Eurobike 2015: Crank Brothers

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Riders have different-sized feet, so why make flat pedals one size? That’s the thinking behind Crank Bros’ new Stamp pedal.

It comes in two sizes. Both feature 13-11-13mm concave surfaces, ten pins and a new axle system featuring IGUS plain bearings. There’s a protected grease port too to keep things running smoothly. There’s no UK price yet, but they’ll run to $150 in the US.

Flats that come in two sizes for big and little feet

 

Not for everyone, but these Double Shot pedals below offer a clipped and flat side for those who are either new to clipless, or for riders who want to ride flat shoes to the shops now and again.

Clip this side

 

Flat this side

Crank Bros’ Candy pedal range has been revamped, plus there’s a new Candy 7 available (the bigger the number, the higher up the pedal in the range.) The Candy 1, 2, 3 and 7 (and ti-axle 11 too) are now all 10% larger and feature a more grooved and ridged platform for when you’re not clipped in. The end of the axle now features a bash guard (the silver bit).

There are new bearings throughout the pedal range – for the higher torque (and lower rotational speeds) of pedals. The seals are improved and added to. There’s an IGUS plain bearing inboard and a well-sealed ball bearing outboard. There are also new colours – black, red, pink…

Extra protection bash guard at the ends

 

 

There are also replaceable grip pads to keep your feet in place.

New bearing seals

 

The new bearing setup with two (count them) weather seals. There are chamfered corners too to keep the pedals looking good for longer.

The Mallet-E.

Crank Bros’ hashtag enduro riders asked for this – it has a smaller body than the regular Mallet DH (left) and has fewer pins and a 5mm shorter axle to keep it compact in the trees. There are chamfered corners to ward off rock strikes and keep the pedal looking shiny. It also comes with the adjustable grip pads like on the Candy. Comes in Enduro Blue, natch.

An Enduro Mallet

 

Highline Seatpost

Now THIS really got our attention. Crank Bros ‘were taught a lesson’ with their previous seatpost, the Kronolog and reckons it has learned from all of the criticisms. The new Highline post is designed to be more accurate, more weatherproof and more service-free than before – by a long way. Let’s look inside.

Dropper seatpost from Crank Brothers

 

 

Taking cues from suspension forks, the Highline features a sealed, internal cartridge. It’s factory pressurised with nitrogen and is warrantied for three years. The dropper mechanism is triggered by a quarter turn of the cartridge rod. The cable (it uses Jagwire’s highest-quality inner and outer) pulls on the bottom of the post, which is translated into this small movement – so there’s a lot of room for cable stretch. Once the cable is in, the end cap is sealed and attached to the post, so it should be fiddle-free to instal.

The internal mechanism – a sealed cartridge

The internals of the post are well-sealed and the post runs on IGUS keys, which shouldn’t need any service for a couple of years’ use. All Crank Bros reckons it needs is the collar removing once a year and some Slick Honey or fork lube adding to the post. There’s a small space for lube in the underneath of the collar.

Talking of the collar, it’s very slimline – and the seatpost head has a convex shape (every other post uses a concave surface that the clamp holder sits in) which allows the assembly to be very low profile. There’s a 50mm stack height between collar bottom and saddle rail, which is better than anyone else so far. This will please people who’ve sized up a frame sized for length, but who struggle with seat tube height.

 

The drop is 125mm – with a 150mm version in the works. The post won’t be out until the New Year at least and in the meantime, there’s some extensive testing going on – in the UK as well – to ensure that this really is UK weatherproof.

Up at the front end of the bike, the thumb lever mounts on a ball joint, which allows the rider to set it exactly where they want it. The cable end is grub-screwed to the lever here, making all adjustments at the lever end and not at the hidden seatpost end.

The CB Seatpost remote

There’s no UK price yet, but Crank Bros reckons that it’ll be less than a Reverb or a KS Integra. We look forward to getting our hands on one…

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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