Shimano owned the quality game in cranks in the 90s. Having a several story tall drop forging "machine" that could achieve awesome grain alignment and get close to finish levels of forging in one massive stomp, along with many more decades experience forging things, gave them a huge advantage over the outfits who were machining down blocks of billet aluminum. And yet they were definitely seen as the boring choice at the time. Many riders, myself included, spent a lot of money on many different machined cranks - they weren't lighter, they definitely weren't stronger, and yet we could not resist their allure.
Feb. 25, 2022, 11:03 a.m. - Mike Ferrentino
Shimano owned the quality game in cranks in the 90s. Having a several story tall drop forging "machine" that could achieve awesome grain alignment and get close to finish levels of forging in one massive stomp, along with many more decades experience forging things, gave them a huge advantage over the outfits who were machining down blocks of billet aluminum. And yet they were definitely seen as the boring choice at the time. Many riders, myself included, spent a lot of money on many different machined cranks - they weren't lighter, they definitely weren't stronger, and yet we could not resist their allure.