Are any of you Weenies using Lightning cranks? If so what is your experience? I'm looking for a light-weight crankset and those were well-reviewed.
Thanks!

Search/PM djconnel and Toutenhoufd- they have reviews/comments.

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-Deacon Doctor Colorado Slim

The cranks are great. I have owned two sets. The key to great performance is the chainrings. Pick the right ones and you will love the cranks. Stff and light!!!!!

Rick

I like the adjustable pre-load. They spin nicely. The Lightning steel bearings spin better than my old Enduro GPX ceramic bearings (which turned to dust). Super easy to swap. Quite modular: can convert to BB30 or between 110 bcd or 130 bcd or even MTB with spider swap. Will support Quarq spider soon. Moderate Q-factor, extendable with shims. Look good (IMO). Good stuff.

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http://djconnel.blogspot.com/
Fuji SL/1
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The cranks are great. I have owned two sets. The key to great performance is the chainrings. Pick the right ones and you will love the cranks. Stff and light!!!!!
Rick


Rick:
What rings to you recommend? I was thinking about DuraAce 7950 compact rings, but they might look strange with these cranks. I've heard bad things about shifting with Extralight rings.

If they are so great and versatile, why did you get rid of your 2 sets?

darnellrm,

To sort of quote Bill Clinton, that depends on what the meaning of "have" is: have as in have but no longer owned, or have as in have ever owned, and may still. You may have misassumed the intended meaning of have.

Tantra, I've got a set of Lightning cranks, and I also thought about getting a 7950 compact ring; I also decided it would look way too wonky. Ultimately, I picked up an Ultegra SL 6650-G 50t chainring. (The "G" is important...there's a silver-anodized ring and a gray-anodized ring, both marked 6650. The G is for gray, but the gray is so dark that it looks like black, even next to the black Lightning spider).

I splashed out for the 6650 chainring because I thought the shifting would be better than with, say, an FSA chainring. I'm glad I spent the money; the shifting is really, really good. It's a lot better than the shifting on my Ritchey compact crank (on another bike) and nearly on par with the 7800 crank the Lightning replaced.

Cheers,

Jason

I bought these cranks from Nico's shop a while back, and like them a lot as you can easily change the spider to convert from compact to standard, or the carbon TT setup. I use Specialties TA rings now but originally used some FSA rings in compact size as my shop didn't have the TA's in stock. The FSA rings shifted very well and I only replaced them because the other rings came in, and because they are a bit lighter. I liked the cranks enough that I more recently purchased another set of the cranks (used this time) from a list member and put the FSA rings on them. The FSA rings are a nice black color and I think they look better than the Shimano rings on these cranks. The rings are stiff enough for me, and shift very well under load - they were also significantly cheaper than Shimano from an internet site that had a clearance on them a while back.

Billy

youngs_modulus:
Do you have pics of these cranks with the ultegra rings?

Tantra, I posted a photo in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=64122

Jason

I put a stronglight ct2 50 tooth on with my 34 tooth extralite inner and the shifting is perfect.

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Speedplay is the devil.

The reason i sold the cranks being a weenie i am looking for the lightest best performing product. I bought two sets with the promise of Quark power to woek with the lightnings . After waiting months. And after interbike i am set on THM and speedplay and the new Pedal power Meter thats is supposed to be on the way. In the mean time i will use the THMs on my new build and use a Edge/Powertap wheel for training. While i was using the Lightning cranks i used this same wheel, as the Quark never came around , tired of waiting. But in the meantime found out that these are super cranks... I was using Force 50/34 rings with superb performance... around 120g for the set

We have both the 130 BCD and 110 BCD CinQo powermeters for the Lighting cranks available now. You can buy the 130 BCD ones on our website currently. The 110 BCDs will be listed on our website by next week. If anyone wants one before then, just give us a call or shoot us an email.

Thanks,
Mieke - Quarq Technology

I've had the 2nd (and 3rd?) gen lightning cranks for about a year now. As previous posters commented, they are really a excellent bang for the buck.

The Quarq hardly adds weight, is very accurate, has good service, and long battery life. Combined with the Garmin, it's a near ideal setup. And unlike PT, you can switch between your race and daily wheels without issue. The Quarq actually looks good on the lightning in my opinion.

The lightning cranks are good. They are trick lightweight boutique cranks after all, so don't think they are immune from issues. That said, the cranks have evolved rapidly over the last 18 months, and the refinements have the cranks/bb more robust. Little things like pedal washers make all the difference between a happy crank and sad crank! I personally think it's a good time to buy these cranks, as the quality is good and the cost is still low. Good stuff has a tendency to increase in price over time (especially if its made out of carbon and/or from germany).

I do have a few tips for owners of Lightning cranks. 1) Put a small piece of electrical tape over the bolt hole. 2) New cranks need to settle in, best to do some hard rides on a trainer or solo before riding with a group. The center bolt can loosen up, so until is settles in, bring the 5mm tool with you. You must keep this bolt tight! loose bolts will damage the cranks. 3) do not let water pool inside your BB. This is true for any BB, but the lightning BB is not as forgiving as other BBs. I keep my cup swimming in waterproof grease, and that seems to keep any water out of the bearings. 4) Don't over torque the cups. The bearings run smoother when you don't go ape on the cups.

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