Removing outer chain ring from a Shimano M739 crank

[daugs]

yes you can switch between integrated spider, 5-arm CD and 4 arm modern. it may be possible but cannot remember if you can fit 5 arm atb from the xtr range, there are slight differences.
you can also get single speed ring from somewhere. a search on this topic should bring up a few threads with where and Whatnots.
that's the advantage of this FAFF, as middleburn found.
Of course by the time it became useful, shimano changed the FAFF.

Remember though, this is 98+ FAFF not true retro <97 FAFF

thanks for that, will check it out, and as to the 98+, yes, absolutely, this is my dilemma with the DEAN, it's 1998, my mtb experience is all early 90s but wanted to try an aluminium project and DEAN came up, hence my ignorance and questions, but probably a bit early for the 98+ crowd......

 

[drystonepaul]

I have one of these made by Tacx. It makes removing even very tight lockrings very easy and damage free.

 

[mattr]

apologies bit off topic but why the change in design from the earlier one piece spiders then removable rings to having spider part of large ring, this is still all fitting to square taper axle so just wondered on benefits ?

Not faff, cost.

You can use the same forging for left and right crank arms as there is no integrated spider to forge. They still do this on the current crop of cranks, but the spider is now permanently fixed to the RH crank, rather than lockringed.
The shimano hollowtech forged cranks are not cheap to produce, going from 2 forgings to 1 saves a fortune.
And the CNCing of the spiders/chainrings can be done anywhere, there is no special process. So you can probably get a million chainring/spider combinations from China/Vietnam/Taiwan for the price of one set of hollowtech forging tools from Japan...........

 

[taffy]

apologies bit off topic but why the change in design from the earlier one piece spiders then removable rings to having spider part of large ring, this is still all fitting to square taper axle so just wondered on benefits ?

Not faff, cost.

You can use the same forging for left and right crank arms as there is no integrated spider to forge. They still do this on the current crop of cranks, but the spider is now permanently fixed to the RH crank, rather than lockringed.
The shimano hollowtech forged cranks are not cheap to produce, going from 2 forgings to 1 saves a fortune.
And the CNCing of the spiders/chainrings can be done anywhere, there is no special process. So you can probably get a million chainring/spider combinations from China/Vietnam/Taiwan for the price of one set of hollowtech forging tools from Japan...........

Yes and no my XT M785 cranks are a mirror image of each other so they are still making a left and a right arm . moot anyway as the LH arm has the pinch bolts as well.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Remember though, this is 98+ FAFF not true retro <97 FAFF

M739 cranks came out for '97.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Same for M569. With M950 FAFF in 1995 with its integrated, 5arm atb and singlespeed DH ring.
But I was running along the lines of the 4arm in my head (MC40), my bad

 

[mattr]

Yes and no my XT M785 cranks are a mirror image of each other so they are still making a left and a right arm . moot anyway as the LH arm has the pinch bolts as well.

Probably still the same forging, just different machining. Which is fairly low cost to do two different shapes.

 

[taffy]

Yes and no my XT M785 cranks are a mirror image of each other so they are still making a left and a right arm . moot anyway as the LH arm has the pinch bolts as well.

Probably still the same forging, just different machining. Which is fairly low cost to do two different shapes.

yes obviously, or in fact no not at all the same forging. And surprisingly no machining!

 

[mattr]

Yup, you've had a better look at them than me!