ISIS getting dropped?

Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding
to a halt? (No pun intended)

Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding to
a halt? (No pun intended)

It's not that ISIS is going away, but rather that the new "pipe"-style
crankset (with external bearings) is taking over. If you were going to come
out with any new, high-end crank, there's little incentive to produce it in
a style that's no longer seen as the best on the market.

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets is that
they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light bottom bracket
would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at every little thing,
don't seem to care. Weird.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding to
a halt? (No pun intended)

It's not that ISIS is going away, but rather that the new "pipe"-style
crankset (with external bearings) is taking over. If you were going to come
out with any new, high-end crank, there's little incentive to produce it in
a style that's no longer seen as the best on the market.

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets is that
they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light bottom bracket
would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at every little thing,
don't seem to care. Weird.

This way you can talk about how the ISIS cranks are not "stiff" enough.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are
not offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly
grinding to a halt? (No pun intended)

It's not that ISIS is going away, but rather that the new "pipe"-style
crankset (with external bearings) is taking over. If you were going
to come out with any new, high-end crank, there's little incentive to
produce it in a style that's no longer seen as the best on the market.

Seen by who? Product managers who do everything by the seat of the pants
anyway?

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets
is that they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light
bottom bracket would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at
every little thing, don't seem to care. Weird.

Maybe they do care, but it doesn't affect what's being offered.

Matt O.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets is that
they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light bottom bracket
would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at every little thing,
don't seem to care. Weird.

ISIS BBs keep their bearings inside the shell, where there isn't enough
room for both an ISIS spindle and some decently durable bearings. If
you kept the ISIS interface but moved the bearings outboard where they
could be made big enough to last, then the result would probably be a
bit heavier yet than the current crop of 2-pc cranks.

The square taper spindle is a structural problem, but the bearings in
Octalink and ISIS BBs are a reliability problem. Combining
Bullseye-style cranks with Magic Motorcycle-style outboard bearings has
the potential to solve both problems at a weight that compares to the
best of only a few years ago.

I'm not buying in just yet, but this latest development in road and MTB
cranks looks like the smartest mass-market design revision in
multi-speed bikes for a long time.

Chalo Colina

On 9 Jun 2005 14:41:06 -0700, wrote:



Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding to
a halt? (No pun intended)

It's not that ISIS is going away, but rather that the new "pipe"-style
crankset (with external bearings) is taking over. If you were going to come
out with any new, high-end crank, there's little incentive to produce it in
a style that's no longer seen as the best on the market.

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets is that
they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light bottom bracket
would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at every little thing,
don't seem to care. Weird.

This way you can talk about how the ISIS cranks are not "stiff" enough.

Of course they're not. Cranks that are too stiff transmit excessive
chain vibration to the rider's feet, which as we all know, causes
excessive friction between the socks and shoes, resulting in footwear
ignition. This is why it is vitally important to wear flame-retardant
hosiery when riding a bike with extremely stiff cranks in a
competitive manner.

[next week; I explain how to convert a garage door opener into a
powered bike storage rack.]
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Chalo wrote:
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets
is that they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light
bottom bracket would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look
at every little thing, don't seem to care. Weird.

ISIS BBs keep their bearings inside the shell, where there isn't
enough room for both an ISIS spindle and some decently durable
bearings. If you kept the ISIS interface but moved the bearings
outboard where they could be made big enough to last, then the result
would probably be a bit heavier yet than the current crop of 2-pc
cranks.

The square taper spindle is a structural problem, but the bearings in
Octalink and ISIS BBs are a reliability problem. Combining
Bullseye-style cranks with Magic Motorcycle-style outboard bearings
has the potential to solve both problems at a weight that compares to
the best of only a few years ago.

I'm not buying in just yet, but this latest development in road and
MTB cranks looks like the smartest mass-market design revision in
multi-speed bikes for a long time.

Chalo Colina

Even the prices are coming down. With an average $25/BB and
$100-$150/crankset, a high quality ~800-gram $120-$150 2-piece crankset is a
good thing. Having said that, I'm glad I'm light so stiffness doesn't
matter nearly as much. I'm thinking about buying an American Classic ISIS
BB and lots of replacement bearings...

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

NoNeedForAName wrote:
Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding
to a halt? (No pun intended)

ISIS and Octalink do have the problem of low reliability cuz of teeny
bearings and the external bearing gig does fix this problem(adding a
few also).

I think Octalinkand ISIS are not long for this world.

Please remember, as an aside that is OT, ISIS and octalink answered no
question, solved no problem with regards to square taper, which used
large BB bearing balls.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just looked at truvativ and raceface web sites. Looks as if they are not
offering NEW ISIS cranks anymore. Is the ISIS movement slowly grinding to
a halt? (No pun intended)

It's not that ISIS is going away, but rather that the new "pipe"-style
crankset (with external bearings) is taking over. If you were going to come
out with any new, high-end crank, there's little incentive to produce it in
a style that's no longer seen as the best on the market.

I don't get it myself. The hidden story on the pipe-style cranksets is that
they're generally a bit heavier than an ISIS with a light bottom bracket
would be. But the weight weenies, who normally look at every little thing,
don't seem to care. Weird.


What in bikes is not weird these days. BB shell width is critical with
these, and stance or q factor is generally higher.

For frames that are not prepped or not made well, installing these may
be a challenge. For shops w/o facing tools, installing may not be
possible. I am amazed how few shops here in the 'republic' have BB
facing tools. Only three that know of, only two with Italian and
english.

In article . com,
says...

The square taper spindle is a structural problem, but the bearings in
Octalink and ISIS BBs are a reliability problem. Combining
Bullseye-style cranks with Magic Motorcycle-style outboard bearings has
the potential to solve both problems at a weight that compares to the
best of only a few years ago.

Magic Motorcycle/CODA 900 cranks used an aluminum bottom bracket spindle. That
is one way they kept the weight down.
-------------
Alex