Profile Gun-Drilled Hollow BB Spindles

According to their website, Profile are making changes to the axle on their famous cranksets. The spindle will be hollowed out like the picture above, which is courtesy of Profile's website. Some one said that maybe this is Profile's way of getting back into the market of race cranks, as many dropped Profile in favour of the Shimano DXR cranks. Seems that the spindle is 18% lighter with the hollowed out or "gun-drilled" spindle. More information can be found in the links above. I will say one thing for certain... this looks good but will the strength of the axles be weakened? I am by no means a crank expert but I think that it will be weakened only marginally, not totally. Still a lot of strength left in these cranks!

Johnny Chopper cranks

Profile did a limited release of the box-style cranks a little while ago and a big groan went up from the BMX community because it seems that the finished cranks were anything but the quality so afforded by Profile in the past. Booger-looking welds, finicky chrome and even grind marks could be seen on the finished product. Naturally, people started looking elsewhere to get their old-school fix

Meanwhile, in Australia (that is right, the land Down Under) there was this guy or company called Johnny Chopper that were making cranks that looked and worked very well, being able to be mounted on almost any 48-splined spindle. They were less expensive than the Profile anniversary set and the chrome was virtually flawless. Johnny Chopper received the respect that one can only give to a person or company that actually cares and stands by its product and these cranks are no exception. They look so tempting that even yours truly is hankering for a set and might get a set pretty soon. Besides, their retro-inspired frames would make almost any old-school BMXer take a second look. Made ya'll drool eh?

Eclat Tibia cranks

Many thanks to the folks at DIG BMX or else I would be totally in the dark about what is new in the BMX world. These cranks, named Tibia Cranks, are from Eclat, the componentry division of We The People and are actually a two-piece design, something that Bullseye and Hutch did ages ago. But they do look nice and they come in more colours than a Mexican blanket. Looks pretty good no? Check them out at the links above!

Profile re-issuing their early cranks

Looks like Profile are making a limited number of these cranks to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Seems like they will be using the same old tooling from the very early 80s as well. They will be a limited number as I said, plus they will come with a free T-shirt. Cost of these? Well, about USD$400.

Clemtwins cranks

They were certainly innovative back in the day. Check out these cranks. I was searching through Ebay and I came upon some guy selling this. These are Clemtwins cranks, the only cranks back in the day that came with two sprockets. Yep, you heard me. Two sprockets. Naturally, one would need a special hub with two freewheels. I do not have a pic of that hub but I must say, it certainly helped out in the chain-braking gate-snapping issues, while putting on some more weight on the bike. But nevertheless, a great idea!

BMX till I die

That is the question everyone asks me everytime they see me riding my bike. Sometimes I ask myself that question too. Why BMX? I wish there could be an easy answer to that question but unfortunately there is not. How can I explain my love for this 20-inch bike when that is the only bike that I have been comfortable on all these years? How can I explain that when the film E.T. came out, it totally changed my view of cycling? How can I possibly explain how the BMX bug has still been with me since 1982? I can't find an easy answer to it. It is a passion I suppose, a passion that brings all the BMxers together. We live our biking lives our way. BMX is the root of extreme cycling. Oh sure, there may be the pundits who may not agree with me but seriously, how many of you readers really know your roots? I do not know about mountainbikes. I have ridden them and I used to own one till I gave it away. I do have an On-One 29-incher though but it is set up like a BMX with Profile cranks and a rigid fork. Some things cannot change and maybe that is why I am still rooted to the old-school of BMX. Others may say what they like but I will continue to be a BMXer till the day I die

SE Racing 2008 Floval Flyer

Got this image from some guy's page in Australia. He has changed the cranks but the rest looks pretty much stock. I must say that the colour combination is very interesting. White Landing Gear forks too! You can check it out at the SE Racing website

Shimano DXR cranks

After running chromoly cranks for years, I will shudder if i ever have to put these on my bike. I am thankful though that Shimano has BMXers in mind when they made this DXR crankset and DXR gruppo. They are pretty pricey though but to the weight-weenie BMXer today, they will will suffice. Not me though. After having broken a pair of aluminium cranks in the past, chromoly is all I trust

The legendary RedLine Flight crank...in red!

Red Flight cranks anybody? I did not know RedLine were still making these but it looks like they are. Cool eh? They have been making these for quite a few years now. Dual-pinchbolts and sealed bearings.