Is there much difference between the two weights here (just crank arms, excluding rings and bb)? Reliable info seems hard to come by. Ta.
Not enough to be concerned about. If you are that bothered about weight, xt/slx isn't for you.
Unless things have changed in the last year the difference is < 10 g
ac282 - cheers. In which case patriotpro is dead right.
IIRC I read somewhere 7 grams.
Not much at all.
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Personally i'd go slx, i've seen the new versions for £115 with bb and rings.
I got a bargain this week on CRC of the XT crank set with rings and with bottom bracket for £114.
EDIT: Ahhh it was in the "flash sale" so it's gone back to normal price now. 😐
Are the XTs stiffer or somehow better in another way?
Shimano seem to be making SLX so good now (same with brakes) that XT is becoming redundant.
patriotpro - MemberPersonally i'd go slx, i've seen the new versions for £115 with bb and rings.
Or even 93
I like the pedal inserts in SLX. For that negligible weight difference XT is defo not worth the extra to me. Think I've damaged the threads on my current SLX, so I'm looking for a non-drive-side crank arm if anyone has one?
What about for the full groupset? Was looking at custom built bikes and wondering if the difference between the two (especially price) was so close as to not bother with xt and put the cash saved into wheels....
Deffo go SLX and put it into wheels. Most of the components are the same - like the XT brakes have a free stroke adjuster that SLX don't - but some MTBR bodger discovered that if you drill a hole in the same spot on the SLX brakes, all you need to do is fit a screw and the functionality is still inside for it to work. There are other minor differences, some alloy bits swap to steel, bearings on jockey wheels as opposed to bushes, but for the most part, SLX is every bit as good for a tiny weight penalty (amd looks better IMO, certainly the brakes & cranks).
Spend the money on the wheels.
XT looks nicer though 😛
My XC bike has XT simply because the mechs and shifters are XT and I wanted collars & cuffs...plus On One were doing them mucho cheap at the time (they are previous generation M770 jobs).
My AM bike has SLX Doubles, my hardtail SLX triple.
Can I tell the difference? Not at all, aside from the fact that SLX feel a smidge stiffer, even in triple, non-reinforced guise. Having weighed both my XT and SLX triples, I report a similar weight difference to honorablegeorge.
I went from Hone (was that the forerunner to SLX) to XT a few years back and definitely noticed a difference - what that difference was is hard to pinpoint but it was probably that they were stiffer... and the threads weren't made of cheese.
XT looks nicer though
true, especially in black. SLX looks cheap.
wl - Member
I like the pedal inserts in SLX. For that negligible weight difference XT is defo not worth the extra to me. Think I've damaged the threads on my current SLX, so I'm looking for a non-drive-side crank arm if anyone has one?
Only the SLX Double (the one that came with a bash) had the inserts, new ones don't. I'd be getting yours helicoiled - should be much cheaper than a new ar,
Cheers George. .. thats what I was figuring. .. hmmm maybe a niner build is doable..... 8)
Cheers. New replacement arm is about £60, WTF?!! Hence search for a second-hand one. What's helicoiling? Intrigued.
..if you're asking the question then you should be going XTR 😈
This may help... Discusses the very thing and I must say the new slx looks mighty well...
http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/05/04/shimano-slx-double-crankset-review-a-lightweight-workhorse/
Oh and the answer is 4 by the way... 4g less than xt that is!!!
(according to the above anyway)
Full M780 2x10 XT here, with clutch mech.
Why?
Because it's LUSH!
🙂
the groupset difference is 160 quid on Merlin, I can't see how you could justify that extra especially when gears bearings etc get trashed....
wl - Member
Cheers. New replacement arm is about £60, WTF?!! Hence search for a second-hand one. What's helicoiling? Intrigued.
Helicoil is a steel insert, like a wee tube that's threaded on the inside for your pedals, and on the outside to reverse thread into your cranks (I may have that wrong). Basically, your shop drills out the old threads, screws in the helicoil, cranks good as new. Have had it done on a set of SLX myself, my mate is riding them happily now.
Running m780 XT and new m670 SLX. Black XT looks good in a cosmetic way...until it scuffs up unlike the new SLX.
Bought my SLX 2x10 groupset including brakes from bike discount de last year for just under £250…think the exchange rate was really good at the time.
Xt in black looks cheap a ****.
Slx ftw
Going the other way groupset wise, what do the Deore HT2 cranks weigh for comparison?
Deore are not much more but they have a 'C' cross section not a hollow one. Have a set here but they have rings on at the moment.
Stiffness may be a bit lower but I doubt you will notice it or or the weight. Now the 10 speed deore have the same style rings as SLX and XT there really is not a lot to justify not buying them. In fact the only reason I have XT is I prefer the look of them and as they are a component which normally lasts and lasts then you can kind of go with the 'looks' argument if you are not sacrificing other parts of the build for them.
Shifters - functionality is better as you go up the range.
Cranks - looks are better as you go up the range (and possibly slightly sliffer and lighter)
Everything else - will wear out and is disposable so you buy what you can afford and afford to replace.
I went XT M785 because I found the 40/28 one on sale at £105 otherwise I would have probably gone for SLX. It was for the XC hardtail so the larger rings suit it perfectly with the 11/36 cassette.
cookeaa - Member
Going the other way groupset wise, what do the Deore HT2 cranks weigh for comparison?
I seem to remember mine are about 630g (636 iirc) w/o BB.
Xt in black looks cheap a ****.
Heel rub makes my black cranks look fairly bad fairly soon.
Not that I notice when I'm riding them though, and it's only surface.