General: Opinions and thoughts on Sugnio Messenger Crankset

Howdy everyone. Just wanted to say that I think being a part of this site is great. A lot of knowledge and really great bikes.

That being said, I wanted to make a thread asking opinions on the Sugino Messenger Cranksets. I've heard some mixed things about the cranksets from people loving them to people complaining about them being noisy and whatnot.

I wanted to first ask what your opinions were on these cranks either from first-hand experience or word-of-mouth.

Secondly, I choose to look at these cranks because they seem common and seem both reliable and relatively cheap. I am upgrading my 2009 Flite 100 and I am trying to decide which components to buy. If there are any other suggestions of great, quality cranks please let me know. I am open to look at cranks that may be a little more expensive but nothing too crazy. I'm looking for quality and best "bang for your buck".

Thanks ahead of time for your feedback.

i had it. chainline doesn't line up with track hubs. 130 bcd kind of limits your chainring choices. john "prolly" watson put a bashguard on his and grinded the shit on it, and it was fine. should do fine.

Posted By: tangsutoForgive me for being a noob, but what do you mean it "limits your chainring choices"?

Since 130 bcd is less common than other sizes.

they are pretty good chainrings. but they only go up to 48t (and thats also kind of hard to find).

you'll probably be fine on a 46 tooth chain ring, which happens to be standard on sugino messengers. andel/alien/kazane(mabye all city too?) cranks are like $50 cheaper than sugino messengers and have 144 bcd, which is the standard track bolt pattern. bontrager makes a singlespeed crank for about the same price as messengers made with 7075 aluminum and an outboard bottom bracket (but 130 bcd). the problem with sugino messengers is that they are road cranks with one chainring (you can put another chainring on the inside).

Posted By: the rabbi

Posted By: Kyle Dickinson

Posted By: tangsutoForgive me for being a noob, but what do you mean it "limits your chainring choices"?

Since 130 bcd is less common than other sizes.

130 is the most common? that's road bcd. sugino, ta specialites, blackspire, and a few companies make 1/8" 130bcd chainrings, they aren't rare at all. i've never had a problem with chain alignment with my messenger cranks w/the standard 103mm sugino bb.

So what you're saying is that if you have the right parts (i.e. standard 103mm sugino bb and 1/8 chainring) everything is normal and shouldn't be a problem.

The only thing you need to know about the messenger cranks is that they are shit and the cheap as price of $80 is way too much for the shit quality they are.

For not much more money, you can pickup a set of Sugino 75's on Ebay used or NOS, put them on your bike and never have to worry about buying cranks again. I'm not sure if you need it, but when I changed from the messenger cranks to 75's, I could feel a HUGE difference in power and stiffness.

im riding the truvativ omnium cranks. best cranks ever. super stiff, super strong, and you can find them for like 160. plus i think they look sexy

for your price, I would suggest the Truvativ Omniums, they're ultra stiff, come with a decent 144bcd chainring, and also come with an external gxp bottom bracket, all for like 170 bucks. Otherwise you can get the Miche 144bcd track cranks with a ring for like 150 or 140 in some cases

Posted By: tangsutoSo what do you suggest? You can't just say it's horrible and leave me hanging. Haha

just get anything else. dura ace is really nice and the new truvativ omnium pros are also very good. pricey but they will last and they perform better.

i currently have the stock shimano cranks on my bike with a biopace chainring. the biopace chainring is not working on a fixed gear for obvious reasons. the chain keeps coming off. being new to fixed gears, i was going to ask if you thought a sugino messenger chainring would work with that or if i should just buy the crankset?

i am confused exactly about what the bcd is and whether or not i would have to buy a new bottom bracket with the crankset? if that is the case, i would just buy the chainring for now. i have found the messenger crankset online for $115. it has the 130 bcd and the cranks are 165mm.

Haha now hold on a second. I'm reading a whole lot of full of shit statements in this thread from people I don't think have ever actually rode this particular crankset.
I've ridden everything from Sugino 75s to Dura-ace to Suntour Superbe to Miche Primatos and currently I ride a set of Sugino Messengers paired with a 46t Messenger chainring and the Sugino 103mm sealed bottom bracket.
In terms of chainline the real secret is to use the Sugino 103mm BB. I've got a damn near perfect chainline with that.
In terms of quality they're fine. I don't imagine I'd wanna use the messenger crankset competitively on the velodrome but for everyday riding they work great.
They do use the mildly uncommon 130bcd so your choice of chainrings is pretty much limited to Sugino's offering. I've never seen this is much of a problem as I just use the messenger chainring.
Sure there are "nicer" cranksets out there but almost all of these would be overkill for what you're looking to do. I'd say get you a set of messengers and be happy with the purchase. Don't go spending a ton of money on a crankset just because a couple of goobers on Velospace are convinced you need to spend an entire paycheck on 'em.

thanks jaiden i appreciate it.

Posted By: the rabbi

Posted By: iron jaidenThey do use the mildly uncommon 130bcd so your choice of chainrings is pretty much limited to Sugino's offering.

130mm is standard road bcd. not uncommon at all.

Well clearly but what I meant was uncommon in the case of track chainrings. The 144bcd has become a much more widely used standard when it comes to this type of chainring. If the dude were building a geared road bike we wouldn't even be talking bolt patterns as you're going to most often run into 130bcd rings.

Contrary to popular belief some of us actually went to a school like UBI and spent years earning a living behind a wrench :)

i ride em . my chainlines perfect with a 103 bb and a paul hub. ive had em for a while and my only complaint is the flex.. i dont know how the stock bb is since i got em used.id go for it mine are treating me well fuck the haters