SRAM Rival Crankset

Price Paid:  $139.00 at Performance Bike

Favorite Ride:
Up and over the Pali

Bike Setup:
Giant Carbon with thomson stuff, FSA bars, Fizik seat, and wheels from Mike Garcia at oddsandendos

Summary:
Had the 50/34 SRAM Rival compact crank on my bike for 4 months. Maybe 1500 miles during that time. Was working on jumps from a near standing start to build power for sprinting. The outer chainring snapped and then bent all to heck. I'm a strong rider, but ain't putting out that much wattage. I'm sure the pros are destroying these weekly.

I am replacing this crank with a Shimano one. Never, ever had a problem with my Ultegra cranks. And so ends my testing of the SRAM road component group!!

Strengths:
On Sale
Easy to install
PerformanceBike has a great return policy

Weaknesses:
Drags
Fragile
A former racer now weekend warrior destroyed it

Similar Products Used:
Shimano Durace
Shimano Ultegra
Ritchey Compact

Price Paid:  $0.00 at LBS with new bike

Favorite Ride:
The next one..

Bike Setup:
Serotta, full Rival groupset.

Summary:
Satisfactory crank but nothing special.

Strengths:
- Cost
- Easy to install & uninstall, does not require any special tools other then an 8mm allen wrench for the crank fixing bolt and two others (forget the sizes) for the chainrings

- Looks good when new

Weaknesses:
- Has to be torqued very carefully with plenty of grease or it will tend to loosen

- Chainring bolts also seem to have a tendency to work loose, after the 2nd try at removing, cleaning, loc-titing, and carefully re-torquing they seem to hold and run quiet.

- Finish is fragile, scratches exceptionally easy.

Similar Products Used:
105, DA, Ultegra, FSA Gossamer

Price Paid:  $158.00 at Speegoat

Favorite Ride:
Back Country Roads

Bike Setup:
Trek 2100, fizik saddle, Easton Ergo Bar

Summary:
I bought a Rival Compact Crankset to replace the Stock Bontrager Crankset on my Trek 2100. Both of these cranks use the Travativ GXP bottom bracket. Upon disassembly of the stock crank I noticed the plastic spacer between the bearing cups had a nice big crank in it. Also one of the in bearing races on the non-drive side was pressed onto the spindle preventing the drive-side bearing cup from being remved from the spindle. My guess was the shop that put the bike together didn't really grease stuff up before assembling.

after removing the old crank and botom bracket, with everything lubed up the install was a breeze. I tightened all bolts and cups to the top end of their torque range. My initial test ride indicated I needed to adjust my front derailler a bit, but afterwards shifts were crisp and smooth.

Overall I'm happy with this crankset. Climbing with the extra gear range definitely helps. On a side note, make sure you check the torque on the crank bolt every so often. My bontrager crank loosened after a while.

Strengths:
Very stiff, crisp/smooth shifts, Cheap, Bottom bracket compatible with a number of cranksets, Durable, easy install.

Weaknesses:
On the heavy side, possible problem with plastic cup spacer, Might not match people's color scheme

Similar Products Used:
Bontrager Race Lite GXP, Shimano LX, RaceFace Evolve DH.

Price Paid:  $140.00 at ebay

Favorite Ride:
all over the midwest

Bike Setup:
Well, it certainly doesn't have the Rival crankset on it.

Summary:
First, lets talk about the lovely shifting and elegant appearance. It does that quite well. If you can't get your 10 cog system to shift at the front, this dealie can help.
The name "Rival"? Well, it must be a Rival for FSA cranksets, because its nowhere close to Ultegra.
This crankset is about 40g lighter than a Sugino square taper setup; however, the Rival has much more opportunity for greater fitness through extra exercise.

Strengths:
Its pretty and it shifts really well.
Its theoretically possible, albeit temporary, for the bottom bracket to fit a bike so there's neither wobble, nor drag.
It has all of the "promises" of the Ultegra SL at a lower price point; however, the Rival's talents lay more towards selling Shimano parts than SRAM parts, because the "no drag" SRAM bottom bracket upgrade component itself is priced almost the same as an Ultegra SL setup that doesn't drag. I guess that wouldn't be a strength, but it led me towards buying a quality crankset instead of fixing this Rival.

Weaknesses:
Oh, where do I start? Its the onery bottom bracket involving a "bait-n-switch" type scam! Okay, if your frame is longer than the bottom bracket, even by 1mm, this thing will drag so bad its like the brakes are stuck. Second, if the bottom bracket shell of the bike is too short, its going to need a spacer. Too little and the cranks will wobble. The only wobble prevention is on the drive side. So, you add a spacer. Those are available in sizes too little (wobble) and too much (severe drag). YUCK!!! The left crankarm loosens up over time and you have to tighten the bolt. That also compresses the bearings for yet more drag, just when you think it couldn't get worse--it most certainly does. All while experiencing this ordeal, the left arm, with its one fragile aluminum bolt gets a tendency to become stuck, and thus some risk of this junk getting stuck on your bike frame if the one flimsy bolt fails. SRAM has an upgrade bottom bracket pack that sells for more than the Rival crankset. Total price for a non-drag Rival nears $350, plus quite a bit of labor. Its possible, but don't get lured by the low "introductory" price involving that whole bottom bracket scam deal.

Similar Products Used:
I don't recall having ever purchased a similar bike component like the Rival. Its inbuilt "bait and switch" scam with first the junk bottom bracket and then the $200 "real" bottom bracket, well, that seems to be unique.

Price Paid:  $130.00 at River City Bicycles

Summary:
This crank replaced a 2003 Ultegra crank. It works about as well as the crank it replaced. There was a bit a drag at first, but it got better over time. When I switched it to another frame, it installed without much drag at all.

Strengths:
Good Price; works well.

Weaknesses:
Not super light; not as easy to install at the new Shimano gear.

Similar Products Used:
2003 Ultegra; 2008 105