Cross performance bars Reviews

[Nutball]

Who has a solid milled one of these? How are they holding up? Do they appear to be Archer equivalent in quality or better or worse?

Could someone get me some precise gauge measurements, so I can compare tolerances against other bars I have?

 

[Ronie]

If they are the same as the Archer bar I'd keep an eye on the tips, I've had two fairly new Archer bars chip for no good reason. The pics are of the two Archer bars.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

I bought an Archer bar for my Pro Mac 800 with the D176 mount.
The rivet that holds the sprocket nose on was obviously driven in too much and the factory put a grinder to the other side to flatten it, consequently taking a scoop out of the bar. Pretty terrible quality control and unacceptable by most factory standards, totally fine if I did it in the woodshed.

 

[Nutball]

I got one, I had a feeling they were probably relabled Archer, and they do seem to be. The same super thick grey paint, same finish inside the rails, same useless code printed where real bar info should be. It looked like it may have the slightest warp, but after bending it on my knee a bit (I don't know if I even bent it enough) and rechecking in better lighting, I can see the sprocket from the mount through the rails. The tip was bent and splayed a very slight amount. The splaying may be from too tight of rivets or who knows what. At a glance or quick close look, these minor flaws would easily go unnoticed. It is the usual variably .0565-.061 gauge, so planning ahead, I waited on buying chains to be sure, I'll get .058 chains, clean the groove with a dremel, then wear in the chains into the groove with lots of oil. I've done it to a worn Oregon 14" .043; wearing in a .050 chain. It took a minute to wear it in, then 1 tank of use before it ran cool again. Now it is a tighter fit than new Oregon bars.

 

[Ronie]

I was looking at another Archer bar that I have and the tip is chipped on that one too. That's 3 Archer bars that have chipped tips and none of them has been in the dirt or hit metal that I'm aware of. The rails are in good shape so I'll be putting Oregon brand tips on them.

 

[Nutball]

It took a good bit of sanding between the rails to even fit the chains, but I got the 36" cross bar broken in with .058 chains without overheating the rails. It's a perfect tight fit, tighter than a new Sugi bar, but runs a little hot. I was gentle with it for the first tank of gas to avoid overheating, and the paint shows no signs of heat damage.

 

[Nutball]

This cross bar is getting those same chips on the tip like in the above pictures, but otherwise it is holding up well. The paint wore off quickly, but doesn't appear burnt off.