Bated breaths can be exhaled (gently, please) at long last; Rotor's fabulous and fabled 3D cranks are here.
In case anyone is unaware of their pedigree, these cranks were developed by Rotor in conjunction with the Cervelo Test Team and used during the 2009 Tour de France by the team, whose riders included 2008 winner Carlos Sastre and 2009 Green Jersey Thor Hushovd.
Since Sastre is known as a climber while sprinter Hushovd is one of the most powerful riders in the peloton, Rotor are rightly proud of having designed a crankset both light and stiff enough for both.
Key to the design is Rotor's Trinity Drilling System; three holes are drilled into an extruded and machined aluminium bar. The holes run lengthwise along the crank, with the two outer drillings started at the pedal axle end and stopping short of the bottom bracket axle hole. The ends of these are plugged for appearance.
The third, central hole is started from behind the bottom bracket axle hole and stops short of the pedal axle thread, leaving a cross-section with three holes and two slight grooves on each side.
Unlike Rotor's previous design, the Agilis crankset, the 3D axle is retained in the right-hand crank and clamped by the left-hand crank in accordance with current convention.
The road crankset is offered in a choice of 170m, 172.5mm and 175mm arm lengths and with standard 130mm BCD or compact 110mm BCD spider. It is compatible with Shimano Hollowtech II-type external bottom bracket bearings and can also be used with Rotor's own SAAB bearing set.
First road test soon.
Rotor 3D Road crankset £245.00 (cranks, axle, spider)
www.rotoruk.co.uk
www.rotorbike.com
