thinking of replacing my firex cranks which I can’t stop coming loose (documented elsewhere on the forum), so what do people recommend for general xc and am abuse?

Absolute best? Not sure but I’ve got on well with cheap used XTR- light, strong, and once hte XTR logo’s rubbed off they lose half their value 😉

Get some XT. Fit and forget, great value too. XTR if you are feeling flush. Merlin for either.

Rather like my Raceface Deus XC’s to be honest

Got some Raceface Evolve XC in Double & Bash Flavour on one bike & FSA V Drive Triple on the other – never had a problem with either!

XT always get good recommendations as do SLX

It’s hard to see beyond XT, really, as it just kinda works. I persevered with square taper for years after HT2 came out, but eventually gave in as my NDS cranks kept coming loose. 1 year on, touch wood, no problems so far. SLX by the sounds of it is extremely similar in performance.

hmmm

A couple of years ago I would have simply stated XT but now many (if not all) of the functions (composite middle ring etc) on XT are also on SLX, admittedly with a relatively small weight penalty.

If you are talking pure XC then it must be XTR.
Trail riding XT or SLX (budget dependent).

In my experience Shimano chainsets give faster and smoother shifting than others, possibly at the expense of longetivity.

Saint but I s’pose it depends on your idea of XC abuse. 😉

you’d be dumb not to always choose a Shimano crank IMO

Middleburn’s X-type Duo

M970 XTR.

My SLX have been faultless for the last 1000 mile or so, I honestly couldn’t see any reason other than weight to buy anything else.

There not much in it, weight wise, between XT and SLX, so whichever you can source cheapest IMO. I’m generally buying SLX consumables these days, because They’re cheaper and only a few grammes heavier. Bought those XT brakes from Rose Bikes tho as the price was virtually the same as the SLX.

Middleburn or RF…..The buck doesn’t always have to stop at ‘the big S’ 🙄

Most of the weight difference in SLX and XT 9-speed triples is in the rings, btw.

Having tried a few others I reckon getting anything but Shimano is a bit of a cry for help tbh.

That’s a BIG statement Northwind. Bad experiences with other brands?

My 19c and a second frame here have the FSA Carbon Pros on. Nice bits of kit, do the job and were discounted nicely!

fenred – Member

That’s a BIG statement Northwind. Bad experiences with other brands?

Bad experiences with Truvativ… other brands not bad, just failed to match up to Shimano in various ways. Can’t see any reason to buy anything else, unless you really want carbon fibre or internal BBs anyway. My Raceface Deus XC was nice enough, except when held against its direct competitor XT, for instance.

What about Sram – 2200 carbon goodness. Look trick and light as a feather.

deore, but i had to throw away the gash bash and replaced with an ally RF one

it probably weighs more, but the rings are lasting surprisingly well and the matching BB has been hassle free for nearly 2yrs.

cheers for your ideas – going to take a look now:)!

Rotor 3D’s

I used to have the middleburn RS7s in an 8 speed setup for years without them wearing out, unlike the Shimano (LX and then XT) setups I had.

Now got RS8s on two bikes – the slickshift/hardcoat rings seem fine to me although they are lighter/less sturdy than the rings I had on the RS7s.

originally had triples but no have duo setups on both bikes, and could go uno without having to change the cranks, only the spiders/rings.

really like the 40/27 duo setup.

Can’t see any reason to buy anything else, unless you really want carbon fibre or internal BBs anyway.

This, or if you want something proper weight weenie, otherwise Shimano just works superbly

What about Sram – 2200 carbon goodness. Look trick and light as a feather

They’re Specialized OEM cranks, and X9 doubles weigh more than XT triples, whilst costing about £40 more, and the BBs don’t last. Reinforces Northwind’s point nicely!

Shimano just works superbly

eventually, it has taken a while to get there though – middleburn rings were seen as better for a very long time.

Do not be tempted by the undoubtably lovely looking RaceFace Deus… they are rubbish.

I have now got ugly SLX and am happy because I can actually get to ride my bike…. about £70 odd quid from merlin… Job done.

“Most of the weight difference in SLX and XT 9-speed triples is in the rings, btw.”

So by that reckoning SLX is definately the better option as the heavier rings will be made out of less cheese like metal.

Use the same principle when replacing rings, always go for Deore which are fractionally heavier but last much longer.

Still using my old deore lx cranks new chainring fitted last chirstmas

must of done about 10000 miles on them by now using them on the hardtail for work and up and down the canal.

Another vote for SLX – easy to fit, decent weight, not expensive and stiff. What else do you need?

When people are saying things are “rubbish”, why is it that they’re rubbish? What are their faults.

I have a set of FSA carbon cranks which I picked up extremely cheaply. They’re really light, which I can actually feel the difference with. People say crank weight is irrelevant but I disagree based on my experience with these. The trouble has been that from the very start they just never wanted to stay on and kept coming lose. Originally torqued up correctly, I now ride around with a big allen key and have to tighten them up ever hour or so.

In the past I’ve had some Truvativ cranks but the pedal threads stripped off while riding, leaving me stagering around with a pedal attached to my feet and a race entrance fee wasted. 🙁

I really like the looks of Race Face SixC for my trail bike, but they’re a lot of money and I don’t know anyone who has any experience of them.

Probably back to Shimano for me, which have never let me down.

Got SLX on all my MTBs, seemed daft to spend any more.

middleburn rings were seen as longer lasting for a very long time.

FTFY. Shimano rings have been notorious for quick wear (never had a problem myself), but nothing else touches them on performance, Middleburn are shite in comparison IMO!

When people are saying things are “rubbish”, why is it that they’re rubbish? What are their faults.

I have a set of FSA carbon cranks which I picked up extremely cheaply.

Comparing bargains is daft though, because it’s only relevant to you. If you’d paid double the cost of XTR for those cranks would you still like them? What about if the pedal insert fell out (as they usually did), and the bottom bracket lasted 6 months. Let’s then also consider that they actually only weigh 15g less than the XTRs at half the price?

Shimano have a superb balance of weight, performance and cost. There are lighter, they’re far more expensive. Many don’t even touch 2 of those variables – XX is more expensive and heavier than XTR, as I mentioned previously X.9 is heavier and more expensive than XT. X.0 really misses out. A new GXP Ceramic BB is over £100 and IME Shimano last longer.

Race Face had problems with spiders cracking, and again the only ones to really compete on weight cost more, the Next SL carbon jobs are silly silly money.

There are of course alternatives, and many will work extremely well, but IME/IMO very few beat Shimano as an all round package.

YMMV of course.

Shimano rings have been notorious for quick wear (never had a problem myself), but nothing else touches them on performance, Middleburn are shite in comparison IMO

nope – when I was on the RS7 the rings were far superior at shifting as well as resisting wear – unless the XTRs were better but I never tried them.

FSA carbon chainset on my road bike, the ones everyone said to avoid. Fitted as per instructions and its been fault free for 3 years.

RF Deus cranks on my MTB, only fault was the self extracting outer nut/bolt/cap thingy self extracted one ride, the bolt itself didnt budge so stayed like that for several months untill i bought a replacement out of vanity. Never used an RF BB so can’t comment.

Truvative GXP’s on the pitch, bearings siezed quickly, but loosened up agaain and been faultless since.

Shimano are good, but they look like crap after 5 minutes in the mud! I’ve got some old XT’s spare, but dont want to put them on te Pitch despite being lighter than the GXP’s as they just look so bad!

Deore all round for us – notmuch heavier than XT but around half the cost

Shimano are good, but they look like crap after 5 minutes in the mud! I’ve got some old XT’s spare

Must say I cover any cranks I get with ‘copter tape, but I’ve not found Shimano to get any tattier than FSA, Truvativ or Lightning, if you’re a scuffer… you’ll scuff cranks! I guess being alu they tend to be anodised, so they show up the wear more than a carbon crank.

They are rubbish because

“The trouble has been that from the very start they just never wanted to stay on and kept coming lose. Originally torqued up correctly, I now ride around with a big allen key and have to tighten them up ever hour or so.”

There you go… answered your own question

Comparing bargains is daft though, because it’s only relevant to you.

So I shouldn’t mention them because I got them as a bargin? Plus the fact that they’re a bargin means that bargins are around. I then go on to mention their merits and their downs, irrespective of cost.

If you’d paid double the cost of XTR for those cranks would you still like them?

I don’t like them when I paid less than half the cost of XTR so I certainly wouldn’t like them for double 🙄

I also conclude that you cannot beat Shimano. I just want to know the faults of the various chainsets, rather than people saying “they’re rubbish”. The race face ones look good but are mega money.

I have SLX and they do the job well, no complaints at all there. I didn’t get XT as the SLX were meant to be stiffer, I’m not sure if that’s true with the new stuff? The finish lasts well too 🙂

I’ve had middleburns XT and now SLX.

I think XT is as much as I’d ever need rings lasted around a year of a couple of long rides a week.

I damaged them through stupidity and now have SLX double and bash with Deore rings which works equally well but isn’t as nice a thing as XT.

Middleburns were great light and hardcote rings lasted ages.

So I shouldn’t mention them because I got them as a bargin? Plus the fact that they’re a bargin means that bargins are around. I then go on to mention their merits and their downs, irrespective of cost

Didn’t say you shouldn’t mention them, but it’s just not that relevant, particularly in the context of direct comparisons between products.

“I’m after a £1500 bike”
“I got an S-Works for £1500, it’s amazing, buy an S-Works”

Slightly flawed. 🙂