TA Zephyr Light Cranksets

The Zephyr Light is much like the Zephyr, except it can only be used with two chainrings, and it is only for single bikes, not tandems. But the chainrings are exceptionally well made, with precise pinning and ramps for smooth shifting with either Shimano STI or Campagnolo Ergo shifters. The rings are compatible with 8, 9 or 10 speed derailleurs and chains from both Campagnolo and Shimano.

With the extremely high gearing that most bikes come with these days, many riders can't use all of the gears on their bikes. A 53 tooth outer chainring is much too high a gear with a 12 tooth rear cassette cog for most riders. With the Zephyr Light crankset, you can have a road doube crank that gives you gearing you can use, rather than gearing that an Olympic road racer might use. A 48-34 chainring set provides a far more useful gear range than 53-39 for most riders.

We have one set of new 175mm Zephyr Light arms in stock. The price for this pair of arms is $400.00

Unlike most other cranksets, the Zephyr Light is available in a wide range of crank lengths; as of Jan, 2011, 170mm is the only size left. To help decide what crank length is best for you, see my article on fitting.

I also stock many sizes of TA rings for other cranksets. See my chainrings page.

Choose an outer chainring, 50, 48 or 46 and an innner ring 36 or 34. The only finish available for the chainrings is black, as shown in the photo above. The 50-34 combination will not shift quite as smoothly as a 48-34 or 50-36 combination. The 46-34 and 46-36 work very well. The Axix Pro bottom bracket with 116mm titanium axle is the perfect match for this crankset.

These chainrings are spaced for nine or ten speeds. If you use them with an eight or seven speed drivetrain, you should simply use a nine speed chain. The nine speed chain will shift just as well as a wider eight speed chain in back, but will prevent the chain from rubbing on other chainrings in front. I have found Sachs nine speed chains to be just as tough and durable as eight speed chains, so there's really no reason not to use them.

A spacer can be added to the left side of TA bottom brackets to adjust chainline. The spacer is 2.5mm thick, and fits between the left bearing and the left bearing cup. That shifts the axle 2.5mm to the right, and with the 116mm axle, gives you a 43mm chainline with the Zephyr Light crankset. The spacer adds $3.70 to the cost of the bottom bracket. You can also use a Phil Wood bottom bracket, but they do cost a bit more.

If you prefer to have your crank arms perfectly symmetrical, you can use a longer axle and don't offset it. A 119mm axle offset just a tiny bit will give good chainline and be close to symmetrical. A 122mm axle will be just about perfectly symmetrical.

Axix Bottom Bracket

I also stock two high quality sealed bearing bottom brackets from TA to work with the Zephyr cranks; the Axix, and the Xytech. The Xytech has a third bearing on the right side for extra durability. The Axix and Xytech retaining cups have lip seals, in addition to the seals built into the cartridge bearings. Both the Axix and Xytech are available in "Pro" models. The Axix Pro and Xytech Pro have titanium axles to save weight. Cups and lock rings are all aluminum. The Axix and Xytech bottom brackets require a special tool set to install. The special tool is needed because the lock ring is slightly smaller than standard lock rings, and since it's made of aluminum, a standard spanner will strip out the notches in the ring. Only the TA spanner will fit. To use the TA bottom bracket, your frame's bottom bracket shell must be precisely machined. If not, you should either have that done, of just use the Phil Wood bottom bracket. The Phil Wood doesn't require a precisely machined BB shell to work properly. I stock Phil Wood bottom brackets to fit the Zephyr. If you want the easiest bottom bracket to install, by all means get the Phil Wood.

Xytech Bottom Bracket

Some cyclists are concerned about "Q" factor. "Q" factor is the width of the cranks where the pedals attach. I've measured the "Q" factor of the Zephyr triple crank with several bottom brackets.

Zephyr arms, TA Xytech 116mm bottom bracket - 147.5mm (double chainrings)

The thread used for crank dust caps and extractors on TA cranks used to be unique. But the Zephyr uses the industry standard thread, so Campagnolo, Sugino and Park crank extractors work just fine with the Zephyr Light. And the TA Auto-Extractors can be used on most other brands of cranks.

Axix Bottom Bracket spanner sets will only work with the Axix Bottom Bracket. And, the Axix bottom bracket cannot be installed properly without the Axix spanner set.

For other bottom bracket choices for the Zephyr crank, click here.

For more chainrings see my chainrings page.

Weight

Zephyr Light crankset: 175mm arms, 48-34 teeth: 560 grams.

This page was last updated: Saturday, December 31, 2016

To see my full selection of chainrings, click here.

For TA Alize cranksets, click here.

For more about bottom brackets, click here.

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This page updated: Saturday, September 22, 2018

Peter White Cycles LLC
24 Hall Rd.
Hillsborough, NH 03244
USA
603 478 0900 Phone