Hi,
I have been reading about Rotorcrank (www.rotorbike.com) and i have been hearing mixed review. It seems that this is pretty popular among the triathletes and somet Time Trialists, but i am thinking of getting one for my roadbike, so I am not wondering about its performance when it comes to roadriding, basically sprinting and climbing.
Is any of you using this rotorcrank on your roadbike? I know it's heavy, but i thought that if it can help your performance, it might be worth the weight penalty.
Any experience?
thanks
Rotor Crank, any have any experience?
Moderator: robbosmans
I read somehwhere that a guy competed in the Mt. Washington hill climb, one year without Rotors, one year with them and was about 3 minutes faster with the Rotors.
If you can afford them, I'd say Rotors are definitely worth it, despite the weight penalty. The power gains more than outweigh the losses due to the gained weight (you'll just have to find soemhwere else to take weight off instead
). IT is too bad that you can use other chainrings on them to save a bit of weight, but it would probably only be grams we're talking about so it probably doesn't matter.
If you can afford them, I'd say Rotors are definitely worth it, despite the weight penalty. The power gains more than outweigh the losses due to the gained weight (you'll just have to find soemhwere else to take weight off instead
). IT is too bad that you can use other chainrings on them to save a bit of weight, but it would probably only be grams we're talking about so it probably doesn't matter.
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I have a set (English 172.5 39/53) that I would like to sell. I was actually about .2 mph faster on a set course 20 mile ride, but I do not like the way they feel. If I was competing, I would consider them for sure, but since I am an old fart I have no further interest. They are heavy and their chain rings basically suck, but that just means you can't use the smallest 3 rings on the back with the small ring on the front (not generally a good idea). The pins are so big/long that they catch the chain (the pins on the big ring in front catch the chain when it is on the smallest rings in the back). The rotation feels weird if you ride a lot and if you have more than one bike. If all you rode were Rotor Cranks, then they feel normal, but if you switch back an forth as I did they feel weird.
Bottom line, they work for some individuals including myself, but they feel different and they have the big pin problem. Also, I know this sounds weird, but if I beat someone with Rotor Cranks, I felt like I would always wonder if I really beat them. I have a great deal of pride and if I beat someone I want to totally beat them not with some device that made me better. As I told a friend of mine, Rotor Cranks is probably like cheating.
Anyway, if anyone is interesed I have a set with around 300 miles that look brand new available for $375. They have been sitting under my workbench in the original box for 6 months. I actually got a deal on them new for $475 and figured, I could try them and if I didn't like them, I could sell them on Ebay for not much loss. I never got around to selling them on ebay so here they are if you want them $375 plus cheapest shipping to your location. If you want to try them you can probaly buy mine and sell them used for most of what you have in them as I planned on doing.
I look at $100 for the experience of trying Rotor Cranks as good value for the knowledge obtained.
One other thing I noticed, I had them on a bike with drop bars, but felt like they didn't climb that well. I felt like they might be even better with tt bars, but did not try them on my tt bike. This goes along with the fact that many tri athletes prefer them. My personal opinion is that people that run would prefer them (I used to run a lot) since the stroke is more similar to running than the normal cycling circular stroke. I have talked to one cyclist that never ran that hated them and claimed they were slower, but he had as he said spent years getting a perfectyl circular cycling stroke.
Also, I have a lot of tools and the installation was not terrible, but if you are not a fairly good bike mechanic with all bb tools, do not attempt to install them yourself. It is fairly complex and the instructions assume familarity with bottom bracket issues.
Bottom line, they work for some individuals including myself, but they feel different and they have the big pin problem. Also, I know this sounds weird, but if I beat someone with Rotor Cranks, I felt like I would always wonder if I really beat them. I have a great deal of pride and if I beat someone I want to totally beat them not with some device that made me better. As I told a friend of mine, Rotor Cranks is probably like cheating.
Anyway, if anyone is interesed I have a set with around 300 miles that look brand new available for $375. They have been sitting under my workbench in the original box for 6 months. I actually got a deal on them new for $475 and figured, I could try them and if I didn't like them, I could sell them on Ebay for not much loss. I never got around to selling them on ebay so here they are if you want them $375 plus cheapest shipping to your location. If you want to try them you can probaly buy mine and sell them used for most of what you have in them as I planned on doing.
I look at $100 for the experience of trying Rotor Cranks as good value for the knowledge obtained.
One other thing I noticed, I had them on a bike with drop bars, but felt like they didn't climb that well. I felt like they might be even better with tt bars, but did not try them on my tt bike. This goes along with the fact that many tri athletes prefer them. My personal opinion is that people that run would prefer them (I used to run a lot) since the stroke is more similar to running than the normal cycling circular stroke. I have talked to one cyclist that never ran that hated them and claimed they were slower, but he had as he said spent years getting a perfectyl circular cycling stroke.
Also, I have a lot of tools and the installation was not terrible, but if you are not a fairly good bike mechanic with all bb tools, do not attempt to install them yourself. It is fairly complex and the instructions assume familarity with bottom bracket issues.
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.
i have rotor titaniums. they're about 1 lb heavier than std dura ace crank, but they will make you go faster. it eliminates that dead spot when peddling, so there is constant pulling on the chain, making the wheel continuously rotate.
i'm also selling mine for $500. it has less than 400 miles. it's currently on an unbuilt frame.
if i don't sell it, i'll put it on one of my tri bikes.
i'm also selling mine for $500. it has less than 400 miles. it's currently on an unbuilt frame.
if i don't sell it, i'll put it on one of my tri bikes.
-
meneerguus
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:19 pm
My brother tried these rotor crancks for more than one full year in road racing (and training of course). I tried them for a short time only.
It's impossible to do a good tests and compare the cycling efficiency using rotor crancks with the efficiency of normal ones, since it really requires a lot of km to get fully used to this new leg motion. So I wouldn't believe any claimed numbers in power increase, heart rate drop, etc.
Still, I can tell you that these rotor crancks didn't make my brother any faster than previous competition years. Despite the fact that he was extra motivated for that season, as he thought he had a secret weapon. In fact, it made him slower at times when a high power output was needed, such as a sprint or a break-away.
We used the first version of Rotor crancks, which really had some bearing problems after one year. So apparently there was a lot of friction involved in those extra pivots. My brother got a new one (the titanium version) from warranty, but we didn't see much improvement in the design. It is laying in its original box now, never used. He will probably also be happy to sell it...
Bottom lines:
- The idea behind Rotor crancks may look promising on paper.
- For us they didn't turn out to be a 'secret weapon' at all.
- The design with extra pivots compared to normal crancks causes additional friction. I think that this friction is considerable, even when the crancks are new, and especially at higher power outputs.
- Therefore, I wouldn't recommend them for events where a large power output makes the difference.
And finally: you can't change quickly from the one system to the other, so if you use more bicycles (mtb?) you need more crancksets.
It's impossible to do a good tests and compare the cycling efficiency using rotor crancks with the efficiency of normal ones, since it really requires a lot of km to get fully used to this new leg motion. So I wouldn't believe any claimed numbers in power increase, heart rate drop, etc.
Still, I can tell you that these rotor crancks didn't make my brother any faster than previous competition years. Despite the fact that he was extra motivated for that season, as he thought he had a secret weapon. In fact, it made him slower at times when a high power output was needed, such as a sprint or a break-away.
We used the first version of Rotor crancks, which really had some bearing problems after one year. So apparently there was a lot of friction involved in those extra pivots. My brother got a new one (the titanium version) from warranty, but we didn't see much improvement in the design. It is laying in its original box now, never used. He will probably also be happy to sell it...
Bottom lines:
- The idea behind Rotor crancks may look promising on paper.
- For us they didn't turn out to be a 'secret weapon' at all.
- The design with extra pivots compared to normal crancks causes additional friction. I think that this friction is considerable, even when the crancks are new, and especially at higher power outputs.
- Therefore, I wouldn't recommend them for events where a large power output makes the difference.
And finally: you can't change quickly from the one system to the other, so if you use more bicycles (mtb?) you need more crancksets.
i agree that rotors make you slower in sprints....but rotors are really made for tris, long distance riding, or climbing mountains. rotors are not for the weight weenie, but for people who want to improve their times in long distance events.....rotors will let you try the crank for free 30 days money back. contact howie cohen at 970-389-7082. he is an all around nice guy and sold me on rotors.
for those who don't want rotors, you can go with osymetric chainrings or rotor q rings, where you guys save on weight from not having a rotor but have more efficient cycling.....
rotors, however, eliminate the dead spot and osymetrics do not....they help you get thru the dead spot faster.
for those who don't want rotors, you can go with osymetric chainrings or rotor q rings, where you guys save on weight from not having a rotor but have more efficient cycling.....
rotors, however, eliminate the dead spot and osymetrics do not....they help you get thru the dead spot faster.
I have the ti triple and I like them. I haven't had them long but I immediately noticed that they made difficult climbs less of a strain. They were very easy to adjust to. I hope they will help on long rides - which they are supposed to. I don't compete, so I bought them to increase my endurance and reduce wear on my knees. I haven't noticed a pin problem even though I have a VERY wide spread of gears.
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I have rotor cranks on 4 bikes-race, training, fixed and TT and have used them for over a year now. I am absolutely convinced that I am faster on them in all situations. My TT and hill climbs are much faster this year-I am an old guy but had my fastest 40km TT ever this season using rotors and improved my 10km time by nearly 1 min over 3yrs ago when I was younger. I have had much reduced incidence of knee aches and pains and have been able to up my hours of training because my legs feel more recovered, quicker. Is it all the Rotors-who can really say? All I can say is that this has been my best season of racing ever and that I use the Rotor cranks for all my riding and have for over a year.
We reduce weight to go faster but sometimes it is worth the weight penalty if the heavier equipment makes you faster-the bottom line is not who has the lightest bike but who crosses the finish line first.
We reduce weight to go faster but sometimes it is worth the weight penalty if the heavier equipment makes you faster-the bottom line is not who has the lightest bike but who crosses the finish line first.
