'got it! I finally received this morning a magnificent set of titanium RS4 (square spindle) 54 x 44. I cannot wait to install them on my bike. They look so mean that I’d better work on my engine if I do not want to look ridiculous ;-).
Yes I am a poser but I have some pride too…
I installed my durace cranks by myself, the downloadable installation manual looks clear enough, so I figure that I should be able to install it by myself with a little extra attention.
The only thing is I noticed on Gary’s website that I should use a primer with my titanium frame. So far i only have a tube of blue loctite.
What is the primer for? Is is only intended to clean the threads of the BB, or shall I use some INSTEAD of blue loctite?
Can I find some here in Europe, and if so what primer should I use?
And yes, I will have a hard time looking at the bike (and not riding it) for three days to let it cure…
Gary, I will try and get away with Blue loctite only, and let it cure for three days (I’ll have to be very patient!)… hope it works. Thanks for your advice. I shall give you some feedback as I start adapting to the RCs.
Can’t wait though, I tried osymetric chainrings last winter, they were a blast, but have far too much ovality (around 22%) for them to work without putting too much strain on the drivetrain… hence the RCs (first time I am happy to put extra weight on my bike ).
Is the 2-3 day wait because it is a titanium frame? I only waited about 16-18 hours (overnight). Mine are installed on Zipp frames with the aluminum bb shell.
Well, I found they work for me: no numbers, for I used them in the off season. But they felt very good, especially on the climbs. I noticed that, when getting out of the saddle, my heart rate did not gain a few bpm as it does with round chainrings, but stayed level. My pedal stroke felt far “rounder” than on round rings, I could feel that power was more evenly distributed over the pedal stroke… very nice feeling indeed.
But I know some will call me lazy and tell me to go fixie, try track racing or by PCs (which I would buy on the spot if I had the dough and a second bike, though, as I started single-leg drills one weeks ago: makes sooo much sense).
The downside is, from a mechanical standpoint I got a few problems: the first set of rings wore off in less than 1000 km. I got it replaced for free and installed them back on my bike, but I then experienced heavy chain skipping (new cogset AND new chain, go figure): my LBS tried everything he could (tightened the rear derailleur, shortened the chain, lubed the under bottom bracket cable guide, etc… to no avail.
I am still baffled at this as the first set of rings worked fine at least for the first 1000 kms…
Nevermind, I think that less ovalized chainrings (Eggrings, Q-rings) shall be a better option from a mechanical standpoint. Plus I had been drooling on RCs-equipped bikes for quite some time, so i took the plunge and bought rotorcranks… we’ll see how it goes.
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