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The second pic is of First gen cranks and I am pretty sure but so is the third pic. Odyssey did a few different colors on the gen 1 cranks. Up top are the second gen cranks pretty popular among flatlanders. The spindle should be the same on both generations the difference is in the arms themselves the newer cranks were just beefier, a lot of the cutouts on the first gen cranks were eliminated and the cutout on the backside of the crank arms were revised. The biggest difference is the smooth face on the front of the crank with machined "Black Widow" and the addition of a second pinch bolt.
There are a newer version of these out called the Phat Black Widows virtually the same as the second generation but instead of "black Widow" they have the Odyssey "O" logo.  I have only been able to find these newer designs in small sizes only.
You can also find Alloy spindles for these cranks to lighten them up a bit.

Full 180mm Black Widow Crank. Not sure what Gen.






sorry for the little bit of blur.

Got this set from a real good guy for less then $100!

First gen 175mm black widow cranks, complete threaded bottom bracket.   

Here is the other side of the cranks.



I asked the seller for more info on the cranks and this is what I was told (it sounds real to me):

"Dwight Tardy had won 4 nationals already when Odyssey sponsored him.. I was told by his Grand father, that Odyssey gave him a complete (Prototype bike) with those cranks on it. They told him to try them out, which were supposed to be stronger yet lighter than the ones he’d been using. Believe it or not, he never used the bike. His brother took it apart (who was also a racer before him 80’s era). Since at that, time mountain biking was at its peak in making “cnc machined†, anodized parts. Odyssey never had a chance putting those cranks on the market, and came up with the “trimmed† crank arms
(You see today). So what you got is the only one and was never put on the market. Hope this helps"

black widow prototype ad with prototype z915 sprocket and some production black widow pedals. the black widows were originally gonna be called excalibur 3 piece cranks but they decided to change the name at the last minute. this ad was from nov 93 bmxplus, they ran the ad a couple of times.

an ad of production black widows, this is from nov 94 bmxplus

a set of first gen black widow cranks (threaded spindle) and z915 sprocket

Last edited by adamdawson (2011-12-22 3:24pm)

Black Widow



Excalibur