# Middleburn Cranks



## tincan (Mar 21, 2009)

What is the difference between RS-7 and RS-8 crankarms, other than the weight?


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## flafonta (Feb 6, 2008)

weight 

Seriously, I think the warranty. I think the RS-7 has a lifetime warranty, no question asked, while the RS-8 is more limited.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

The RS-8 is more likely to break after a 6 ft drop.


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## Roadsters (Jul 7, 2008)

Recently in another thread someone mentioned that later this month, Middleburn will release its new external bottom bracket crank. Chain Reaction Cycles may be the first place we'll see it.


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## PepperJester (Jan 2, 2003)

this month eh? Sounds worth waiting then. I'm looking for some new cranks for my DH bike and x-type middleburn's would be dope.


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## kiatkiat (Sep 21, 2008)

I just went to middleburn website, there is a "road coming soon" under cranks section.
Is this the one?


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

Middleburn's extrenal BB cranks have been coming out this month for three years now. Interbike 2009 was supposedly a very likely debut for them, but the didn't appear.

The road section has been on their site for several years also.

Let's put it this way: They made a front hub, then delayed the matching rear hub by over two years.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

well, it was already presented at last year's Eurobike:


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

I meant Eurobike, not Interbike.

Nice find, none of the major websites had this, and the journalists I asked said they hadn't seen it.

Looks like an early prototype, possibly without the axle being fixed to either crank (coupling visible on non-drive side, yet self-extracting crank bolt on drive side?).


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

(don't know anything specific about it)


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

That angle makes me more suspicous it's just a rough-finished ISIS crankset, you can clearly see the coupling on both sides.

The only reason I can imagine for having a coupling at both sides would be to facilitate the changing of axles to facilitate the usage of the minimum Q-factor for a given BB size or multi-ring setup.


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## doco (Aug 31, 2008)

FWIW I contacted Middleburn at the beginning of January, and they said external bb crank will be released sometime "mid February"

they said to keep checking website for updates


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## Smart Sam (Jul 12, 2008)

Awesome news, can't wait


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## pbbullpup (Oct 17, 2006)

I would get excited about the external BB crank but I've been trying for days to purchse the RS7 and it does not seem possible.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

A friend of mine wanted to get some R7, too. He was told that Middleburn is totally sold out.


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## Smart Sam (Jul 12, 2008)

From Middleburn themselves:

" To Rob all going well they will be available in the next 10 days time CRC should have them very soon after that date. From Matthew. "


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## parkrider (Mar 7, 2008)

Smart Sam said:


> From Middleburn themselves:
> 
> " To Rob all going well they will be available in the next 10 days time CRC should have them very soon after that date. From Matthew. "


awesome! can't wait for the weight on these, hopefully a decent alternative to carbon and hopefully not a million miles off on weight either.


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## sausagedog (Aug 26, 2009)

sorry to hijack but i emailed middleburn about a spider for a xtr-dh chainring and they said we dont do one we only do them for normal xtr bcd sizes, i asked if they could get a price for a one off as it would only be a case of changing the cnc sizes, reply was oh we only do 104bcd but hay thats no good.... to get customers the company need good customer service,and even if they said no we cant do one but heres a place that can, that would have been a good start. now i just cant be bothered in dealing with them even for a chainring or anything. sorry rant over.


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## DavidR1 (Jul 7, 2008)

sausagedog said:


> sorry to hijack but i emailed middleburn about a spider for a xtr-dh chainring and they said we dont do one we only do them for normal xtr bcd sizes, i asked if they could get a price for a one off as it would only be a case of changing the cnc sizes, reply was oh we only do 104bcd but hay thats no good.... to get customers the company need good customer service,and even if they said no we cant do one but heres a place that can, that would have been a good start. now i just cant be bothered in dealing with them even for a chainring or anything. sorry rant over.


I don't think the problem they are having is coming up with customers. They can't keep up with the demand for the products that they do offer, so there is really no way for them to justify doing a one off spider for you.
Try emailing Shimano to make you a one off spider:skep: It just doesn't make any sense.


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## sausagedog (Aug 26, 2009)

they should put notice up on the website saying soory for the delay, its the fact that i emailed a company that couldnt be arsed with joe public,if i was someone big in mt biking iam sure they would jump at me, i asked if they could do one. ok they cant but come on sure someone they know can.... lets take hope for a moment i asked about doing my calipers red,what was the reply no but they helped me and told me about a guy that does orange bikes anodizing.thats hows a company should be iam in retail and if i was like them i wouldnt have many customers its going that extra mile.years ago in bike industry everyone helped anyone now thats all gone, its all about £££££


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

Teh interwebz claim this is a prototype - with some final product to be released in a week:










Said to be two color choices for spider and arms.


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## pbbullpup (Oct 17, 2006)

^^^ uh huh ^^^


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## SKullman (Oct 4, 2004)

Booo!!! 4 arm 104mm ... yuk


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

SKullman said:


> Booo!!! 4 arm 104mm ... yuk


I am sure they would have the usual array of spiders - in four colors. I will be looking for 5-arm double to run a Rotor ring for 1x9. 
Had and ISIS set in checkout basket, waited, and now they are all gone. Hope the interwebz had been accurate about the timeframe for replacement. I can live without ISIS and square taper in my life.


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

Photos of the production quality samples here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

M970 style width adjustment, replaceable axles. Initially 3-ring spider, duo and uno to follow later. No word on weight or price yet.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

dougal.s said:


> Photos of the production quality samples here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/
> 
> M970 style width adjustment, replaceable axles. Initially 3-ring spider, duo and uno to follow later. No word on weight or price yet.


Any idea about BB? Are they Shimano compatible?


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

Yes, they are Shimano compatible.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

dougal.s said:


> Yes, they are Shimano compatible.


Sweet. Now lets wait until a picture on scales.


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## Dex11 (May 4, 2005)

> M970 style width adjustment, replaceable axles. Initially 3-ring spider, duo and uno to follow later. No word on weight or price yet.


Width adjustment ? If i get this right, you can adjust the Q-factor ?


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

Dex11 said:


> Width adjustment ? If i get this right, you can adjust the Q-factor ?


No. The collar allows you to take up any side-to-side slop or play between the crankarms and the bearings.

I do however believe that different length axles are on the cards, so you can run the correct axle width for your frame. So if you have a 68mm bottom bracket, you can use one spacer on the drive side, rather than the usual two and one on the non-drive side.


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## pbbullpup (Oct 17, 2006)

going on 4 years now since Middleburn has been saying this crank will be coming out "in just a few days".


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## mlloyd007 (Dec 7, 2009)

Reality check: Middleburn is a few guys with a machine shop trying to make a living producing quality bike parts, and competing with some very well capitalized players. Some of you guys may want to cut them some slack.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

Reality check: Blackburn == Middleburn ??


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## Ansible (Jan 30, 2004)

The flickr photoset says that its the rs8 x-type crank. Could be they're releasing an RS8 x-type first to see how it holds up in real world use, followed by RS7 if it proves to be durable enough for DH/trials/jumping.


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

I'm surprised that more companies haven't gone with a separate spindle and arms for external BB cranksets, that would give flexibility in spindle length and Q.


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## parkrider (Mar 7, 2008)

more pics

and local bikeshop claiming to sell them.
Looks like they've finally arrived.


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## sausagedog (Aug 26, 2009)

we have given that guys at middleburn some slack, its the fact that all is needed is some sense on how they brand and advertise things. it only take 5mins for a edit to be placed on the website. and give a true time scale.


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## COLINx86 (Apr 8, 2009)

MTBTandems says they'll have them next week. And they said that the spiders from the older cranks will not work with these, so your stuck with the triple spider.


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## metrotuned (Dec 29, 2006)

I don't like that integrated four arm spider on the Middleburn Hollowtech II prototypes, the clean White Industries/Paul Components style spider like the Middlburn UNO is what I'm about! A single speed UNO RS7 hollowtech with a Chris King external BB ---- I'll buy one right now if it's available.


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## dougal.s (Mar 13, 2006)

illnacord said:


> I don't like that integrated four arm spider on the Middleburn Hollowtech II prototypes, the clean White Industries/Paul Components style spider like the Middlburn UNO is what I'm about! A single speed UNO RS7 hollowtech with a Chris King external BB ---- I'll buy one right now if it's available.


The spider is removable and can be replaced by a Duo or Uno ring. No confirmation yet as to whether these are different to the current ones.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Middleburn just confirmed that our first shiment of the new EBB cranksets should arrive here sometime next week.:thumbsup: 
The initial run will be with 4 arm 104/64 spiders. UNOs, DUOs and CD Spiders will follow soon, but no real date on that yet. I expect the DUO before the UNO. DUO outer rings will be the same for both EBB and ISIS/ST cranksets, so there's no need to redo those.
I doubt those new spiders will take as long as the mythical rear hub or road cranks, since having the different spider options available is a large part of the Middleburn appeal.
As always, we'll have 'em when we get our hands on them, but we know they're on the way!
Thanks


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## Ansible (Jan 30, 2004)

Looking forward to seeing some weights!


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

Ansible said:


> Looking forward to seeing some weights!


And it seems that the price premium would be around $50, which is reasonable. Nice BB will be cheaper and lighter then ISIS.

Quite interested in weight.


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## syl3 (Apr 23, 2008)

already on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BNIB-Middlebu...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item2c536512bd


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## metrotuned (Dec 29, 2006)

*Middleburn RS8 External HT11*

syl3: Good call on the UK listing of the new HT11's. Seller is asking $270~ (todays currency exchange rate) shipped from the UK including the gold ano self extracting bolts. Add a preferred bottom bracket, and your HT11 setup is now at market price of Shimano XTR M970, above Saint M810, and well above XT, SLX, and even Race Face Diabolos and Evolve cranksets.









"...New Middleburn RS8 External Crankset, latest HT11 style design for external type bottom brackets, for Shimano/Race Face/Hope/Chris King bottom brackets.

Based on RS8 cranks, alloy centre pipe and crank arms, hard anodised 175mm black arms, gold self extracting bolts on both sides, XTR M970 tension style adjustment for bearings.

Removable spider so can be run single speed/duo or triple with other Middleburn spiders
Comes with standard compact drive 4 bolt spider, these have been under development for some years now finally available..."


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## Ansible (Jan 30, 2004)

Weight of cranks + axle + spider here: 602g.


__
https://flic.kr/p/4411405322


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## xcatax (Mar 26, 2009)

:cryin: 
602g
:cryin:
close this thread these cranks are heavy ¡


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

xcatax said:


> :cryin:
> 602g
> :cryin:
> close this thread these cranks are heavy ¡


Odd. A previous post there was claiming:



> Weight for cranks and spider with XT BB was ~615g (add on chain rings to this) - basically a little lighter than XTR. I plan on building my set up with a 36t uno which will be suitable for the majority of courses in the UK, though will have a 27/40t Duo as a reserve for the Dalby national round.


I guess it was wrong. Bummer.


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

guys, you must be kidding me. I've been waiting for these, though the Duo, for months. Now this. I guess I just get a SRAM XX crankset now, rather have 39x26 anyway.


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## PepperJester (Jan 2, 2003)

Any word on if they will be offering this for 83mm bikes?


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## pp-tso (Oct 21, 2009)

Spider pictured it's probably about 100 grams, with a custom lighter spider or UNO ring set up it should be a decent weight for cranks with external BB....

Minus the spider the cranks are probably 505g....if it is based on the RS8 then the arms should be around 400g and the axle 100g +/- some grams on each part.... not bad


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## xcatax (Mar 26, 2009)

Aerozine did an excellent work by making cranksets around 700g enought stiff also , Rotor fail and middleburn fail .......... whos next? Shimano


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## ozzybmx (Jun 30, 2008)

Update on the hollowtech's, got an email yesterday ......

To Billy, the cranks are now out in 175and 170 4-ARM xc and 4-ARM Dual spider. There will be pictures on our website later this week. From Matthew


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## kiatkiat (Sep 21, 2008)

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I looking for a either a RS7 or RS8 cranks. 

I can't find the weight of 170mm. Anyone have the weight cranks?
Thanks


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## quax (Feb 21, 2009)

http://www.middleburn.co.uk/tech_crankweights.php


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## kiatkiat (Sep 21, 2008)

Hi Quax, thanks


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## Stevob (Feb 27, 2009)

A mate wants to put some RS8 Uno's on his bike with a Chris King BB. As far as I can tell, neither is supplied with an actual ISIS spindle. Can anybody confirm this for me please?


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## metrotuned (Dec 29, 2006)

ISIS??? Yes, you can run the new four arm crankset with a CK BB, it's hollowtech external bb, not an ISIS.


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## facelessfools (Aug 30, 2008)

i have a isis rs7 that has been awesome with a crankbrothers cobalt ti BB


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