Rotor Aldhu Crankset Teardown | SHIMANO drop in replacement 

Laughed my azz off to that one 😆

Same color as his hair? I just call em as I see 'em. ABSOLUT Hacks. I wouldn't call those 'bike components'. Its very soon to be dumpster filling. Then landfill. I find grifters and their victims amazing. Its great entertainment, not to mention, job security for me!

Absolute Black. There, I said it. Pure garbage claims by an equally garbage company.

Oh and I forgot to add, Power2Max also uses the Aldhus for their 24mm axle versions

Take the preload collar off and add some grease on the threads, so it wont get stuck in the future.

@@carlmlr That's the one I've been riding for about 10K as well. The best setup I could find to use on different bikes, zero issues so far.

@@luukrutten1295 It worked fine before, but you comment inspired me to get it off and put grease on it. Now it's exactly the same as before but it can spin! :)

Similiar for me but running a Power2Max power meter, without any troubles. But I will check the preload after this vid now.

I'll second this subjective stiffer feeling. Grx to the aldhu that came with my power2max spider feels stiffer. Both were 175mm cranks.

Plus, they are same bolt pattern as shimano if I remember correctly. Seen many rotor chainrings on Shimano cranks

@@pauperismarti2226 Rotor offers different spiders , 5 arms bcd 110 en also 4 arms bcd 110.

Some manufacturers appear to be standardizing on the compact bolt ring pattern. Is the 110 mm pattern sufficient to support a 53 or in the case of a TT a 55 or 56 ring? Is there enough torsional stiffness to make a carbon fiber inner circle ring with steel teeth? I think we are reaching the end of carbon fiber utility. Do we start using far more expensive man-made materials with longer strand length and less likelihood of tearing to lighten the frames still more or do you suppose that racers are going to stop effecting sales so much. I am old and have returned to steel because of its ride. It climbs slower. So what? Not that I was never a climber despite the millions of feet I've climbed. Perhaps it's because I'm so old but I think that the epitome of cycling was the good steel frames of the mid to late 90's. While they weren't all that light (my Moser is 19 lbs.) they ride nearly perfect in my mind. (And butt) Not aero? I'm having a really good day holding 17 mph for 20 minutes. I can hardly detect aero wheels. While we can blame that on my age, how much difference is that from MOST 30 year old's?

99.9% of your speed on a bike is determined by your engine, not your bike frame or components. The bike industry has done an amazing marketing job using paid sponsorships of their products with pro level racers to convince masses of amateur gullible idiots that they need multi thousand dollar CF disposable cookie cutter bike frames, silly priced CF wheels, and amateur level nonsense like power meters and bar held computers to ride effectively or even race effectively at the amateur level. It’s all marketing BS being sold to amateur level posers, status symbol seekers, and clueless clown types. I regularly encounter these clowns in the hills around Boulder and Golden, CO and I regularly drop the vast majority of them and see them getting easily dropped by many other riders. And when it regularly occurs their cute little poser power meters and Garmin computers, their cute little Enve or Zipp wheels, and their silly priced SWorks and Trek frames, etc.. don’t seem to make a hill of beans difference in their speed getting up a climb. But hey, when their ride is over they can always myopically go gaga over their “massive” 200 watt power output for 15 minutes. 😀😀 Cycling has become the new golf recreation. Loaded with poser clowns buying gear to imitate what sponsored pros use while laughably thinking all these gadgets and silly priced frames and components will make them magically faster.

@@ivanboesky1520 Feel better now?

I am considering buying a new crankset and vegast or aldhu are the two options. For me with a cat 2 performance in 5-20-60 min power I do not see the price difference justified between the two, so will happily settle for vegast, but I'd like to ask your opinion. Do you experience any benefit from the aldhu over the vegast? I have previous experience with 5800 and 6800 Shimano and Force 22 Sram and personally, I did not feel huge differences between them. Thank you!

Yep, but he also say that the aldhu will be extremely difficult to produce with consistent quality

@@einarhays title was misleading actually, seems to be quite good!

I´ve heard there´s a vast array of clips coming during this week. Sure. Rgr

Update, carbon arms holding up perfectly, so far

Carbon fiber has a finite life, most definitely shorter than quality solid metal cranks. All things carbon fiber have limited safe usable life. This is as it is. Believing differently will ultimately result in disappointment.

I got 1 and a half years and the bonded aluminium insert on the nds at the bb end unbonded from the carbon. Keep an eye on that

Um. No? I'm not sure where you are getting your prices from but my full Rotor Vegast setup was €200.

@@driventomadness117 At the rotor America site, a Vegast crank with two rings and and the axle is $500. That's what you'd get with a new 105 crank but the 105 crank is only $166. Am I looking at this wrong? To me, it looks like $200 gets you the cranks without anything else. Edit: Checked the international site and the Vegast with chainrings and axle is €400. I'm guessing you didn't need chainrings but the 105 comes with new chainrings so to keep the comparison apples to apples, you should include new chainrings, right?

105 might fail after a few years? Not sure about latest Di2 105 12sp crank but my 10sp 105 seems damn near bulletproof. I'd expect it to survive the apocalypse. Right along with cockroaches and piston wrist pins.

@@mike_f there's a weakness with the way the Shimano cranks are manufactured where the two halves that are bonded together can separate. I've had two Ultegra cranks fail in that fashion and I assume the 105 could be susceptible to the same issue. Hambini talks about that issue in the video and it's one reason look at rotor cranks.

@@shoerhino I'm aware of Ultegra and DA. But 105 was always different construction. 10sp was definitely not 2 halves. Not sure about 11sp but think it was not. So those, to my knowledge are bulletproof. But 105 12sp may be the 2 halves construction which would be a drag IMO.

The bottom shaft ends are not square and a variety of chain rings are available. Mine are vanilla Shimano

@@GregRenwick It was a sarcastic joke as in we are coming full circle. Just waiting for the day those GCN fools push for Square BB claiming superior drag and spinning 😂

@@danfuerthgillis4483 ok. I don't watch those guys. It's a good product and was reasonably priced. The chain rings are individual pieces bolted on just like Shimano chain rings. (cuz they are Shimano chain rings)

@@GregRenwick Yep the only issue with these rings is they are one piece, so that means no 52-40 combo ( don’t know if they make it) or 52/39 for example. I am on a 52/40 setup and really like it a lot in the flats as I don’t have any mountains here for 300 km, the 40t ring is really nice in heavier winds as it allows for faster speed without increased cadence.

@@danfuerthgillis4483 Right, so you buy the spider that mounts individual chain rings and then there is no problem. The review implies that the one piece chain rings (2 rings in one piece) is the only choice but that is incorrect. I know this because I have this setup on my bike. And have had 2 different combinations of chain rings.

New test out now on Fair Wheel Bikes

agree. got the p2m shimano set up on 170mm and has been great

Clickbaity title

Only possible with the 5-bolt version though, the 4-bolt only takes their own chainrings.

@@yonglingng5640 I have it with a Power2max power meter in 4 bolt and it can take various Shimano chain rings.

@@GregRenwick Yes, your 4-bolt holes aren't pocketed, so you're all good.

On the older 3D cranks there are two plugged holes at the pedal end. Maybe the last hole is at the axle side.

Claris is excellent for everyday use. Components are cheaper to replace when they wear out.

My NDS crank 165mm Vegast 24 failed After ~7 rides and broken threads. I've users a 175 for several months without issues so they indicates that Rotor has a huge variation in quality and accuracy. Not something you want on your cranks.

I wonder why more manufacturers don't use the same system. I think FSA does as well, but perhaps they pay a licensing fee. There are Chinese mfgs which do but they don't care about licensing.

@@szurketaltos2693 Hambini mentions this in the video: the Shimano Hollowtech II preload system is patented. I've had FSA cranks before and mine used a wavy washer for preload. The Shimano preload system doesn't work with a self-extracting crank bolt like what FSA tends to use, since it takes up the space that the Shimano preload bolt would otherwise occupy.

@@TypeVertigo hm, I remember having an older FSA crank with pinch bolts like the Shimano style, could be misremembering, and I definitely have an IXF crank that does but again, mainland China and patents.

@@TypeVertigo ah, I searched eBay and found some same model FSA gossamer cranks that use the pinch bolt system. So could be that Shimano threatened them with a lawsuit and they stopped using that design.

yes

They must be greased, otherwise your crankarms will seize on them.

Same. One of my biggest regrets was selling it...

On the contrary, Lightness is what the apes wanted, and that's what they got in return for greater cost and reduced reliability. 30 years ago you'd get a Dura Ace crank arm splitting in two in the perpedicular dimension. Now that's what you call the bisection of progress.

He's already given it - DUB, by design, has high bearing wear.

See Hambini's back catalog. SRAM cranks suffer from either the GXP design, which leads to higher bearing wear; or DUB, which leads to higher bearing wear.

I had a Rotor 3D back in 2015 and according to people I trust, that was the cause of the ubiquitous creaking in Cervélos from that era, including mine. After several potential solutions failed, I threw the Rotor away, put an Ultegra on and had ZERO issues… until it cracked hahahah… damn it…

Is there a high axle failure rate with Rotor???

Even if they're still made in Japan, even the monkey falls off from the tree. In my opinion, Shimano has gone too far in pursuit of ever lighter groupset. Unless their Hollowtech is built like airframe spar with rivets and corrosion prevention inside, the thinner material of the crank is least likely to withstand stresses and corrosion in a long term.

I’m testing them now. Feel/look cool but haven’t gotten any tangible comparative data yet. Will share when I do.

LOL

Let's hope so!

Rim brakes were around for 50-60 years. But then watch out here came discs. It was the end of the world and we had to decide which camp we were going to be in. So in the past 10 years everyone woke up and decided that discs were needed. After decades of rim braking it was an epiphany. In the last 5 years alone the weather has taken a turn for the worst, vast swaths of marketing departments have stepped in, product designers have been bolstered, all in order to deliver disc braking systems for consumers to consume. I urge you try stopping your bike using the shoe on your foot. It will most certainly be another ephiphany moment (for you).

Yea but rim brakes are good

I wrench in a shop. Road disc brakes are such incredible job security that I've spent entire work days working on nothing but 'amazing' disc brakes. Theyre supposed to last longer yet this stuff just flies off the shelves! We don't replace many rim brake pads for some odd reason! There has been a time where we limited sales to 4 sets of brake pads due to supply chain issues. Many are $30 plus per pair! Here in Wackofornia we've been in a drought for a couple years now! It probably helps my bottom line that my shop is at the bottom of a 3000 foot mountain, yet many roadies are afraid to use that front freakin brake! I find this fascinating!

@@rollinrat4850 spot on

The pedal thread is joint to the outer shell so yeah it is load bearing

The plastic cap preloads the BB bearings and with the crankarm pinch bolts torqued down, it'll stay put.

Stiffness if you have enough power and weight. The rotor stuff is also available for any axle size and way more crank lengths.

Modularity is a big plus on the Rotor ALDHU. Say if you want to try out a different crankarm length or the spindle's worn out, these can be swapped out individually, no need for a new crankset altogether.

Okay, tell us what is the wattage you are registering?

@@Newtube_Channel I peak @ 1265w and my ftp is 317w for a modest 4.54wkg ;)… one thing i could say is bad about rotor is their chainring bolts , absolute crap.

@@maxdtremblay Yes I believe you because I can confirm your experience. To be more precise the entire chainring interface itself lets the entire crank down. I don't believe it's prudent having a totally modular system like this where issues like stiffness and reliability matter. I also don't want to be that fixated about the crank.

@@Newtube_Channel i bought it cuz it looks hella cool haha seems like nothing escape a hambini reaming and every single component is shite… when are we gonna get a full hambini groupset ? Haha

Mine just arrived

@@renaissancefam5465 How long did you wait to get it?

For Rotor's spiders, only the 5-bolt version can take any chainring you like, the 4-bolt version takes only theirs.

Lots of videos about this. I'm running 165 and my knees are much happier. Doesn't detract from power as far as I can tell.

A small spacer to give the distance back should sort you out

Yes it is, you'll need to use Rotor's 24 mm steel spindle along with compatible crankarms (24 and 30 mm spindles take different crankarms). The BB can stay.