Well, you knew it was coming sooner or later, right? Now, if I can only figure out a play on Master of Puppets and Cliff 'Em All.

Anyway, someone e-mailed me this link today, and it seemed appropriate enough. Minus BMX sells "Lightening Bolts," which are 18-8 stainless steel bolts and 7075 washers to replace the spindle hardware on a variety of three-piece cranks. (Unless they just haven't updated the site, all of you up-to-date two-piece types with Wombolts and Flys and Tibias are stuck with the factory hardware—bummer. And if you've got Solids or XSes or Primo Excels or something, well, lighter crank bolts are probably the least of your worries.)

They're $20 a set, which is half the price of a set of Profile titanium bolts—although Profile hooks you up with a sprocket bolt as well. (Then again, if you're at the point where you're actually concerned about the weight of your crank bolts, you've probably already got a spline-drive sprocket.) And given the risks of running ti bolts in a ti spindle—if you don't use that ti-prep, you could end up with a very expensive set of one-piece cranks—maybe stainless bolts are a better choice.

But are they? Sure, I guess they're lighter than stock crank bolts, but are they stronger, or even as strong? One would imagine that if stainless were the best material from which to make crank bolts, companies like Profile would be using it already. After all, they don't seem like a company that would use a sub-standard material just to be able to sell their product at a lower price. I'd be curious to hear whether stainless is a viable bolt material in a BMX application.

Anybody?


I'll do a quiz next Friday, promise.


If you haven't read it already, there's a great interview with Shawn Arata over on Orchid. I'm a sucker for where-are-they-nows. Also: "Remember this, its not about how light your bike is or how many tailwhips you can do or what company you ride for. Because no matter who you are [or] where you're from, it’s all about the smirk, the itchy hands and the bounce when you see the most perfect spot." Word.

The G-Sport George interview on BMXUnion is well worth your time as well.


I feel as if, despite my best intentions and efforts, I've totally lost track of what videos I have and haven't posted. All apologies for any repeats.




Kris Bennett rules!