I’m looking for some new cranks in 165mm because my knees are cack and hear a smaller crank may aleviate some pain. Running 175mm nx ATM so while I go shorter I fancy going fancier. All about money to value though, so are the Hope cranks just bling over the Raceface? Any options I should consider? I’m only 10 stone but a hack of a rider, however I haven’t bent a crank since the **** FSA afterburners of 20 years ago so outright strength isn’t the issuse. Stiffness is, I can feel a difference between mine and a friends xt’s.

Hope are lovely, but the Evo ones are basically the same as the Raceface. Unless you want the extra weight/burliness of Atlas, Raceface Turbines are good VFM.

https://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/middleburn/cranks

https://rotorbike.com/catalog/default/rotor/xc-mtb-marathon/cranks.html

MOUNTAIN CRANK STORY

Aeffect also very good and considerably cheaper.

https://www.dmrbikes.com/Catalogue/Components/Cranks/Axe-Crank-LE

https://www.raceface.com/products/details/chester-cranks

Got Hope (admittedly not the new Evo) on both my bikes and I wouldn’t buy again. Nice enough and stiff enough, but basically they cost way more to run than cranks you can use with XT bottom brackets from CRC, and they’ve been awful to work on (the Evo cures this, I think). In terms of fit and forget and long-term value, the Hope’s have been disappointing. New Hope bearings from my LBS were going to be £30 per bearing. Went non-Hope and it was still £20 per unit.

E.13 LG1R

Raceface Aeffect

Shimano Saint

anything else is just overcomplicated shit

The shimano ones that suit your budget. Never seen any reason to use anything different. You won’t get significantly lighter than XTR without compromising on reliability (raceface carbon stuff I’m looking at you). if you need strength, Saint are indestructible. Pair with a Hope 24mm BB for utterly faff free riding. My experience of bikes with RF alloy cranks is that the drive side crankarm/BB axle interface is hideously bulky and I smack my ankle on it

Or there’s the Cane Creek EEwings which are light, strong and georgeous. But even at mates rates they’re in the “point and laugh” expensive range.

(I’m running 3 sets of M970 XTRs, all bought second hand. The only downside is the smallest ring I can fit is a 30T. Similar weight to the OP and spend 99% of my time riding rocky techy stuff and have beaten the snot out of them).

I’ve got RF Turbines on one bike, and Aeffects on another.

Both have been great, no issues, easy to fit, though the finish on the Turbines had rubbed off surprisingly quickly.

The Cinch ring system is very good, and replacement rings are pretty cheap.

Advantage of the Aeffects is that they run on a standard HTII BB, which is a lot cheaper, and maybe more reliable.

Not all of the poncy carbon cranks come in 165mm anyway, as I found out when looking for some for my wife. Shame as my Praxis Lyft have been absolutely solid for well over a year now and are a fair chunk lighter than XTR for half the cost of EE Wings

I’d go Shimano at the level you can afford if you definitely want 165mm though.

Thanks all, I had considered some of the suggested and cut them from the list due to being unavailable in 165. I also have a few different chainrings that are SRAM DM styley so would prefer to get a crankset to suit, which throws shimano out the window. Quite liked the Rotor R-hawks but again with proprietary parts. Hmmm think I’m edging toward the atlas ATM. Hate choices I’m terrible at making the any nevermind the right one.
Yeah the praxis ones got me interested till I saw the lack of 165.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Praxis-Works-Turn-Girder-MTB-chainset-cranks-BB-165mm-or-170mm-32t-NEW/263969218315?hash=item3d75ca9f0b:m:m2HdQsqXLBng0xlzcN7E6xQ

https://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/middleburn/cranks/rs8-x-type-crank-no-spider-for-68-73mm-bottom-bracket

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165MM-RACE-FACE-CHESTER-CRANKS-DOWN-HILL-DH-150MM-36T-BB-NEW-FREE-UK-P-P/254309415964?hash=item3b3605bc1c:g:BuIAAOSwy1ZdOW6C

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DMR-AXE-Cranks-165mm-without-Chainring-Inner-Bearing/132742743221?hash=item1ee81584b5:g:fIYAAOSw-o1bcYnS

DMR AXE cranks, basically a Praxis crank using the Sram DM style chainring mine is 165mm long. Also decent splines instead of shimano crap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E13-Lg1-Cranks-165mm-FREE-Spider-installation-tool/254304281849?hash=item3b35b764f9:g:7BYAAOSwlYlcpiJf

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Race-Face-AEffect-Cranks-Arms-Only_102874.htm?sku=375251&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhq7wzcXU4wIVSrDtCh2-mAJcEAQYAiABEgKt1fD_BwE

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/rotor-kapic-mtb-1x-direct-mount-crankarms-785721

I would suggest a Bikefit to ensure changing crank length to 165 is the right thing to do, that is a very short length and may not alleviate the issue.

If you have sram dm chainrings and presumably either a gxp or dub bb why not just get some fancier sram ones? CRC were punting out some Carbon X1 level ones quite cheap a while back.

If weight loss is important then SRAM carbon cranks are worth a look although not cheap. They use the same basic construction as the RF ones but seem not to debond where the alloy and carbon meet which the RF ones seem to do always.

A potential concern (for some) with the Turbines is the 30mm axle and BB that requires. Personally I’m fine with this and they’re my ideal blend of strong/light/cheap. Aeffect has a normal Shimano HT compatible 24mm axle. These frequently move around £90-£100 new. I know there’s a Cinch version, I think there’s a 104 BCD too but may be wrong on that.

Something I don’t think anyone has mentioned is oval rings. People generally look at these for traction improvement now but there are a sizeable number of riders who have claimed they improved knee issues. Modern ovals are not biopace, they put the bump in the dead zone between strokes thus making power smoother rather than bang on top of the power stroke where biopace had it.

I have Hope and they are well made, and now they’ve sorted the weird fitting malarkey with the EVO version then that’s an improvement. Quite expensive though and if your frame is BB92 then the 30mm axle isn’t ideal, as BB92 pressfit BBs don’t last well. Not that many direct mount options that are 165mm.

Rotor have some potential too but they didn’t do a suitable BB92 boost version when I was looking. Merlin had some good offers a while back.

Default answer was always slx/xt, but RF Affect are as good but lighter

To PATON WOW thankyou you’re going the extra mile with these links and have both opened up options and confused me to buggery. I haven’t bought a set of cranks in over 10 years so all these new spindle, BB and chainring options have my head spinning(sorry), Carbon cranks, Urrgghh I dunno should I be worried? Seen so many horror stories. Not averse to them but feel Alu has better longevity and resistance, is this dumbfounded as I would potentially buy some. While I’m questioning things, is a certain BB better than others? Not make persay but BB92 vs gxp(currently on) others?
As an aside that probably isn’t so relevant I used to ride 165’s on my DH bike for years with no problems which is also why I want to make the jump back back to a shorter crank.
Thankyou all for your responses. They are all very much appreciated.
What say you this, I have a £350 budget what would the STer’s get?

I have a set of the new Hope Evo and RF G4 SL, the hope look great but the chainring is very close to my stay so taking these off and putting on another bike. I’ve just got back the RF ones from a warranty bonding issue so going to put these back on. Pros on the hope is that you can swap the axle spindle easily but to be honest I can’t feel the difference in either of them, I run an oval on them both which helps me with knee pain, never had a recurrence since using ovals 👍

I’d avoid GXP, I got less than 1000km out of mine (SRAM) and that was on the road. Complete garbage.

I’ve Raceface AEffects on two of my bikes, one with a standard Shimano threaded BB and one with a Hope PF converter. Both are Cinch mounts for the chainring, if you run multiple chainrings there’s a Cinch compatible spider to let you mount them.

You’ll need a new BB if you go with the AEffects as they are a straight 24mm spindle. If you get a Raceface crankset throw the BB that comes with it in the bin, just as bad as the GXP.

I’m a big fan of E13 cranks, have them on 2 of my bikes.
Bombproof crank to spindle interface, good weight & personally I really like the looks too, but that’s subjective I guess.
They can usually be found heavily discounted too if you search around.
choice of spider or direct mount & many of the aftermarket direct mount rings can be found discounted, due to them being less popular than Sram, Shimano etc.
One tip, make sure you get the tool to go with them when you buy. They’ve always come with a full set for changing rings & extracting from the spindle when I’ve bought them, but I know they’re often missing when bought OEM.