Hope’s eagerly anticipated cranks were one of the hot products of this year, offering a strength and lightness that made them suitable for all biking styles. We are currently abusing a set in the long term test program and so far they have laughed off our best efforts to damage them.
Hope cranks feature a unique expanding spline axle/arm interface making assembly a little different from some other cranks on the market, but if you follow this guide you will find the process very simple.
Difficulty: easy
Necessary tools:
19 mm torque wrench
Good quality grease
10 mm Allen key
2.5 mm Allen key
Supplied Crank Assembly Tool
How to:
Note: Before you begin make sure that the preload nut on the non drive side arm is fully screwed on (no gap between the nut and the non drive side crank arm (reverse of Step 14).
The tools for the job, 10 mm Allen key, 2.5 mm Allen key, 19 mm Torque wrench, grease, Hope Cranks and supplied assembly kitStep 1: To avoid creaks apply a thin layer of grease to the axle
Step 2: Slide the non-drive side assembly into the bottom bracket from the non (left) drive side of the bike – DO NOT USE A HAMMERStep 3: Apply grease to the shaft spline and slide on the drive side assembly, making sure it’s oriented 180 degrees from the non-drive side armStep 4: Make sure that the crank is pushed on firmly and the splines are engagedStep 5: By hand, screw in the supplied crankset assembly toolStep 6: Use a 19mm wrench to tighten the crankset assembly tool until the cranks come to a solid stop against the shaftStep 7: Remove the crankset assembly tool. The crank should now be tight onto the splinesStep 8: Apply a thin layer of grease to the the tapered plugStep 9: Screw the plug in by hand first before using the crankset assembly tool before using the wrenchStep 10: Tighten the tapered plug using a 19mm torque wrench to 70-75 N.mStep 11: Apply a thin layer of grease to the drive side sharft end capStep 12: Screw the end cap in by hand firstStep 13: Fully tighten the drive side end cap with a 10mm Allen key to 17-20 N.mStep 14: On the non-drive side, unscrew the preload screw by hand until it comes into contact with the bottom bracket shield
Step 15: Tighten the preload nut pinch bolt using a 2.5 mm Allen key to 0.6-0.8 N.m, and check for any side play, and that the cranks spin freely
And that’s it, you are now good to go for a shred.
Words and photos: Trev Worsey
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