Track cranks: Best bang for the bug?

I recently got myself a Miche 51t chainring and haven't got around to try it yet. Seems like Miche stuff hasn't so much of good reputation.

Chainrings are not to the same standard as Sugino 75/Zen, Shimano Dura Ace or Campagnolo Record but also significantly cheaper. They are in the same league as Gebhardt and, in general, better than SRAM.

Interesting. I always thought that Gebhardt chainring are heavy but strong. But then again I comparably started only recently with track riding and have never ridden a Zen Chainring on a Sugino 75DD crank. From what I read this should be a total revelation in comparison..

Square Taper for European track riders, Outboard bearnings for US track (and Omniums on fixed gear street bikes). I wonder why..

The divide, I think, between the US and Europe is really just about marketing, price and distribution of SRAM. SRAM, an American company which purchased Sachs (a German company which had purchased blocks of the traditional French companies), Zipp, Truvativ etc. has an excellent distribution network in the US. Their Red road group has managed to win over a lot of hearts and minds there. Their track cranks are also, as I've already mentioned, priced a fraction of Sugino (made in Japan), DuraAce (made in Japan) or Campagnolo (made in Italy). Sugino 75 is, actually, not that popular on the European continent. Here it is really Shimano DuraAce, Campagnolo Pista and a number of niche players at the elite level. In Europe there are loads of Shimano 7710 to be seen at the track and its Octalink v1 and not square taper. Not only is Campagnolo priced below both Sugino and Shimano but the brand continues to be very positively viewed in Europe.

Just back from CT scan courtesy of Miche Primato with <2000km.

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