I don't have info on the Silver cranks, but Bill's Rene Herse crank weight seems high.
The last RH 171 mm arms I weighed came out at 378 g. Since these are net-shape forged, the weight is very consistent. Polishing removes a few grams, but anything more than 3 g off the target weight would surprise me—and too much polishing will make them lighter, not heavier. As an additional datapoint, complete RH cranks weigh between 498 g (165 mm, 42/26 rings) and 528 g (171 mm, 46/30 rings). Larger rings will obviously weigh a bit more. Put into context, that's about 25% to 30% lighter than most cranks out there—without giving up strength. That's the result of the net-shape forging and the design, with just three arms. That's also what accounts for the price difference—not just the extra forging dies and more expensive materials (not all 7075, 2014, etc. aluminum is the same, even if the chemical composition is supposed to be similar), but also a different production process to ensure quality with a 3-arm spider that leaves very little room for error. Does it matter? Realistically, you won't feel the extra weight of heavier cranks by themselves. However, on the complete bike, it all adds up. If every part of your bike on average weighs 25% more, your 24 lb. bike becomes a 30 lb. bike. Years ago, Mark and I weighed every single part of our bikes, as well as some surprisingly light mid-century bikes. There was a late 1940s Alex Singer rando bike that weighed 10.2 or 10.3 kg (22.7 lb)—fully equipped with lights, fenders, racks (front and rear), 38 mm tires, etc. (It's in the Golden Age book.) We realized light weight in a bike doesn't come from one or even a few parts, but from every part being optimized. It's rare to save more than 50 g on a single part—except cranks, which can be quite heavy—but even for the other parts, 50 g x 20 is 1 kg. Jan Heine Rene Herse Cycles Seattle, WA, USA On Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 10:28:29 AM UTC-8 Bill Lindsay wrote: > I have weighed Silver 1 cranks in 173. I have weighed Silver 3 cranks in > 173. I have not weighed Silver 2 cranks > > My Silver 1 left crank arm in 173mm weighed 267g > My Silver 3 left crank arm in 173mm weighed 201g > My Silver 1 right crank arm in 173mm with my own idiosyncratic 40/37/34 > rings installed weighed 484g > My Silver 3 right crank arm in 173mm with a chain guard, 38 ring and 26 > ring installed weighed 438g > My Silver 3 crank arms 173mm with no rings and no chainring bolts and no > crank bolts weighed 460g > > According to my notes, Rene Herse 171mm arms weigh 418g with no rings or > bolts. > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > On Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 2:26:00 PM UTC-7 Igor wrote: > >> Has anyone here weighed the 170 variety and can tell me the weight? >> Curious how they stack up against other cranks >> >> Thanks >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/45e91eae-7493-43ec-a6ac-0e72ef8a4533n%40googlegroups.com.
