As a long time Sugino hidden bolt user I agree the chainring removel/install process can be onerous. Over a period of time and you develop a technique (like Bill has kindly shared) I do believe it becomes easier. And, as my wife always tells me, "patience is a virtue". A useful mantra for much of the bike tinkering I do. Metal fender installation comes to mind here.
Something not mentioned in this discussion is the quality or consistency of chainring nuts & bolts. I have sometimes switched out nuts and bolts when the nut tool isn't making a tight connection. Steel or aluminum? Does that make a difference? I don't know; I've always used steel. Best, Rich in ATL On Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 3:35:21 PM UTC-5 Nick Payne wrote: > On Friday, 1 December 2023 at 1:11:08 am UTC+11 Bill Lindsay wrote: > > The hidden arm was definitely invented just to make a different look, and > we were supposed to think that look was preferable. > > It does minimise the problem that some cranks have/have had where cracking > develops at the join between the crank and adjacent spider arm because of > the acute angle between them. I can remember having to retire a couple of > Campagnolo Super Record cranks that I was racing on back in the 1980s > because cracks had developed at this point. e.g. - This image is from > pardo.net, but it's identical to the cracks I found. > [image: Dscn2410_640[1].jpg] > > > That said, it works out great for me that so many people seem to have such > a hard time with hidden bolt cranks, because I've never had a problem with > it, and your shared struggles has got to help drive the price down for me. > Walking around my garage, there are four bikes with hidden arm Ritcheys, > three with hidden arm Sugino, and two with hidden arm Campy. > > Ditto here. There must be half a dozen bikes in our garage using cranks > with the hidden chainring bolt behind the arm, and I've not had any > problems changing chainrings on them. > > Nick Payne > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3b631a33-38ec-4dff-8fb2-0bd541c8e1e3n%40googlegroups.com.
