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Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

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Every once in a while, a product comes along that manages to blend old school and new school in a seemingly perfect way. Judging by how long it’s taken Cane Creek to catch up with orders for the new eeWings crankset, I think they might have hit the mark.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Ever since Cane Creek announced the modern successor to the Sweetwings, the Fletcher, NC company has been swamped with orders. Clearly, the idea of a crankset that super light but more importantly, super stiff and more durable is a popular one. Even with a price tag of $999 (without a bottom bracket or chainring), they’re still flying off the shelves.

Naturally, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on a set as well.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Stepping in where Sweetwings left off, the eeWings are almost completely made from titanium. Because of that, Cane Creek claims that they are in the same weight class as high end carbon cranks, but 20-30% stiffer. They should fare better on rock strikes as well.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

To make it all work, the cranks use a one piece left arm and spindle, that has a toothed interface with the driveside crank – a bit like the Campagnolo Ultra Torque cranks. However, the interface is at the outside of the spindle with a giant 10mm fastening bolt that pulls the two pieces together.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

As you might imagine, it’s pretty important to get this bolt to the proper torque, which is why there is a bright yellow sticker on the bolt from the box. You must torque this to 52 Nm. Not sure I would leave this one to calibrated arm torque measurement.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Since everything is titanium, you should apply Ti-prep to all of the contact points. Conveniently, a tube of the Finish Line stuff is included inside the crank box.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

The crank utilizes the three bolt SRAM Direct mount standard, but a Wolf Tooth Components chainring just seemed like the right fit. WTC sent out a 34t SDM Boost chainring which came in at 74g and sells for $69.95.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Actual weight

The cranks themselves came in at 399g for the whole assembly, minus a chainring and BB for the 170mm arms.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Bottom Bracket

I’ve been waiting to use this Wheels Manufacturing BSA30 bottom bracket for something special, and I think this qualifies. The BB features large sealed bearings, additional outer seals, and comes in angular contact bearings (pictured, $74) or Ceramic Hybrid ($125).

For a list of compatible bottom brackets, check out this matrix put together by Cane Creek. Note that the cranks are not compatible with standard BB30 or PF30 bottom brackets. In order to use eeWings on either BB30 or PF30 frames, you must use one of the outboard bearing conversion bottom brackets to get the correct width.

Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes Hands On: Cane Creek eeWings titanium 1x crankset for mountain bikes

Overall, the installation went pretty smoothly. The cranks include detailed instructions which are pretty straight forward – just make sure to pay attention to the spacers needed based on your BB. Since this was a threaded BSA30 installation, I needed a 2.5mm bottom bracket spacer on the driveside which wasn’t included with the BB, plus the 1.75mm ee spacer for the spindle on the driveside. I’m particularly impressed with how freely the cranks spin even on a brand new bottom bracket.

Next task is getting these out on the trails and seeing how well they actually hold up in the long run – stay tuned!

canecreek.com

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44 Comments
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Sanchez
6 years ago

If using an oval ring is the timing in the same place with the chain ring mount 180* different from sram?

Kovas
6 years ago
Reply to  Sanchez

Yes – You’re all good. They work great with an oval (Absolute Black on mine).

Dougie Fresh
Dougie Fresh
6 years ago

Got a chance to see these beauts in real life and sweet John Tomac’s Ghost are they awesome. The box they come in weighs more than the cranks I bet.

And I believe they have a 10 year warranty too. Plus the preload guy is alloy which is a nice touch…

Marc L
6 years ago

Curious about heel clearance on these. My wallet would appreciate ruling them out on account of their looking like Race Face Next SLs (which my duck feet have been doing their best to wear a hole through). If they’re like Rotors, on the other hand, I may be in trouble.

A GUY WITH CALIPERS
A GUY WITH CALIPERS
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc L

MARC L – I WOULD BE GLAD TO TAKE A MEASUREMENT AND SEND BACK TO YOU BUT WE PROBABLY SHOULDNT PUT OUR EMAILS ON BR – IT MIGHT BE LIKE WRITING YOUR NAME/PHONE IN A BATHROOM STALL YIKES

Jenny
Jenny
6 years ago

867-5309

bill
bill
6 years ago
Reply to  Jenny

lol

TomM
TomM
6 years ago

Zach, it’s a shame you couldn’t fit this onto a titanium hardtail. Why don’t you send them to me to test on my Salsa Timberjack Ti? I checked the BB compatibility and they will fit. I also happen to use 170mm arms! Thanks in advance.

Steve @ Gears 4 Good
6 years ago
Reply to  Zach Overholt

KA Engineering (round and oval) & Carbon-Ti (round) titanium rings are available.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
6 years ago
Reply to  Zach Overholt

There are multiple Ti chaining options.

Robin
Robin
6 years ago

I’d commit crimes for a road version. Those look gorgeous.

Seraph
Seraph
6 years ago
Reply to  Robin

They’ll work fine with road 1x, which is the superior drivetrain anyway. 😉

Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

Maybe 1x is superior in your judgement, but unfortunately, such judgements are absolutely subjective and thus vary from person to person based on the individual’s needs and preferences.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
6 years ago
Reply to  Robin

They’re fine if you live somewhere with no climbing. Or if you gear down easy, and descend like someone that’s doing their first descent longer than 1/4 mile.

Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict
6 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

No it’s not.

aaa
aaa
6 years ago

where br wants you to believe ti strength to weight ratio is 20-30% better than carbon. lolz….

Superhawk
Superhawk
6 years ago
Reply to  aaa

The real gain in stiffness over comparable carbon cranks is the spindle. And the titanium spindle, as designed, is stiffer than the aluminum spindles used on carbon cranks. AND material properties are only part of the stiffness story — design (i.e. cross section and shape) can plan an even bigger role.

Brian
Brian
6 years ago
Reply to  aaa

@aaa it’s called validating by testing. You know…science. Lolz

someslowguy
someslowguy
6 years ago
Reply to  Brian

LOLZ LOLZ LOLZ LOLZ LOLZ LOZL

blahblahblah
blahblahblah
6 years ago
Reply to  Brian

righto brian show us the science, coz you know apparently?

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
6 years ago
Reply to  Brian

Everyone’s gear is the best, everyone else’s suck…validated by testing

Dinger
Dinger
6 years ago
Reply to  aaa

Right? Carbon fiber is an engineered material.

Never mind that the wheels on any given bicycle flex all over the place. And we’re worried about crank stiffness? *eye roll*..

The do look sexy, though.

Ish
Ish
6 years ago

Wow, those are seriously addicting to look at and want at any price. Being a power guy though, unless Stages can bake their meter to Ti, not ever happening

Sevo
Sevo
6 years ago
Reply to  Ish

Why would you want a stages on such a beautiful set of cranks? That’s like putting a sticker of Calvin peeing on a ford symbol on a Ferrari.

Just get an SRM, which makes a sram compatible powermeter. And they’re bombproof. Only bike component period that can last 3 full season on a Pro Tour level rider’s bike then can be passed down to a regular pro’s to use for another 10 years easy.

A crank with a Ten year warranty shoudl only get a Powermeter with the same longevity. Not a stick on.

Ish
Ish
6 years ago
Reply to  Sevo

I totally get your point but if I could get theses they are not going on a NAHMBS build. They will be ridden, raced, and trained on. Why not have the best of form and function? SRM’s are the gold standard but rarely seen on mountain bikes and, I am more than happy with Stages and their customer service. Plus it is the least obtrusive. Seeing Calvin pee on a ford sign on a Ferrari would make me laugh.

Douglas J Rusho
Douglas J Rusho
6 years ago
Reply to  Zach Overholt

Interesting indeed. I contacted Stages and challenged their engineers to pull this off, and they responded to send my request to Cane Creek, “you never know what may happen.”

Jon Maule
Jon Maule
6 years ago
Reply to  Ish

power2max uses the “older” SRAM 3 bolt pattern for their spider

Colin M
Colin M
6 years ago

Exactly 52 Nm! Lol Whatever floats your boat I guess.

Gillis
Gillis
6 years ago

If I thought bb standards were forever then it could be a worthwhile investment. But I can only imagine 5 years from now we’ll be on something new and these will be obsolete.

(ok, who am I kidding, there’s just no way I could convince my wife these are a good investment, lol!)

Kyle Klimas
Kyle Klimas
6 years ago
Reply to  Gillis

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Life’s to short to ride crappy cranks. Get EE’s and start enjoying the finer things in life!

mojo au gogo
mojo au gogo
6 years ago

i use sweet wings cranks and they are more than stiff enough and are actually very light indeed… anyone wishing to get rid of their sweet wings please make a note here for me to buy them…

Robertw
Robertw
6 years ago

Exactly 52N-m? Hope those threads are lubed.

Lars Danner
Lars Danner
6 years ago

I’d get a set in an instant if you made them for fat bikes.

Jeff
Jeff
6 years ago

And the elephant in the room….the original versions of these broke….like constantly, to the point where finding a used pair is Impossible. This is a poor application of this material.

Robin
Robin
6 years ago
Reply to  Jeff

The overwhelming majority of the original SweetWings were made from chro-mo, not Ti. I’ll bet a few things have been learned since then.

Andy
Andy
6 years ago

They are sweet as fu##…would love to get some but Iam too poor…bummer.

Mack_turtle
Mack_turtle
6 years ago

Those look very cool, but where are all these millionaires coming from that can spend over $1k on a crankset?

Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer
6 years ago
Reply to  Mack_turtle

Well thats the age old American tradition of buying luxuries one can’t afford with a credit card. All good as long as those minimum payments are made.

Michael Gleason
Michael Gleason
6 years ago

seriously no bb or chainring for a grand ?

Dominic
Dominic
6 years ago

There’s almost no point shipping a mtb crank with either of those these days as the variations in bikes are so wide. When they said limited production they wren’t kidding either, there have been less than 10 imported to canada so far.

Sun Hester
Sun Hester
6 years ago

The powermeter version is now available for those so inclined.
Do the eewing cranks provide any practical/ noticeable improvement over a set of Sram X01s? The flex difference I guess?
I’m coming up with a weight difference of around 57 grams or so. I’m WW but not quite that much!
Thx.

Sash1
Sash1
5 years ago

They do look fantastic!!.. However, I would just be so scared of the arm just flexing and breaking right of the axle if I was riding them, even if set the right tightening torque.. The thread inside the axle should be much longer inside too with a longer thread bolt to go with it hold the arm on safer with less flex maybe.. Or I think for the axle they should of just made a 48 spline, or clamp type axle instead.. I don’t know really? Their was cranks like this in the past that fell apart cos of the axle join wasn’t safe!! Anyone reading this have any views like me??

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