Think I need a new crankset, and for various reasons direct mnount is the way I want to go.

As nobody looks like they are going to bring out DM rings for my Middleburn cranks any time soon, the choice appears to be between SRAM and RF, both do cranks compatible with a traditional threaded BB and external cups, which is a requirement..

Any thoughts on either system, good, bad etc. Chainring availabilty looks good with either.

[NB with either I would intend to replace the actual bearings with Hope once they wore out, if they came with bearings, so “the bearings are rubbish” isn’t really an issue.]

I put an aeffect in the fatbike and it’s been really great- works well, good value, runs on a proper BB. I put a Next SL in the Remedy and it broke so I put a Next SL in the Remedy and then that broke too, and the Turbines didn’t seem that good an option all round so that was a bit less impressive.

What didn’t look good about the Turbines NW?

Have you spoken to BETD about Middleburn direct mount rings? Not a big selection on their site but may be worth a try. Though your present plan to replace with something more readily available is probably the more sensible option

greyspoke – Member

What didn’t look good about the Turbines NW?

Oh they look good, it’s just price/weight, they seem a bit undermined by how good the aeffects are

I would suggest don’t get Next SL’s.

As to which rings – Absolute Black or SRAM are both good.

Well that looks like a thumbs-down for Next cranks then. A matter of a good deal, price/weight/pose value I guess.

Happy with the Aeffect cranks that came on my bike. No issues, other than the crappy RF BB (which as you say isn’t any issue), now running great on an XTR BB. Using RF NW rings too.

I looked into a new crank not so long ago and decided that there wasn’t any upgrade from my current XT that was worth it. The price/weight point of the XT is hard to beat. unless you need a small front ring <30t a direct mount seems more fiddly.

Just been through the same thing on my remedy 29 as I wanted a smaller ring than the 32 on my xt’s, went for sram gx 1400’s, sram gxp bb and a superstar direct mount ring.
2 very wet rides so far and all good

Have Aeffect cranks on my fat bike and works fine. 24mm spindle fits a HT2 BB just fine.

Have SRAM something or other on my commuter and due to SRAM wanting to introduce their own half baked standard I’ve had to go with their BB that is known for a short life. 😈

You only really need a direct mount crank if you need a small oval chainring (it’s why the fat bike has one). Oh, they look cool, I’ll give you that.

Wolftooth have some middleburn direct mount :

https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/chainrings

Otherwise I’ll wait for your middleburn cranks to appear in the classifieds…

I have Turbine and Aeffects. Weakness of the Turbine is RF’s rubbish BB – tiny bearings and rubbish sealing. Far, far improved now that I’ve fitted a Wheels Manufacturing 30mm BB – bigger bearings and proper seals, but downside is another flamin’ BB spanner! Love the simplicity of one weenie chainring!

I’ve got a Next SL on the Jeffsy, no issues so far, and a Middleburn Uno on the Sanderson – chosen purely because it’s spindly curviness went really well with the spindly curvy stays on the Soloist. Both are pretty easy to set up when swapping rings.

In contrast, I’ve had a next sl on a bike for 2.5 years with absolutely no issues. The race face bb even lasted 15 months.

I had a set of turbines at one point as well which for the price weren’t very good. I couldn’t stop them creaking (friend had the same problem) and they seemed quite heavy.

I have just bought a truvativ descendant carbon for another bike. I’ve had no real time on it but it looks good and the chainring is definitely quieter in grime than the xt it replaced. Decent price for carbon as well.

Given a choice between rf or sram, I think I’d go for the descendants (sram brand) if their reliability turns out ok.

Race Face Turbines all day every day for me. Worth the extra over the aeffect (IMO) for the stronger 7000 series aluminium and self extracting removal method.
Haven’t tried SRAM cranks

Secret with RF bottom brackets is to pull the seals before fitting and stuff full of waterproof grease. They claim to come with Phil Woods grease as standard but I only found the slightest smear in mine when I bought them. When they eventually died the bearings knocked out easily of the cups and replaced with ceramic hybrids, only £18 from local bearing supplier.
I’ve also found SRAM cranks a bit flexy for me and also prefer Race Face’s preload set up so I’d go with them.