Previewing the route recently of the Marshbrook CycleOps Power Road Sportive, I was taken by the neat, crisp and dainty appearance of the chainset being ridden – to great effect – by fellow previewer Andy Jones. On enquiring as to its provenance I was informed that it hailed from the factory in Taiwan of a company called KCNC and that, by an incredible stroke of luck, Andy just happened to be KCNC’s UK distributor through his retail outlet, Clee Cycles.
That, in short, is how I became aware of the KCNC K-Type RD2 chainset and bottom bracket, to give it its slightly long-winded official title. A request for a test sample explains how RCUK now has one to play with…
A clue as to how the components are made may be gleaned from the manufacturer’s name; each part is CNC-machined from a suitable material, which in this case means various alloys of aluminium plus a hint of stainless steel. The latter is used for the left-hand crank extractor cap, with T-7451 scandium aluminium alloy the choice for the bottom bracket axle and 7075 alloy for pretty much everything else.
Notable features of the design include crank arms each with two holes drilled along their length, the massively beefy bottom bracket axle and the arrangement for taking up axial axle play, which consists of a split collar with tapered bore that moves sideways on a conical projection when tightened.
Although both crankarms can be removed from the axle, it is designed to be removable and fitted with the right-hand crank left in place, making it a sort of halfway house between conventional and integrated axle cranksets.
There’s a choice of standard 53/39 and compact 50/43 chainring formats and of crank lengths, which come in 170mm, 172.5mm and 175mm lengths. The bottom bracket cups are British threaded and contain steel outboard bearings, with ceramics an upgrade option. Weight depending on format is around 670g for the complete assembly and tread width, or “Q” factor, is 151mm.
First Ride on its way.
KCNC K-Type RD2 chainset and bottom bracket £299.99
