold faster than superman on laundry day. I suggest you buy new cranks as
fast as possible! Dont let the light-weight of these cranks fool you, these are
the crapiest cranks around, almost.
Ditto to what Christopher said. I also put waterproof grease on the tapers before putting the cranks on. The grease helps it slide on better. If you use grease then take it easy on the C-clamp. You don’t need to push them on too far, especially with alloy cranks.
My cranks that have gotten this treatment have never come loose on me.
I used to use Loctite on the taper, but I have found that not to be necessary if you use grease instead.
You’re doing nothing wrong. They are absolute junk. I don’t really know how
they managed to design and produce such a bad crank. That being said, the
only pair of 140s I have is from Lasco and I sometimes put them on my
Coker - just for commuting really. You have to tighten them practically
before every ride. Pathetic.
> Is this just what happens with Lasco cranks? Are they just junk, and
> need to be replaced by a better brand, or is there something I’m doing
> wrong?
By no means in defense of the Lasco cranks but simply an observation, both my boys have the Lascos on their United Monty Trials unis and have never had a problem…matter of fact, they like the cranks quite well. Perhaps its because they haven’t done any ultra-extreme riding but they have done their fair share of jumping. But more so, perhaps it’s because they only weigh 65 and 85 lbs.
Just wait until they start doing drops. My son bent a pair of steel cranks
when he weighed less than 70 lbs. The Lascos are much softer. A friend of
mine who weighs maybe 165, got a new United/Monty and the Lascos were bent
ridiculously after just one mount (and a minute of hopping). Bad bad bad.
—Nathan
“yoopers” <yoopers.uxfn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:yoopers.uxfn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> By no means in defense of the Lasco cranks but simply an observation,
> both my boys have the Lascos on their United Monty Trials unis and have
> never had a problem…matter of fact, they like the cranks quite well.
> Perhaps its because they haven’t done any ultra-extreme riding but they
> have done their fair share of jumping. But more so, perhaps it’s
> because they only weigh 65 and 85 lbs.
>
> Bruce
I have the United/Monty combo and have managed quite a few decent drops with the Lascos, I’m 145-150 lbs and have done 3 foot drops with them… no problems yet.
I got about 13 hours out of what look like Torker cranks. The BFR rim has held up fine to failed hops onto rocks, bottoming out on landings, etc. The Suzue hub seems to be bearing up ok. Torker cranks=week link.
Anybody have any experience with the Bicycle Euro cranks?
I don’t have personal experience with them, but a couple of my friends use them, and my impression is that they are pretty strong for cotterless cranks. They will bend eventually, though.
Hi, my Semcycle XLW came with Bicycle Euro 150mm steel cranks. I
weigh in at 185#, and I’ve done lots of two foot drops with them, and
they show no sign of bending or twisting. I replaced them with some
modified 170mm road cranks last month, and the road cranks are holding
up as well. I’ll never go back to 150’s for muni. Joe in Iowa
My son has been using them for 9 months or so with no problems. They are
much better than Lascos that’s for sure.
—Nathan
“rhysling” <rhysling.10pja@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:rhysling.10pja@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> I got about 13 hours out of what look like Torker cranks. The BFR rim
> has held up fine to failed hops onto rocks, bottoming out on landings,
> etc. The Suzue hub seems to be bearing up ok. Torker cranks=week
> link.
>
> Anybody have any experience with the Bicycle Euro cranks?
>
> Christopher
We had a great 4th of July parade yesterday until Ben started doing drops off the float to impress the crowd. Problem was that he had the OEM Lasco cranks on his Monty. After two drops, he complained that the right crank was loose (he hops right foot back). I had my tools with me (always in parades), pounded the crank back on and thought nothing of it further. Another drop though and another loose crank and so on and so on…
We examined them when we got home that afternoon and found that he had rounded out the square.
Bummer, but it was bound to happen. Those Lascos are shockingly bad. For the
last year my son has been on Bicycle Euro 125mm cranks and has had no
problems, but he only weighs 75 lbs now. For someone heavier, other than
Profile, I don’t really know what to use for a 20" Trials uni.
—Nathan
“yoopers” <yoopers.7bn7m@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:yoopers.7bn7m@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> We had a great 4th of July parade yesterday until Ben started doing
> drops off the float to impress the crowd. Problem was that he had the
> OEM Lasco cranks on his Monty. After two drops, he complained that the
> right crank was loose (he hops right foot back). I had my tools with me
> (always in parades), pounded the crank back on and thought nothing of it
> further. Another drop though and another loose crank and so on and so
> on…
>
> We examined them when we got home that afternoon and found that he had
> rounded out the square.
>
> There was a thread (yes, I searched for old input on the subject)
> http://tinyurl.com/kjw
>
> > “yoopers” wrote in message
> > news:yoopers.xufn@timelimitt.unicyclist.com…
> >
> > By no means in defense of the Lasco cranks but simply an observation,
> > both my boys have the Lascos on their United Monty Trials unis and
> > have never had a problem…matter of fact, they like the cranks quite
> > well…
> > Bruce
> >
> Nathan Hoover wrote:
> > Just wait until they start doing drops. My son bent a pair of steel
> > cranks when he weighed less than 70 lbs. The Lascos are much softer.
> > A friend of mine who weighs maybe 165, got a new United/Monty and the
> > Lascos were bent ridiculously after just one mount (and a minute of
> > hopping). Bad bad bad.
> >
> > —Nathan
> > *
>
> I had a good breakfast of crow this morning.
>
> Bruce
I just ordered a set of Bicycle Euro’s 150mm steel cranks for Ben’s trials uni to replace the Lascos which I believe were 145’s. Out of curiosity, why is Beau using 125’s? Ben is 12 yrs. old and weighs about 85 lbs.
i once heard someone say “don’t use lasco cranks unless your’re a little girl who dosen’t jump”
so i been bicycle euro untill i go profile (soon). but i’ve managed to bend a few sets by doing drops and not landing softly. cotterless cranks just won’t last forever for extreme riding, over time the square hole just becomes a paralelagram, untill it won’t tighten up properly. pluss if the cranks do loosen up they can do bad things to your hub like causing the threads to crumble and rounding off the ends of the axle.
rather than buy a new set of cranks every week and a new hub every couple of months ive decided to spend big monney on a hub/crank set up which won’t die on me.
after i trashed my last set ive been using some realy cheapo steel cranks that came off a lolipop style tiawan import. and i haven’t bent them yet,
however thats because i’m taking care to land gently and not do massive drops, not because the cranks are good.
Hmmm. I noticed yesterday something on my uni was loose; it seems the right crank is wobbling in and out. I’m just looking at it now, and I saw the name “lasco” on the plasticky things at the end… I thought “I’m sure I’ve seen that name somewhere recently”…
And now I know why. Bah! Time for an attack with a very large spanner, methinks. I can’t wait until my new monster muni arrives…
My family is a bunch of mutants, I mean vegitarians(I have been my whole
life)…
My 9 year old brother weighs 90 pounds (he’s not fat and I dont know how tall
he is)
I’m over 6’2, and about 170-175lbs and I’m 15… what size bicycle euros do
you suggest I get for my trials uni, (125’s for strength, or 150’s for
techinicalities, is that even a word?)?
