Well, I am doing a 1×9 set up on my boardman pro (2010) and have removed the pretty much new crankset (Truvativ Stylo 3.3).

No on removal, I found the the no drive side as some very slight roughness to the BB bearings and looked ito a replacement before refit.

But now notice that the bb are a 24mm compared to the 22mm of the Shimano ones and was an upgrade was planning in the future to a SLX chainset.

So question is, I am looking at getting a SLX chainset and BB to replace this one. But if I only used the crank arms, which SLX chainrings are easier to sell on you reckon?

the 2 ring (34/22)and bash or for the extra £10 the 3 rings (22/32/44)

Im trying to do this cheap so want to recoup cash and also what do you think I can sell my Truvativ Stylo 3.3 chain set for (in great condition) 22/32/44.

Cheers
Adam 🙂

Buy just the crank arms, single-ring from Middleburn plus Hope BB – and your current setup will sell (say 50% of new/sale price).

what about Blackspire chain rings.

I have heard of issues with the Middleburn chain rings and 1x? set ups.

I’ve run both RS7 and RS8 middleburns and there’s no real issue running them with one ring apart from the fact the offset (can’t remember the proper name) on a Middleburn is 54mm as oppose to the standard 50mm. This causes issues when trying to run something like an E13 XCX guide as its BB mounted and you can’t stop it rubbing on the guide. Oh, and you can’t space it because the ring is held on with a lockring rather than chain bolts (on the RS7).

I ran the RS8 on a King BB with an MRP guide on my Yeti with an ISG05 mount and it was fine – in fact it didn’t rub and I never once lost a chain. Blackspire chainring which is awesome.

But they aren’t the cheapest – for that I’d go SLX. As everyone wants 2×10 now I’d probably buy the double and bash for resale purposes

yeah, thats what I tought, the double and bash is quite in at the moment and a goud comprimise between a 1×1/10 set up and a full on 30 speed.

Think I will go with the double and bash and sell on the rings and bash as new to get max resale and then use that to buy a nice 32t chain ring.

What are people thoughts on the Blackspire stuff?

To be fair, I’ve just run the 32t ring from my XO cranks (with ramps) with shorter chain ring bolts and I’ve never dropped a chain. It’s on my XC bike and I have found that I could do with going to a 34t, so it might be worth running with the 32t shimano ring to see if its enough, then buying a fancy ring when you know you’re happy with it.

Be aware that the there’s more differences between the SLX M665 double and the SLX M660 triple than just the chainrings that come with them.

The double cranks have steel inserts on the pedal threads, which may or may not be a good thing for you, depending whether you value strength or lightness more. More of concern though, is that although the BCD is standard 104, the arms/spider where the chainrings fit are slightly modified to take the ‘special’ Shimano bash guard and 36T middle ring on the M665. What does this mean – well for example, the M660 32T middle ring will not fit the M665 double cranks without getting the file out, though older deore ones will! And, if you fit a standard shimao big ring in place of the bash on the M665 there’s a gap of a few mm at each of the spider arms.

So, It may be better to go with the standard M660 triple for greatest chance of compatibility with third party rings/bash etc., or find someonewith an M665 and try the rings you want on it first!

thanks perth mtb tha’s a very good point and one I did not realise.

So, is it the actual cranks that need filing or the rings.

So, is it the actual cranks that need filing or the rings.

think about that for a moment.

Either – though I found it easier to file the cranks once, than the chainring each time I replaced it.

TBH, the issue with the middle ring is not really an M665/M660 specific one, its that the new style Shimano ‘composite’ middle rings (like on the M660) are deeper at the crank fittings than the old ‘all metal’ ones. So, any crank designed to take the old metal ones needs to be filed down a bit if you want to put a composite middle on. If the third party ones you’re thinking of using follow the old Shimano ‘all metal’ standard (and I think most do) you shouldn’t have a problem.

The bash/outer ring size being different is specific to the M665. Shimano wanted to make the plastic surrounding the fixing bolts wider & stronger on the M665 bash (a good thing IMHO, as I’ve had 3rd party plastic bash guards split at this point) so just shaved a bit off the spider mounting to accommodate it. Having a gap between a big ring/3rd party bash and the spider isn’t really a functional issue – it just looks crap!

think about that for a moment.

Why – as perthmtb says you can do either. I’ve filed spiders on XTR cranks to fit Extralite rings before, slightly more scary prospect than doing it on rings!

Why not just fit a single ring of your choosing to the Stylos? That’s the cheapest by a long shot. I run a 36t ring with 11-36 (10 speed) works for me.

I could do but I need to buy another BB for the stylo.

And I much prefer the Shimano stuff in the past. So it was a future upgrade anyway to get a SLX/XT crank. So with the fact a SLX/XT chainset comes with a new BB its seemed to make sense to change now rather than after getting another GXP BB.

To be honest the BB is actaully ok but just thought while its all apart its best to get it done.

As for the issue around the 2 vs 3 ring and fit for the extra £10 I am just gonna go with a 3 ring chainset.

What sort of price could I get do you think for 3 BRAND NEW SLX chainrings (22/32/44) on here/PB?

Unfortunately, assuming its the 9speed M660 you’re talking about rather than the 10speed, there’s less and less demand for 9 speed stuff. Though, think of it another way round, thats good news for those of us heavily invested in 9 speed rigs, as we should be able to pick up the stuff cheap 😀

Now there’s another option… but I hesitate to mention it as it’s getting complicated enough already… and that is to buy a 10 speed SLX M660, and sell the ten speed rings to someone wanting to u/g to 10 speed without changing the cranks. I understand the cranks are the same between M660 9 & 10 speed, its only the rings that are different – but you’d better confirm this with a 10 speeder, as I’m all 9speed and likely to stay that way for a while…

Edit: Damn – just noticed the 10 speed crankset is more expensive than the 9 speed, so that’d cancel out anything extra you’d get for selling the 10 speed rings 🙁