What high-end chainset/crankset do you run for xc?

gcwebbyuk

As the title says.....

il ciclone rosso

IMO, budget is really the determining factor. If you can't afford XTR, Race Face Deus, etc. get the best you CAN afford.
Obviousely, the more expensive the crankset, the lighter it will be and the bearings should also be a better quality which means less rotational friction. Yes, a crankset is rotating weight, so going lighter will make a small difference. Not to mention the added bling that comes with the expensive stuff.
-- However--
A high-end crank is not the magic bullet that will make you suddenly win races, drop your buddies or blow through technical stuff you couldn't ride before. If everything else stays the same,unless other riders are an exact replica of you (strength, endurance, skills) there won't be a huge difference. Nothing will take the place of continued training and strength/fitness improvement. A high-end crank is one small piece of a big puzzle.
So, if you have the money, go out and get a super-nice, lightweight, high-end crankset and utilize it to the fullest extent that you can. If not, go with what you can afford and continue to make improvements to the most important component; THE RIDER. I've raced xc for many years with XT/LX-level stuff and many times beaten the guys who thought they could buy speed/endurance.

stubs

Shimano XT all the way not the lightest, stiffest or shiniest but all round in my opinion the best for XC and at the moment a good price

gcwebbyuk

But if you wanted to pay more than £100 for a crankset - what would you get?

Dan67

erm all decent cranksets are over £100 so depends how much more I have to spend

If I had enough money for true top end stuff I think I would buy a pair of tune cranks

supersonic

For weight and durability, XTR.

Depends on the rest of your build really - I try to make things fit in price wise, have an upgrade plan and think is the extra 100 quid XTR is over XT really worth it? Is that 100 quid better of elsewhere? Works out at about £1.50 per gram saved over the XT lol.

Diminishing returns sets in early on with cranks, I'd say at about 60 quid and the LX units you can get.

gcwebbyuk

Current crankset is M540 - so pretty much equivalent to Deore - rear mech SRAM x-9 and front shiters soon to be SRAM x-0 twisters.

I "would" splash out on the XTR but think the SLX/XT is the best choice, but just dont wanna buy them and then wish I had have gone for the XTR.

What about other manufacturers?

gcwebbyuk

Really like the look of the Race Face Dues XC and am about to buy a dues XC stem (i think) so would look "spiffing" together!

Are they any good?

treehugger1000

Agree, Race face dues XC is light n stiff and looks fantastic, and so far outlasted the shimano BB that was fitted previously.
I also run X9 rear mech and shifters which i'd recommend to anyone. Whatever you throw at them they fail you not!

Surf-Matt

Very hard to fault SLX.

Looked at Race Face but honestly think the SLX outperforms it.

XTR if money is no issue of course.

Justinjured

08 XT.
Not sure if that comes under high end, but was an absolutely massive improvement in terms of power delivery over the bonty select which it replaced.

can get them for less than £100 now I believe which is an absolute bargain!

Sir HC

Look at other areas of the bike as well. I'd rather spend money on tyres and suspension, as thats where you'll cut your laptimes down.
Also look at the weight of the wheels, more so the rims/tyres/tubes as that will make the biggest difference to the handling and rotational weight savings.

allthegearnoidea

XT would be the obvious choice for me (used to run the XT M752 set), only upgraded to the FSA Carbon pro set as it was the right price at the right time! (ie; dirt cheap of ebay!)
before i joined the club i now ride in i was looking at xtr bits and bobs as i was sure it would improve my riding by a mile, however, i soon noted that of all the riders most were on XT or similar! and what i had was more than sufficent!

if you can afford it then yeah XTR rocks (superstar componants have some tasty lightweightr cranks too) but if you want a strong dependable crankset you cant beat XT!

i did read somewhere that the current Xt set is lighter than 2 years ago's XTR?? dont know how true that is???

gcwebbyuk

Trouble is - I dont ride competitively (yet) and am not really worthy of XTR in the performance factors (yet). But I have some extra cash at the mo (Shares I never knew I had) and want to spend the money on my bike rather than on booze, hookers and crack (two of those are fake!!!).

So what I am after is something I can feel I havent wasted the money on, that will last, save weight, look better than my M542 standard cranks and feel proud that I have it on my bike.

That may all sound poncy and not necessary - but its what I wanna do :shock:

If XTR are the be all and end all - then I can get them from Merlin for £215 which is cool. They look sexy, would save roughly 200g over what I have now.

I do like the look of the Race Face stuff too - weight saving isnt as much - about 100g - but then they cost about £60 cheaper.

So what is it that makes the XTR so good compared to say Deore - is the BB better, are they MUCH stiffer - or is it mainly looks and weight?

p.s. most people are saying XT, but they look like the old LX stuff I had on my old mountain bike - as in very plain :oops:

breezer

XT do look quite plain, I have them and accept that but for what they cost, they are a complete steal and the money you would save over an XTR set is a brand new Hope brake more or less or decent really light tyres and new stem etc all of which will make the bike far better to ride due to its performance and capability than the 100g or so you may save buying a xtr crankset over an xt one

gcwebbyuk

:oops: True, but already have a lightweight stem, tyres, tubes and wheelset....

If it was choice of XT or SLX - I would go for the SLX - but are they much better than my M542 (Deore Equivalent)

If it was choice between XT or Deus XC I think it would be Dues XC unless anyone can persuade me otherwise?

Rest of the drivetrain is X-9 rear mech, X-0 twist shifters (soon), LX front mech (possibly XTR front mech if I win a bid....)

breezer

LX front mech, omg so plain!

What brakes and forks do you have as if they arent that great, save the money towards upgrading them again as like I said earlier, those bits will make far more difference than the crankset. SLX ones are heavier than XT btw.....

Shimano bottom brackets are more reliable than any others ie Raceface and better shifting. I doubt your Deore cranks have external bearings ie non hollowtech II so wont be as stiff but then they probably have a steel middle ring which may weight 8.3grams more but will last longer than ally ones on other higher up chainsets although I think the new XT/XTR etc are reinforced or plated with something to make them last longer than a week

gcwebbyuk

Crankset is indeed external BB - you can see the BB outside the frame.

Total weight of crankset and BB is 940g

Forks are Fox F90RL

Brakes are Avid Juicy 5 - with Hope SPXC3 3 bolt brake rotors - 40g lighter than standard

So not really much weight to be saved in those departments.

Captain Turok

Hope bottom bracket?..
If you're counting the grams, and why not?, all the little bits do add up. Just be aware of the actual gram to £ ratio.

gcwebbyuk

Yeah that was on my list - but wasnt sure how that related to the BBs with better cranksets?

Would say the following be a good mis/matched setup or not worth the fannying around:

Hope Ceramic BB
SLX Crankset - for cranks only
Replace the actual Rings with lighter weight ones - not sure where from?

breezer

Its not just about weight though, F90rl's must be a couple if not more, years old, 2009 fox's have vastly improved compresion systems etc, hope brakes would be much nice than juicy 5's and so on although both of those would cost more than the difference between xtr/xt so maybe irrelevant, just making a point

gcwebbyuk

F90RLs were brand new in sept (same as bike!)

I get your point though

Am sure people will also say I should have just bought a more expensive bike, but I got it (Stumpy HT Comp) on the ride to work scheme so was limited to the amount I could spend that way - and am enjoying changing parts - kinda hobbie I spose you could say!

Did wonder what neons, spoiler, a bucket seat and roll cage would look like on it

Captain Turok

Sounds like a set of SLX cranks thats could cost more than XTR?..
But it depends how much you're prepared to spend for each gram saved?

gcwebbyuk

Am thinking XTR at £215 may be the way to go then...

allthegearnoidea

how about something like this??
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... odelID=808

updated version of mine and i love the stiffness through them! and they look the nuts too!

shame this is dscontinued onthere though as for a fiver more than the xtr i'd have been tempted!
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=7629

sorry, was browsing crc at the same time!

gcwebbyuk

Haha - I did consider them already:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forums/vie ... t=12599678

Had posted a similar thread in the main buying advice section, but wanted a XC point of view.

Seemed some bad points coming back about the FSAs though but I agree - they look the nuts!

gcwebbyuk

ah and also BB problems too - ISIS / Octalink etc....

treehugger1000

I agree with the plain looking comment on XT, although the SLX chainset looks a little better. One of the reasons i went down the race face route was looks, and it would seem that the world and its dog has shimano fitted, not to mention all of the factory fit shimano kit, so its nice for the bike to look a little different from the rest of the crowd on the trails.

gcwebbyuk

Hmmm thinking Race Face Dues XC then.

I used to be indecisve, but now am not so sure! :roll:

supersonic

Octalink is better than ISIS. Infact square taper will outlast them all, but cranks are flexier.

External BB chainsets always comew with the appropriate BB (and don't work with any cartridge BB like ISIS)

gcwebbyuk

So bottom line, If I want to go for those FSA cranks whatt would I need to do? Are they compatible with my bike Stumpjumper HT Comp?

It looks like a swap for say shimano to shimano is quite easy as it just needs a simple too, but with these other types of BB - Race Face / FSA - would it be much more complicated and therefore need an LBS to do it for me?

ALso will the bike need to be "re-faced"? Have heard that time thrown about a bit while people have spoken about Cranksets / BBs.