Home > Event Coverage

EB17: Rotor locks in new road & MTB hubs, super light Aldhu 3D+ road crank, more

20 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Just before Eurobike officially kicked off, Rotor already let the cat out of the bag. One of their newest products was to be an all new free hub design that uses radial and angular pawls with a floating ratchet ring. Stating that the design offers less drag while saving weight, Rotor also points out that the design makes it easy to maintain without any special tools since there aren’t any threaded parts. From the get go, Rotor is offering three configurations – road rim, road disc, and MTB Boost.

Both the Road and MTB hubs use five of the angled pawls for 14.4º engagement, but the company says they are working on an enduro version that will have more pawls and will cut the engagement down to just 5º. As shown in the video above, when coasting, the clutch system moves the ratchet ring away from the pawls. If you keep coasting, the ring will stay disengaged for supposedly less friction, but as soon as you start pedaling the ring will reengage. It’s definitely not the quietest system, which could be a deterrent if you’re not into loud hubs. For complete pricing, weights, and more, check out the original post here.

In other big news for Rotor, they were showing off their new Aldhu 3D+ modular crankset, which they are calling their lightest ever. Taking naming inspiration from Carlos Sastre’s first victory on Rotor components while climbing the Alpe d’Huez, the crankset knocks 50g off their 3D+ crank for a complete weight of 597g. Made in Spain from 7055 aluminum for the arms and 7075 for the rings and other components, the crank features a 30mm spindle and a direct mount spidering, or a 110 x 4 BCD spider if you prefer traditional rings. The cranks are also available in rim brake or disc brake chain lines (43.5mm or 46mm), and in 170, 172.5, and 175mm lengths. Priced at $500 with round rings, spidering options will include 52/36, 50/34, and 53/39t, and the cranks include Rotors OCP mount technology for fine tuning the clocking of oval chainrings.

The Aldhu 3d+ spider is a bit heavier and subsequently more expensive than the spidering, but it will allow you to use other rings including Q-rings if you already have them.

Finally, Rotor was also showing their 2INpower dual sided MTB power meter which they say was the first to market in the industry. The cranks offer true dual sided measurement with four pairs of strain gauges, and include a lithium-ion battery that is rechargeable through the magnetic charging port on the driveside crank arm. Charging is said to take about 3hrs and will provide up to 250hrs of ride time. Complete weight of a 170mm length arm with a direct mount Q-ring in 30t is 695g claimed, and the cranks are available in Boost 1x only chainlines. Compatible with ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart, the cranks are OCP compatible and offered in 165, 170, and 175mm lengths.

rotorbike.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

20 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ken
Ken
6 years ago

man…perhaps I should regret my recent purchase of the Easton EC90 SL crankset. This one seems great.

Mechanic
Mechanic
6 years ago
Reply to  Ken

No, you shouldn’t. The Easton uses a pattern to mount rings and spider that is widely available and adopted by many others.

VeloKitty
VeloKitty
6 years ago

Nice looking crankset, but the lack of sub-compact chainrings seems like a massive fail. Even on the road, for a lot of riders, a 50/34 is way too much gearing.

AK_Ben
AK_Ben
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

Hmm, I would expect Rotor feels like they will meet the vast majority of chainring range demands that their customers might have by making compact the smallest offering in the Aldhu. Running a 34 inner chainring combined with a 30 or even 32 cog should cover most user needs on the climbs. You get in trouble trying to be all things to all people. Designing the crankset to extend to sub-compact range would likely not be worth the added effort, and would possibly dilute the performance of the crankset with bigger chainring.

Technician
Technician
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

I live in fairly hilly city (not mountains, though) and still running 55/42T set. How did we ride in times when 42T was lowest you can get?

Kristina Koscova
6 years ago
Reply to  Technician

Maybe the optimal cadence is the answer for your present enormous chainrings.

Your mom
Your mom
6 years ago
Reply to  Technician

I was thinking the same thing. I’m running a 11-28 with a 53/44, and I live in Colorado. I know some people need lower, but seriously, if they do, they shouldn’t gripe about Rotor not manufacturing exactly want they want. We got fat, and we got soft.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

Not a fail…at least not yet. Almost nobody is running them so why would they bother?

Michele
Michele
6 years ago

I think its gorgeous makes me want to replace vuma quad i still run even though its worked great!

satanas
satanas
6 years ago

Rotor already offer a 46×30 spider/ring set for other cranks, so it should be easy to do for the new ones as well.

blah blah blah
blah blah blah
6 years ago

i really want an all rotor bike now!

Pies
Pies
6 years ago

Made in Spain? I didn’t realize that Spain is in Taiwan!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129280137@N07/16005966326/in/photostream/

Austen Bickford
6 years ago
Reply to  Pies

Some of the OE stuff is made in Taiwan. All of the aftermarket units are manufactured in Spain.

Greg
Greg
6 years ago
Reply to  Pies

Only Rotor cranks made in Taiwan were 3DForged for Cervelo (and possibly others as OE). it’s my understanding that that has stopped as well now, so it’s all in Spain.

Joenomad
Joenomad
6 years ago

rim brake or disc brake chanciness? Chain line?

Michele
Michele
6 years ago

Anybody know if thered be any advantage/benefit of this lovely crank over my otherwise flawless vuma quad? Any excuse to buy it whatsoever much appreciated 😉 for campy 10 sp (for now) until thar goes…

Klaster_1
Klaster_1
6 years ago
Reply to  Michele

Vumaquad limited chainring availability, for one.

Bean
Bean
6 years ago

Anyone else notice how quick the wheel slowed in the video? Appears to be a lot of drag when compared to other hubs (i.e. DT 240).

Michele
Michele
6 years ago

Klaster- yes limited rings and the ones they have are flexy, not sexy, thats been my biggest complaint. Maybe when this latest ring is worn out i will have my excuse!

VeloFred
VeloFred
6 years ago

Oh, you guys are so strong. I’m just so impressed.

Why exactly does the market need another 53/39 or 50/34 crankset?

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.