Tree Lite Splined Sprocket: initial thoughts

so yesterday i sold the leader that was on my hands for a little too long. it's not like i dont like leaders, quite the opposite- i saw a 729 and a 722 in person for the first time and i'm quite impressed. i expected the TRK to be impressively thick and cumbersome, but it was actually really thin and changed my perspective. however, i'm digressing so much that i'm starting to forget the basis of this post.

since the leader had half of the parts i used on my regular bike, i was down, well, half a bike.  after much deliberation trying to figure out what direction my bike should be going, i opted on getting a tree lite sprocket to get things moving. my initial reaction was "this thing looks heavy", but it really isnt. in fact it's lighter than the other sprocket fixed gear bmx crank setups use, the profile imperial. dont let the weight fool you though, it's thick and well machined from 7075 T6 aluminum. what i like about the tree lite is the tooth count. if you know me well, and as you can tell by the name of this blog, i like going fast. bmx sprockets usually do not come in large tooth counts (aside from the previously stated profile imperial), so at 39 teeth, i dont lose alot- i just have to run a smaller cog. the highlight of this chainwheel is the splined drive. though i do not have cranks just yet, a colleague of mine slapped them on with the usual demolition medial 2.0's everyone's running nowadays. the thing doesn't budge when it's on the spindle. you would think when you throw this thing through a hard skip stop the sprocket would fail, but no- this thing is solid.

here's how they make these suckers:

Sprocket Making Video from Tree Bicycle Co. on Vimeo.

now all i have to do is order my 170mm eclat tibia cranks and i will be on my way (unless someone has some medials they want to sell me). shouts to eric from the east side for buying my leader, and thanks to the dudes down in iminusd. like always, if you happen to be in the downtown san jose area, stop by and take a look.


that, and la vic's around the corner. mmmmm orange sauce.

jmik