Crankskins - Is your crank wrapped?
It may not be the next invention to make you faster, or keep you safer, but what's ever been wrong with looking nice?
Everyone knows that us mountain bikers have a habit of making things look terrible in short order. Whether it's from crashes, shuttle wear, or nice abrasive mud, the nice shiny parts we pay for end up looking like mangled pieces of metal in no time. Ever see Holzfellers after a season of use? Not a pretty picture. But now they can be!
More details and pics inside,Now, I'm a sucker for keeping things looking clean. I have used many types of protection in the past on things like car hoods, moto fairings, and bike frames. This includes finding ridiculously expensive heli-tape, and buying ClearBra to practically envelop my Commencal's poor quality paint work. However, I always have had "shoe polished" cranks after riding the same set for a while. Enter Crankskins.
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Crankskins are a small company out of Spencerport, NY that specializes in PROTECTIVE graphics, for your bike. Not only do they do crank covers as their name implies, they do frame protection, fork guards, and rim products too! Offered in clear, color, and graphics, you can find something they make to suit your style and bike. They have specific cut offerings for cranks like XTR that have a distinct look to them already, and also generic offerings that fit almost anything. Made of THICK, self-adhesive material 8 mils thick, this stuff lasts a while. MUCH thicker than any puny sticker you've put on your bike and then it later wore through. They even offer frame products in 12mil, for people with a serious tendency to destroy their possessions.
Application is just like anything else- Clean with alcohol, and stick it on. Clear looks exactly like that, CLEAR.
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For those of you who like to match every ano part on your bike, they have a solution for you too.
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From a few feet back, gets the nice glittery ano look. Nice metallic touch. For silver/polished cranks, they even offer a Chris King color match setup!
When I put them on new, I figured for sure I'd end up scuffing the material so bad that I'd rip them off after a while... but this was not the case. They've been on my bike for our sloppiest, most crash inducing months, and are doing their job well. The clear SLX sized one you can tell gets scraped, but NO damage to cranks. The graphic generic sized one looks like the day it was put on. Super durable stuff.
![photo]()
![photo]()
Our dirt out here is not very forgiving, as it's mostly made up of little pieces of granite that have eroded, and has sandblasted the downtube of my frames before, but this material holds up very well to it even with shoes constantly rubbing the cranks covered in that mud.
Pricing varies, but take a look at their site. 11$ for 3 pairs of clear crankskins? Pretty cheap for the bike industry. They'd pay for themselves many times over in crank resale value, it's always impossible to sell beat up looking parts.
Crankskins can be contacted via their site, or thru their profile on here - crankskinscom.pinkbike.com. EJ is a very friendly guy, and will definitely help get you set up with what you need!
-Humm
*The first 12 people to buy a 2010 Pinkbike.com calendar will receive a FREE pair of custom Pinkbike.com Crankskins! Just note in the customer field that you read this offer in this article.*
Everyone knows that us mountain bikers have a habit of making things look terrible in short order. Whether it's from crashes, shuttle wear, or nice abrasive mud, the nice shiny parts we pay for end up looking like mangled pieces of metal in no time. Ever see Holzfellers after a season of use? Not a pretty picture. But now they can be!
More details and pics inside,Now, I'm a sucker for keeping things looking clean. I have used many types of protection in the past on things like car hoods, moto fairings, and bike frames. This includes finding ridiculously expensive heli-tape, and buying ClearBra to practically envelop my Commencal's poor quality paint work. However, I always have had "shoe polished" cranks after riding the same set for a while. Enter Crankskins.
Crankskins are a small company out of Spencerport, NY that specializes in PROTECTIVE graphics, for your bike. Not only do they do crank covers as their name implies, they do frame protection, fork guards, and rim products too! Offered in clear, color, and graphics, you can find something they make to suit your style and bike. They have specific cut offerings for cranks like XTR that have a distinct look to them already, and also generic offerings that fit almost anything. Made of THICK, self-adhesive material 8 mils thick, this stuff lasts a while. MUCH thicker than any puny sticker you've put on your bike and then it later wore through. They even offer frame products in 12mil, for people with a serious tendency to destroy their possessions.
Application is just like anything else- Clean with alcohol, and stick it on. Clear looks exactly like that, CLEAR.
If graphics aren't your thing, you can still keep your cranks looking mint.
For those of you who like to match every ano part on your bike, they have a solution for you too.
From a few feet back, gets the nice glittery ano look. Nice metallic touch. For silver/polished cranks, they even offer a Chris King color match setup!
When I put them on new, I figured for sure I'd end up scuffing the material so bad that I'd rip them off after a while... but this was not the case. They've been on my bike for our sloppiest, most crash inducing months, and are doing their job well. The clear SLX sized one you can tell gets scraped, but NO damage to cranks. The graphic generic sized one looks like the day it was put on. Super durable stuff.
Our dirt out here is not very forgiving, as it's mostly made up of little pieces of granite that have eroded, and has sandblasted the downtube of my frames before, but this material holds up very well to it even with shoes constantly rubbing the cranks covered in that mud.
Pricing varies, but take a look at their site. 11$ for 3 pairs of clear crankskins? Pretty cheap for the bike industry. They'd pay for themselves many times over in crank resale value, it's always impossible to sell beat up looking parts.
Crankskins can be contacted via their site, or thru their profile on here - crankskinscom.pinkbike.com. EJ is a very friendly guy, and will definitely help get you set up with what you need!
-Humm
*The first 12 people to buy a 2010 Pinkbike.com calendar will receive a FREE pair of custom Pinkbike.com Crankskins! Just note in the customer field that you read this offer in this article.*
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I wasn't referring to bashed up cranks from hitting them necessarily. Just worn from use. It's not like the ano getting rubbed off affects the ride.
'There will be some sort of problem with these as this is the first release'
ITS A STICKER, im sure they will find some monumental issue where the glue dissolves the crank arm or something.
Whats wrong with helitape?
and who in there right mind would put a cheap sticker on expensive cranks to protect them, maybe some 12 year olds might
besides , why would i want a sticker on my crank? it looks horribly tacky IMO
el-nombre - 8mil is not 8mm. Mil is an imperial measurement equal to 1000th of an inch.
What are the means of delivery? Payment and stuff?
the no clear ones may luck tacky but that doesnt meen you have to buy them dus it
so dnt be negetive this company will make more money than most of you will from selling this "crap"product (Sarcasm)