eeCrank eeks Closer to Production, Light as Ever

Ever on top of the lightweight parts scene, Fair Wheel Bikes posted a short interview with eeCycleworks‘ founder Craig about the dreadfully long wait for the redesigned eeCranks. The good news? What you see above is just about the final version that should see production.

Cosmetically, anyway, little if anything should change other than having a black option to go with this silver. Internally, Craig says there may be a few tweaks, but that it should finally start production sooner rather than later (release goal is late 2011). Specs? You want specs? Jump past the break…

Weight first: The entire set – cranks, bottom bracket, spider and rings – is estimated to come in at just 630g to 650g for a standard English BB. He’s working on a BB30/PFBB30 crankarm/spindle design, too, but first things first.

The eeCranks will use a 170mm outer BCD with inner bolt circle diameters for both standard and compact. The larger outer BCD will allow 48T to 53T+ chainrings, which covers most compact and regular sizes. Crankarm lengths will be 170, 172.5 and 175mm.

At that weight, one might expect to give up a little performance, however part of the hold up has been Craig’s penchant for getting as much out of them as possible. An earlier prototype already tested among the stiffest cranksets out there, but he says this version will be even better.

Check out our previous interview with Craig for more of the backstory on the cranks.

In other news, his ultralight eeBrakes are changing from a machined manufacturing process to forged, which will soften the edges a bit but should help him meet demand.