Surly Mr. Whirly Crankset

In the world of single speeds, Surly has long been known for their drivetrain components. First came the Singleator, the oft-copied but never duplicated chain tensioner for conversions. Later came their venerable stainless steel chainrings which pretty much kicked sand in the face of weight weenies everywhere and garnered audible grunts of approval from the world of everyman cyclists. It was only a matter of time before Surly introduced a crankset, and although it hasn’t quite set the world on fire, the Mr. Whirly has gained a loyal following due to its adaptable nature.

The same crankset can be set up as a single, double or triple depending on which spider is installed. Though complete cranksets are available you can go a la carte, as interchangeable spiders are available in 94 mm, 104 mm and 110 mm BCD. All attach to the driveside crankarm via the 58 mm BCD granny ring holes. I opted for their standard single speed crankset, which comes with a 33 tooth steel chainring and an outboard bottom bracket. It seemed like the perfect fit for my urban trail bike, aka my single speed cross bike with a mountain bike riser bar.

The spiders and crankarms are forged from 7075-T6 aluminum, aka the good stuff. Though complete cranksets are only offered with a limited choice in crankarm length, the armsets are sold separately in lengths of 165, 170, 175, 180 and 185 mm. The spindles are chromoly, and available in either 68/73 mm or 100 mm for fat bikes.

After months of riding, and not necessarily all of it in good conditions, the Mr. Whirly crankset is still functioning like the day it was installed. I haven’t had any issues with slipping bolts, or anything else of the like. It’s just been a solid workhorse of a crankset, as I kind of expected it to be.

The Mr. Whirly single speed crankset retails for $275. Check out www.surlybikes.com

Milwaukee Bicycle Co