I took delivery of a pair of the VO cranks a couple of days ago, to replace the late production Pro 5 Vis that broke. Overall they seem fine so far. The cranks themselves seem approximately comparable in quality and finish to the TA. The backside of the chainrings is a "pebble grain" finish rather than the high polish on the front. I am sure this is a cost-saving measure, but it doesn't bother me. The crank bolts are Allen head which I dislike. I replaced them with standard 15mm bolts and then discovered the big ugly Allen head dustcaps don't fit over them, and the TA dustcaps are a different thread. So I ended up using the Allen head bolts and dustcaps. I'm sure they'll work, but I don't care much for the appearance.
All the chainring bolts are Allen head both inside and outside. The inner bolts (the ones that hold both rings to the crank) foul the BB fixed cup. (SKF brand). I had to file material off of each inner bolt. Also, none of the bolts were greased, so I had to disassemble all of them and grease them. I consider these all minor foibles. As long as these ones don't break, I'll have no complaints. The pinned and ramped rings, FWIW, do shift better than the plain TA ones. Re. length: I grew up on 175 for road racing and 170 for track. I personally have a hard time understanding the fixation with 172.5, and would be interested in the results of some double-blind tests for the aficionados. I've been riding for about 30 years, some of which were as a cat. 1 on the track, and I'm not sure I could tell apart cranks with a 2.5mm difference. I am positive that even if I can, it won't matter. Some people may just be more sensitive, I guess -- but I'm still skeptical! Re. VO quality: I like their stuff and have a lot of it. Most if it is not quite as good as the stuff it is copying, but I haven't yet run into any junk. I did sell a used VO saddle to a 230 pounder, who later broke a rivet. That's the only really negative experience I am personally aware of with their stuff. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
