I own a pair of the original model Sugino Alpina cranks, which are about as nicely finished as any crank I've owned. So when I needed another set of cranks I had no hesitation in ordering a set of the Sugino Alpina2 cranks, thinking they would be of equivalent quality. However, when they arrived, I found that the quality of the finish is nowhere near the same level. To wit:
- the polishing on the new cranks is inferior - on the new cranks the grinding marks between the spider arms have not been polished out as had been done on the older Alpina - on the new cranks, there is not a consistent thickness of all the spider arms. In the linked photo, if you look at the spider arm nearest the crank, the surface of it is about 1mm higher where it meets the chainring compared to the other spider arms. - on the new cranks, the webbing where the spiders each side of the crankarm meet the crank is much thinner, creating a location where a stress fracture can start - on the original model, this webbing had been ground back and then polished to reduce the chance of failure here. In the past I've had to retire a set of Campagnolo NR and SR cranks because cracks appeared at this location due to the thinness of the metal at this high stress location. Original model Alpina (click on image for larger size) <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ncr1b8dEyFM/WEjoGnQfN5I/AAAAAAAAEqY/VNy6VxmXbxY1ZlfCQs-J-BWo0cIrGWERgCKgB/s1600/IMG_20161208_150049.jpg> New model Alpina2 (click on image for larger size) <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JCVcwURGyVI/WEjrg8u7b4I/AAAAAAAAEqg/c4HWmeVvNnUdJsgT224rmZxWhrWq-7SOgCKgB/s1600/IMG_20161208_150301.jpg> So my suggestion would be, if you want a 110/74 crank: buy the XD instead. The quality of finish is much the same and it's substantially cheaper. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
