cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49609301

I’ve found that a crankset that comes with rivet-attached sprockets costs the same as cranksets with no sprockets. So we get ripped off either way. The all-in-one piece wastes a crankset everytime the sprocket wears out and probably overspends on sprockets. And the universal crank fleeces you up front by cheating you out of a set of sprockets.

The rivets on my crankset are 72mm apart. Is there any reason I shouldn’t ragefully take an angle grinder to them?

Will I merely have to find sprockets with aligned holes, or could I run into other compatibility issues like mismatched hole sizes or other mating problems?

The bcd cribsheet shows a standard “Shimano 2003 XTR MX960 4-arm middle” has the bolts 72.1mm apart. So it seems I could get lucky though it’s a bit scary that a specific year (2003) is mentioned.

    • diyrebel@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      I have done nothing so far. My current crankset has 3 sprockets. The middle sprocket is worn to the point where the chain slips, so to drag this out I just stay on the biggest sprocket. But that is probably going to start slipping this year in which case I will be forced to change it.

      I found a flee market seller who sells just the right crank, with one sprocket riveted to it, for $€ 5. So it’s cheap enough that it may be my next move. It seems to have holes in it to add another sprocket to it.

      But in any case, I will not throw away my dead crankset. I will keep it just incase I one day find compatible sprockets and then I will try grinding.