HOPE EVO CRANKS
TOPEAK SMARTGAUGE D2
£255 without chainring
SPECIFICATION Weight: 555g including axle (602g with chainring) • Colours: Black, red, orange, silver, purple and blue • Options: Axles to suit a range from Boost, fat bikes and Superboost • Contact: hopetech.com
Hope initially made short EVO cranks for extra clearance on e-bikes, and ended up experimenting with even shorter lengths after seeing some additional benefits. The brand settled on 155mm as a sweet spot, using the same secondgeneration, self-extracting, 7150 alloy arms and oversized 30mm splined 7075 axles across a variety of fitment widths.
Being shorter means the cranks are lighter and stiffer, but Hope also champions extra ground clearance, a more centred rider stance, extra stability and faster cadence as additional benefits. The stability is due to more centred feet having less rotational force/leverage to deflect the bike from pointing dead forwards when pinballing through rough stuff.
The extra ground clearance is undeniable, and I found that extra 15mm over a typical 170mm crankarm makes a huge difference. Being able to pedal almost everywhere without ever clipping the floor is a big deal; especially smuggling cranks over rough ground. This could be an advantage in certain racing scenarios, and it increases safety by reducing the potential for clipping rocks and stumps.
The tighter stance, where your leading and trailing feet are closer together, feels a bit more like being stood on skis, and is actually quite noticeable. Although hard to get used to at first, I found it easier to tip side-to-side from the hips when driving and threading the bike along trails. The flip-side, however, is less leverage from (especially) the back foot to steer the bike when cutting into turns or initiating Scandi flicks.
Longer cranks exert more of a calming force on the suspension, by stabilising bike and rider weight through the chain. It was only when running the 155mm cranks that I realised the significance of this effect. With the shorter cranks there’s more of a chainless feel, where the suspension is slightly freer, but there’s less drive to pump hollows and stay supported in deep berms. I added compression to the shock to counter it, but the bike still didn’t feel exactly as I wanted.
The main thing I really didn’t like with Hope’s stubby cranks is the pedalling action. I tend to stomp the downstroke to get up steep hills and accelerate, and for me there’s not enough drive through the power stroke with each crank revolution. I couldn’t accelerate as effectively in short bursts, when exiting turns, to boost back up to speed. There’s also a reduction in leverage when climbing, particularly over small ledges.
It's not a slight difference either; the amount of extra spin needed to generate the same torque and forward momentum is massive. Maybe it’s age or physiology, but my legs don’t feel happy at 100rpm, and that’s what you’ll need to aim for with these cranks. Even if you drop teeth on the front chainring to balance gear ratios (Hope recommends two), you’ll still often be in the 52t sprocket on the cassette twiddling away and feeling slow. You’ll also be in the least efficient chain-line zone, and running a smaller chainring may mess up the anti-squat.
Compared to SRAM’S GX Eagle cranks, on the same bike, Hope’s cranks didn’t feel as
solid or positive, either under power or when steering with feet. Basically, Hope’s expensive cranks feel a bit soft, and using big flat pedals clearly twists the tips of the machined arms, which feels vaguer both when pedalling and controlling the bike.
I get why Hope sees something in 155mm cranks, but even though I’m not tall, this experiment proved, on an analogue bike at least, the concept isn’t for me. My conclusion is my minimum length would be 165mm, which feels like it strikes a better compromise between power delivery, cadence, clearance, and stability.
£29.99
SPECIFICATION Weight: 95g • Contact: extrauk.co.uk
I can’t stress how important it is to run the correct tyre pressures, and the only way you can achieve that consistently, using different pumps, is with a pressure gauge. It’s not enough to use the one on your floor pump, as most of those are not calibrated and not very accurate – the gradients on the dial can often be quite small, especially on high pressure/small-volume pumps.
The Topeak Smartgauge D2 is rated to 250 psi but is also accurate to 0.1 psi. It works on both Presta and Schrader valves using the built-in Smarthead – you simply push it on with no need to reconfigure the internals. My only slight issue with this is that it can leak a little bit of air from a Presta valve as it depresses the internal plunger, and this can get a little gunked up, especially if you get any sealant leak through the valve.
To allow you to fine-tune the pressure it has a bleed valve on the side, but it’s a bit too easy to press by mistake, purging more than necessary.
The Smartgauge is powered by a single
CR2032 battery (one is included) and has a simple on/off switch that also allows you to toggle through the three different pressure values on the display. Psi and bar are universal, of course, but kg/cm2 seems unnecessary.
The tool bleeps when taking a reading and has a handy reset button, allowing you to bleed air and recheck the pressure. It also shuts down after around 25 seconds to preserve battery life. However, I found if I left this gauge in my tool box it would often turn on accidentally and sometimes
I’d reach for it and it’d be totally dead. The twist-in battery cover on the back of the Smartgauge D2 is also not that secure and occasionally would fall out.
The Smartgauge D2 is accurate, but it has a couple of features that don’t really need to be there, like the twist head and extra pressure values.
Currently my go-to gauge is the analogue Accu-gage; I can’t really measure 0.1 psi, like with the Smartgauge D2, but it’s Presta and psi-only, and is more robust. Crucially though, it’s cheaper to buy initially, and in the long run, because it doesn’t need batteries. Analogue may be old school, but in this case it just makes more sense.