Rotor 3D30 Road Crank Arms

Our wish list for cranksets is actually pretty short: stiff, reliable, and light. In that order. You're not alone if a little carbon fiber lightbulb just went off in your head, but many top manufacturers still rely on good ol' alloy for the job, Rotor included. The 3D30 Crank Arms are the brand's workhorse racing model. They're slightly heavier than the flagship 3D crank arms, but the difference is a mere 29g of claimed weight, and they're still every bit as stiff and reliable. Given the order of our above criteria, you'll understand why we're every bit as enthused about the 3D30 model. So the obvious question here is: what about the weight difference with carbon It's negligible, at best. Rotor brings all of its tech geekery to bear on these puppies in the form of a proprietary CNC machining process called Trinity Drilling System TDS. It involves mapping and removing as much material as possible without compromising the crank arms' structural integrity or stiffness. Maybe Rotor could've shaved off more weight, but we're assuming restraint won out because like us those crafty Spaniards were unwilling to make sacrifices in how the crank feels under the pedal stroke in order to score points on the scale. To which we say gracias. Grams are shed but the stiffness to weight ratio remains in the green.