Lets get rid of the 3 piece crank permanently

[birddog]

Unfortunately the 1 piece cranks are still about 6 weeks or so out. We should however (I hope), have an adequate supply this time.

As far as people "accepting" bikes with 3 piece cranks, I thought you might want to have a look at Andrian Anz's site: http://www.derringercycles.com
Derringer Cycles sells top of the line completely finished retro style bikes (with our 3 piece cranks) for $3500 plus. I guess he and his customers don't share your opinion about the aesthetics of the 3 piece.

 

[Irish John]

Unfortunately the 1 piece cranks are still about 6 weeks or so out. We should however (I hope), have an adequate supply this time.

As far as people "accepting" bikes with 3 piece cranks, I thought you might want to have a look at Andrian Anz's site: http://www.derringercycles.com
Derringer Cycles sells top of the line completely finished retro style bikes (with our 3 piece cranks) for $3500 plus. I guess he and his customers don't share your opinion about the aesthetics of the 3 piece.

Thanks Birddog, I am familiar with Derringer's bikes and posted a bit about them last May;
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showpost.php?p=118540&postcount=14
But looking through his bikes I can only see the trusty old 1 piece crank and especially on the Honda\Grubee models.
Andrian could probably sell his used tooth brush for $1000 because he has the chutzpah and the name.
I'm not in that league unfortunately although I do refuse to sell bikes to rev-heads and people I think might get us a bad name and that makes the bikes slightly exclusive.
I've attached a picture of a Schwinn D7 with the 3 piece and then with the one piece and I think the bike looks so much better with it's 1 piece and Schwinn block pedals (good looking pedals are not easily available for the 3 piece & you'll be in for a long web trawl to find a pair of nice ones) I think Derringer would totally agree with my view of the 3 piece. I'd wager money on it and if they do use them it would almost certainly be, like myself, under duress. People want to use nice looking gear on a SchwinnD7 bike that now retails for $949 just for the bike itself. It was $820 two months ago before the 2009 shipments arrived.

 

[birddog]

I guess you're right about the site. It looks like he hasn't updated the pics in a while. What I can tell you is that he has been purchasing the 3 piece since we have had them in stock and we haven't had any complaints. In fact, we were speaking to him last night and asked him about it specifically. He stated that there was a slight inconvenience in the beginning in regard to the installation process because they were accustomed to the 1 piece, but quickly got the process down. He did not mention any problems with the appearance or function of the 3 piece.

Looking at the first pic you posted, I agree that at that angle it does look a bit awkward. Combine that with the crank length and the pedal issue and I will certainly concede that for the cruiser style bike the 3 piece cranks are not the best option. I guess that was never really in question. However, for those that have a 3-piece crank bottom bracket, the 3 piece kit is the only choice.

This is why we anticipated that once we could include the Chinese sourced adapter kit at no extra charge, the best option would be to package with the 3 piece cranks. This standardized kit would fit either style bike right out of the box for a single price. Then, those consumers who owned a 1 piece bike and disliked the appearance, size, or pedal compatibility could choose to purchase the 1 piece crank separately. This seems like the most logical and fair choice. We satisfy either type of consumer for the same price with a single kit and we aren't forcing anyone to buy an additional part in order for the kit to function on their specific type of bike.

However, I'm a reasonable man, and I have been around long enough to know that the market doesn't always follow logic, so by all means I'm willing to do whatever the market demands. At this point I am still not certain of exactly what that is. At least, I'm not sure what the ratio is. Perhaps we should start a unbiased poll and see how many people prefer 1 piece to 3 piece? This might provide some solid feedback.

Also, in regard to the crank length, I will talk to Don and see if we can spec them a little longer. Regardless of whether they are used on either bike, they could stand to be a bit longer.

 

[birddog]

Please vote for your choice

I started a poll to see who prefers the 3 piece cranks and who prefers 1 piece cranks. Please vote for your preference:

http://motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=19132
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