Sugino Swiss Cross crankset at Soma Fabrications

[eddief]

I know some here are fond of things in shiny silver finish. I stumbled onto the Sugino Swiss Cross at Soma Fab. I have never seen this particular crank in the 34/48 configuration available anywhere. Yellow Jersey converts triples into compact doubles and charges more for this config, but this appears to be a double right out of the box. 34/48 happens to be my combo of choice.

http://store.somafab.com/suswcrdocr.html

[justinf]

this is very much what I've been looking for. thanks for the post.

[eddief]

problem with that one is that it only comes in 50/34, I believe at this time. And my current strong preference is 48/34. Good luck.

[justinf]

hey eddie, I noticed you had a few of these (or similar) for sale in the past. Did you like them? I'm thinking about putting a set on my Colorado CRL--it's built with 8 speed Dura Ace. thx, j

[eddief]

I'm an old fart rider and mostly do 12 mph club rides here in the SF Bay area where there is no flat and all roads seem to lead uphill to somewhere. So not being the racer type, three bikes have 48/34 and one has 50/34. Just to prove my riding style, I have also gone to mountain rear derailleurs and big cassettes in 11-32 range.

Originally I wanted to get away from triples cause I found them to work fine, but to be more trimming bs than I wanted to deal with. So I switched to compacts and got used to them. You'll notice as in most things bicycle, some swear by them and others swear at them.

The biggest thing to get used to is the rhythm of shifting. Often when you move the chain in the front you have to be nearly automatic about two clicks in the back. Of course this all depends on terrain, conditioning and how many gear inches you're in the mood to push.

Try it and see if you are one who swears by or swears at compact doubles.

[zank]

Eddie...FYI

Ochsner says they will be brinnging in all combos of the alloy Centaur Compact. So, your LBS should be able to get a 34/50, 34/48, or 36/50 for you if they have an account with Ochsner.

[rnhood]

I like that crank. And, I like those frame prices even better. How do those Soma frames/bikes ride and, how is their quality?

[justinf]

I want to gear down a bike so I can with my wife in the hills--I'm switching her over to a triple and she trends to the 12 mph range as well (we've previously used MTBs with slicks for these rides, on the Blue Ridge Parkway NC). I think I'll give it a shot--better than swapping out the whole DA group if it works. Thanks for the feedback. j

[coylifut]

I like that crank. And, I like those frame prices even better. How do those Soma frames/bikes ride and, how is their quality?

I have a couple of friends that have the Double Cross. They use it as a winter trainer with fenders. They like em. They are not light, but what they are is up to the abuse of winter training.

[justinf]

hey guys how is sugino in quality comparable to shimano/campy?

[dauwhe]

I have about 12,000 miles on Sugino cranks with no problems. I would recommend them without hesistation. Aesthetically, they may not be as beautiful as the TA Zephyr, but they work for me.

Dave Cramer
Brattleboro, Vermont

[gdw]

Sugino cranks are excellent although the rings on some models seem softer than the competition. Their cold forged models are strong and well finished and are easily as good as their competition. They also have produced top-end cranksets for other companies such as Suntour, Ritchey, Stronglight, and White.