Rotor Cranks

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by majorlactate
Anyone seen or used these? http://www.rotorcranksusa.com

They claim additional power and lower heart rates, and a 2
minute faster 40k bike split, but I have not seen anyone
actually ride them in a tri, look cool though. Looking to try
them out - interested in anyones experience with them.

- Maj

Ahhh, the latest trend. I suspect those things will go out of style as quickly as pet rocks did. The next craze will probably be helium-inflated tires. That way you can fly around on your bike like in E.T...or at least that's what the manufacturers will tell you.

weird... interesting idea... so let me see if i understand what these do. they shift the angle of the cranks depending on their position so there is never a time when both are vertical (at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions)?

hmmm... seems to me that these would be revolutionary if we ONLY put a downward force on the pedals. in that case, at the position these cranks eliminate, we'd only be applying force to the BB and none would go into turning.

but, isn't this why we attach our feet to the pedals? so we can more effectively "aim" the force we exhert in a circular motion? if that's the case, the problem that the rotor cranks eliminate doesn't really exist in the first place.

admittedly there is a dead (or more accurately, a weak) spot in a pedal stroke, but would these cranks help significantly? they claim they do, but why isn't every pro using them, then? i'm skeptical, but it is an interesting engineering solution. my guess is these are not significantly more efficient than standard cranks, though. any engineers want to weigh in on this?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by lostmyshape
weird... interesting idea... so let me see if i understand what these do. they shift the angle of the cranks depending on their position so there is never a time when both are vertical (at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions)?

hmmm... seems to me that these would be revolutionary if we ONLY put a downward force on the pedals. in that case, at the position these cranks eliminate, we'd only be applying force to the BB and none would go into turning.

but, isn't this why we attach our feet to the pedals? so we can more effectively "aim" the force we exhert in a circular motion? if that's the case, the problem that the rotor cranks eliminate doesn't really exist in the first place.

admittedly there is a dead (or more accurately, a weak) spot in a pedal stroke, but would these cranks help significantly? they claim they do, but why isn't every pro using them, then? i'm skeptical, but it is an interesting engineering solution. my guess is these are not significantly more efficient than standard cranks, though. any engineers want to weigh in on this?

Yeah, I actually do have a M.S. in civil engineering. I believe you will find my comment on the previous reply 😄

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by memphiscyclist
Ahhh, the latest trend. I suspect those things will go out of style as quickly as pet rocks did. The next craze will probably be helium-inflated tires. That way you can fly around on your bike like in E.T...or at least that's what the manufacturers will tell you.

Hmmm.

Maybe, but how do you explain the Trithlon World Championships and the XTerra World Championships both being won on the Rotor Cranks system last year? They have been around since 1995 in Europe.