For all its state-of-the-artness, Shimano is still a conservative company. It doesn’t leap into making the latest bits and pieces just because all the other cool kids are.
And it slowly trickles its technology down the range so that by the time you reach SLX, ostensibly third from top, the technology and processes have been refined and tweaked to the point where we always wonder why people need anything else.
This SLX double chainset is a perfect example of a no-nonsense chainset that runs on a reliable, but simple, bottom bracket and it does the job with little fuss. Even after a few months of use, the anodising isn’t that scuffed (nice work on the recessed logo, Shimano…) and the rings are looking used, but not worn out.
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Unlike any other crank companies (barring Campag) Shimano forges, rather than stamps, its chainrings, so all those ramps and shapes in the outer ring have been beaten into them by giant machines.
Shifting is as unnoticeable as modern shifting has got and the 38/24 ratio gives a decent range for mortal riders. In the land of diminishing returns, there probably aren’t many reasons to look beyond this workhorse chainset. Shimano’s matching BB70 bottom bracket has performed well and is similarly unobtrusively too.
- Weight: 730g
- Crank arm length: 170 (tested), 175mm
- Chainring sizes: 38/24 (tested), 40/28 and 36/26t
- BCD: 104mm four-bolt
- BB standard: Standard threaded.
