Hammerschmidt crank

miguel73

Anyone got one? If so what are they like, have there been any issues with it? I'm toying between the nerve am 9x and the strive es 9, but the hammerschmidt on the es 9 is making me a bit wary

delcol

wary of what?

our kid got 2 bikes with the hammer.. he been running it on the knolly for 3 years with out any issues, and has one on his hardtail to, no issues.. the only thing to be wary of is the weight compared to a normal crank.. but then you get the better ground clearence, instant shifting (up front) weather your pedaling forward backwards or stood still.

no more having to shift early for those short steep teccy climbs to go bombing in and as soon as you run out of steam click you down into granny and power on to the top..

miguel73

Just heard a few mixed reviews about them, but I suppose it's the same as everything; some people have no problems, some have problems.. Made up my mind to get the ES 9 which has got the hammer

paul.skibum

I know a guy who has it on his freeride style bike - he loves it for the clearance - never been hung up on anything but he warns they alter the pedalling characteristics of a lot of full sussers as you are effectively always in the small gear - you wouldnt want one on a single pivot bike I dont think.

I tried one briefly on a hardtail we had in the shop and I liked that you could change front "cogs" while trackstanding so you could immediately shift into a lower ratio if the need arose and there was no problem with what gear you were in at the back vs the front ratio - it was just an instant change. feel wise I didn't notice much difference when pedalling.

I think it would be a good addition to an all mountain style bike (or maybe a freeride that you want to ride up on) as long as it works with the suspension which if you already have a small cog you can try out by riding in the wrong gears a bit (small to small) and see how the susp reacts.

YeehaaMcgee

paul.skibum wrote:

I know a guy who has it on his freeride style bike - he loves it for the clearance - never been hung up on anything but he warns they alter the pedalling characteristics of a lot of full sussers as you are effectively always in the small gear - you wouldnt want one on a single pivot bike I dont think.

Unless, of course, the pivot is placed to work with the granny ring.
What you say is true though, all full suss frames are designed for optimum performance around a particular gearing and chain location, and it's almost universally some gear in the middle chainring that the sweet spot.
Marin changed the linkage configuration on their Attack trail to accomodate the hammerschmidt model. The standard bike was optimised around a rougly 32-36t chainring, but since the hammerschmidt is smaller, they changed it.