I often wonder if the answer is much simpler.....that the reality is these chinese companies are in fact the ones supplying Crank Brothers etc and deciding to sell on the open market. Would love to know who actually manufactures the parts and what their markup is....
In this case, since the design is slightly off, the china company saw the market, bought a spindle, and copied the general design. You can see the store sells spindles for shimano and other misc machined titanium parts.
Just fyi, the titanium used in the bike industry is almost all alloyed with Aluminium and Vanadium. Typically 3/2.5 or 6/4 (percentages respectively)... I have never seen "pure" ti used. 6/4 will typically be stiffer/harder than 3/2.5 - as used in axles. I have a set of Eggbeater 11s (ti like yours) on my MTB and a set of cheaper Eggbeaters on my gravel bike with Chinese Ti axles. I cannot tell the difference and they have not yet broken on me (4 years at 165 lbs). The 11s do state a max rider weight of 200 lbs.
I love the RISK Ti bolts off AliExpress not for weight savings but the fact that if you slip a little with the allen key they don't just round out like a alloy bolt head can do. And the shiny colors help as well 😁
Most of those RISK bolts are stainless steel at best anodized. basically if a magnet makes it come toward it it can not be any high grade of titanium. titanium is very non magnetic yet what is added to it can be.
Aluminum 2.7 g/cm³ Titanium 4.5 g/cm3 So if it had a lot of aluminum in it, it would be lighter. Which would actually be an expensive alloy, so unlikely they'd use that. Good video.
You probably purchased Grade 5 titanium alloy, which is better than pure titanium for this particular application. It is lighter and stiffer. Crank bros are also using Grade 5 and weight difference is simply due to its finishing. Some can hollow inside the spindle and make it even lighter. The best way to test that is to try to anodize it to gold or blue color. If you want to keep it plain titanium than you can use a neutralizer to remove the anodized coating.
That stuck pedal...you could try to remove the pedal body, leaving just the spindle in the crank arm, then put the spindle in a vice and use the crank arm as a lever. Good luck!!
You can also anodize ti with 9v batteries, aluminum you cant. Depending on the dc volt (aka how many 9v batts you strap together) dictates the color. Also..at 3:47 aluminum is lighter than titanium. I think you meant to say Titanium is lighter than steel.
example: Grade 5 Titanium - 6AL-4V Titanium= 6% Al + 4%V, and can be heat treated. is so hard that seamless tubing is not possible. Many bike frames that use this alloys are made of welded seam welded tubing. 3Al2.5V is "softer" and seamless tubing is available. Not sure which alloy is used for spindles. pure titanium is soft
You did use the copper color anti seize called tiPrep first before installing those pedals didn't you? that is Titanium parts 101 . Titanium can and will literally fuse with cromo or aluminum as if it was braised if tiprep is not used. even grease is not enough . Cheers and great video !
It probably is titanium and a perfectly acceptable product. Chinese products are cheaper mainly because labour and production costs are cheaper over there, not the raw materials.
It is expensive as a material in cycling due to being marketed as a expensive mythical material, and marked up accordingly. I'll give you an example - Bossi bikes (based in Australia) sells a 3D cast 6AL4V Ti stem for $189USD. This is made by Hang Lun bikes. The same stem (with their own brand Hi-light) bought through their physical store in Beijing is 750RMB which is about $105USD. Exact same part, with a different logo etched on. The same factory makes everything you buy from Van Nicholas, Serk, and a whole list of other brands. And this is why I proudly ride a Hi-light branded bike!
Umm, not sure what you mean. Ti used for pedal spindles is exclusively 6/4, which is a very specific alloy of Titanium, Aluminum, and Vanadium. No other Ti alloy is suitable for use as a pedal spindle. Whether or not one can trust random Chinese sources is the question her, not only is the proper alloy important, but the actual design of the spindle is very important to avoid really bad stress risers which could result in failure. A broken pedal spindle can lead to bad crash and I would not risk a serious injury to save 50 grams or a few dollars by purchasing titanium parts from unreliable sources.
Aluminium 60% heavier than Titanium ..?? Other way around: Titanium is 4.51 gram per cubic centimeter, Aluminium is 2.7. You will never find a 'pure' Al or Ti product; they are always mixed with other metals for strength.
It's called American capitalism. They're all made in China from the same factory and Crank Brothers just jacked up the price for pure profit. Btw, to remove the pedals from the crank, use heat from a torch.
I'd go with steel axle replacements. Weight be damned, my non-broken ankles are more valuable to me. And I've managed to break off even steel pedal axles.
@@VisionMTB My Crankbrothers pedals have not let me down (yet), but an axle on my Race Face Chester just snapped one rainy night, luckily for me in a low speed situation. After that, I'd decided to replace pedal axles every five years, even if the old ones are still unbroken. I cannot afford the snapping to happen in a downhill landing situation.
@@jaro6985 This would not explain the need for a stress riser on one of those axles. And both of them are of titanium and of same dimensions, so whether one of those is stronger or not is really not defined by the material.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I often wonder if the answer is much simpler.....that the reality is these chinese companies are in fact the ones supplying Crank Brothers etc and deciding to sell on the open market. Would love to know who actually manufactures the parts and what their markup is....
In this case, since the design is slightly off, the china company saw the market, bought a spindle, and copied the general design. You can see the store sells spindles for shimano and other misc machined titanium parts.
Just fyi, the titanium used in the bike industry is almost all alloyed with Aluminium and Vanadium. Typically 3/2.5 or 6/4 (percentages respectively)... I have never seen "pure" ti used. 6/4 will typically be stiffer/harder than 3/2.5 - as used in axles. I have a set of Eggbeater 11s (ti like yours) on my MTB and a set of cheaper Eggbeaters on my gravel bike with Chinese Ti axles. I cannot tell the difference and they have not yet broken on me (4 years at 165 lbs). The 11s do state a max rider weight of 200 lbs.
Thanks for the knowledge and also the thumbs up on the spindles!
The seller advertises it as "Material: 6AL/4V(TC4)Titanium Alloy, Grade 5"
I love the RISK Ti bolts off AliExpress not for weight savings but the fact that if you slip a little with the allen key they don't just round out like a alloy bolt head can do. And the shiny colors help as well 😁
Most of those RISK bolts are stainless steel at best anodized. basically if a magnet makes it come toward it it can not be any high grade of titanium. titanium is very non magnetic yet what is added to it can be.
When you're expecting to be disappointed from AliExpress and turns out to be good
Aluminum 2.7 g/cm³
Titanium 4.5 g/cm3
So if it had a lot of aluminum in it, it would be lighter. Which would actually be an expensive alloy, so unlikely they'd use that.
Good video.
You probably purchased Grade 5 titanium alloy, which is better than pure titanium for this particular application. It is lighter and stiffer. Crank bros are also using Grade 5 and weight difference is simply due to its finishing. Some can hollow inside the spindle and make it even lighter. The best way to test that is to try to anodize it to gold or blue color. If you want to keep it plain titanium than you can use a neutralizer to remove the anodized coating.
What about that small machining step on the replacement spindle? Could it become a stress riser?
Good question, I don't know why it's there because it doesn't seem to offer any functionality.
That stuck pedal...you could try to remove the pedal body, leaving just the spindle in the crank arm, then put the spindle in a vice and use the crank arm as a lever. Good luck!!
@@DalstonVinyl yeah definitely a good idea
You can also anodize ti with 9v batteries, aluminum you cant. Depending on the dc volt (aka how many 9v batts you strap together) dictates the color. Also..at 3:47 aluminum is lighter than titanium. I think you meant to say Titanium is lighter than steel.
Great tip and you are correct about the weight! Note being added. Thanks!
It's not like expensive parts are manufactured in Switzerland. Most of it is mostly the same, it's just branding that's expensive.
@@BisnesPyry I agree but that's quite a price difference no?
example: Grade 5 Titanium - 6AL-4V Titanium= 6% Al + 4%V, and can be heat treated. is so hard that seamless tubing is not possible. Many bike frames that use this alloys are made of welded seam welded tubing. 3Al2.5V is "softer" and seamless tubing is available. Not sure which alloy is used for spindles. pure titanium is soft
Yep. If it was aluminum though I'd be concerned because of how Alu fails. Thanks for the info!
6/4 is used for spindles and bolts, typically these parts are machined from rod stock. Threads on bolts may be rolled (often better) vs. cut.
you went above and beyond with this one
You did use the copper color anti seize called tiPrep first before installing those pedals didn't you? that is Titanium parts 101 . Titanium can and will literally fuse with cromo or aluminum as if it was braised if tiprep is not used. even grease is not enough . Cheers and great video !
@@thinkpadBentnoseTheBlind pfft, of course not! I do have it now for next time!
@@VisionMTB I learned this from an auto mechanic that became a MTB mechanic and had experience with race car bolts.
Do a comparative hardness test
@@twintwitch1 it's a good idea but I don't have a Vickers testing machine
Now we know how much money we are being ripped off for. 😂😂😂
It probably is titanium and a perfectly acceptable product. Chinese products are cheaper mainly because labour and production costs are cheaper over there, not the raw materials.
That definitely is part of the price difference for sure.
It is expensive as a material in cycling due to being marketed as a expensive mythical material, and marked up accordingly.
I'll give you an example - Bossi bikes (based in Australia) sells a 3D cast 6AL4V Ti stem for $189USD. This is made by Hang Lun bikes. The same stem (with their own brand Hi-light) bought through their physical store in Beijing is 750RMB which is about $105USD.
Exact same part, with a different logo etched on. The same factory makes everything you buy from Van Nicholas, Serk, and a whole list of other brands. And this is why I proudly ride a Hi-light branded bike!
I bought an aliexpress ti seatpost, which looks like a Moots and its not that bad.
Could you not measure the specific gravity of the spindle?
Good to know 👍
By the way, did you use the Goldix crankset a lot? I might be tempted to get one, but I'm not sure about the durability.
@@musclelessfitness2045 of course, the Goldix live in the Chiner 27.5 and have been great.
@@VisionMTB Thx, I was afraid it was one of those cheap cranks that break easily
Ti comes in so many different grades. It's a loose term
Umm, not sure what you mean. Ti used for pedal spindles is exclusively 6/4, which is a very specific alloy of Titanium, Aluminum, and Vanadium. No other Ti alloy is suitable for use as a pedal spindle. Whether or not one can trust random Chinese sources is the question her, not only is the proper alloy important, but the actual design of the spindle is very important to avoid really bad stress risers which could result in failure. A broken pedal spindle can lead to bad crash and I would not risk a serious injury to save 50 grams or a few dollars by purchasing titanium parts from unreliable sources.
Aluminium 60% heavier than Titanium ..?? Other way around: Titanium is 4.51 gram per cubic centimeter, Aluminium is 2.7. You will never find a 'pure' Al or Ti product; they are always mixed with other metals for strength.
You are correct, thought I corrected that. Thanks!
It's called American capitalism. They're all made in China from the same factory and Crank Brothers just jacked up the price for pure profit. Btw, to remove the pedals from the crank, use heat from a torch.
@@TheHomnguyen I tried a heat gun, freezing, release agent. Now that the pedal cage is off I'll try the vise.
Dude. This is big. Channel explosion
I'd go with steel axle replacements. Weight be damned, my non-broken ankles are more valuable to me. And I've managed to break off even steel pedal axles.
Damn you ride harder than I do! I do have steel Beaters on another bike but want to give these a try for a bit.
@@VisionMTB My Crankbrothers pedals have not let me down (yet), but an axle on my Race Face Chester just snapped one rainy night, luckily for me in a low speed situation. After that, I'd decided to replace pedal axles every five years, even if the old ones are still unbroken. I cannot afford the snapping to happen in a downhill landing situation.
You realize with the same dimensions the titanium spindle is 30% stronger right?
@@jaro6985 This would not explain the need for a stress riser on one of those axles. And both of them are of titanium and of same dimensions, so whether one of those is stronger or not is really not defined by the material.
@@GrigoryRechistov so then get the crankbrothers Ti ones
Perhaps you should delete this video, you obviously know far less than the people who have corrected you, and your self confidence implies
Do your homework before going public
@@jglantzx1 what homework should I be doing?
They should rather just call it Chinesium 🤣
@@a8f235 🤣
If it's AliExpress, then it's junk. You don't even have to ask.