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Non-shimano crankset


Pietra's picture

By Pietra - Posted on 02 December 2009

i've been getting by on some raceface evolve cranks on a Hope BB, but the middle chainring is rather shagged, and is misbehaving and skipping on certain chain lines and the inner ring is not far behind. Instead of buying new rings i am thinking i'll upgrade the crankset, but would keep the Hope bb.

To date, i've been running non-shimano for the sake of running non-shimano but it seems with cranksets they simply have the best product (XT or SLX) - steel/carbon middle rings and the pinch bolt setup to avoid excess loading of the bearings.

The two alternatives being considered are the 2010 Raceface Deus (very pricey) and Stylo OCTs (lightweight but i would need adaptors to fit to the hope BB). I was tending to the Deus because the red and black would look great on my machine but the stylo's would match my SRAM/Avid drivetrain.

But i keep coming back to the functional pro's of the Shimano's.

Any thoughts?

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unclebullbar's picture

Shimano SLX from Wiggle. So cheap and so strong: 100+kg of unskilled rider can attest to that.

HeezaGeeza's picture

Easy to set up, strong, reasonable weight and look good. Got mine on Chain Reaction for about $200 from memory

unclebullbar's picture

SLX cranks $170 at Wiggle, $141.30 at CRC!!!!!!!!!! Mind you, XTs are only $200 at CRC????

Little-Ditty's picture

What are you going to use this bike for? I ask because the cranks should fit the purpose. Get something beefier if you are doing harder riding, in terms of technicality, like all-mountain or freeride. Otherwise some lighter or hollow cranks would be good for XC/ trails only riding.

Pietra's picture

Main use will be trail and enduro riding - Manly, Stromlo Trails, Andersons/Oaks and events like Dirtworks, Angry Doctor etc.

I think all the nominated cranks are good for this style of riding

Logan's picture

Infact I am considering switching out my cranks for those as well.

CRC for $141 is a bargain as well.

Whisperer's picture

The current XT is superb, with the steel middle ring, and very reasonable weight.
I have 3 XT cranks on my bikes, one of each of the last 3 vintages, and the current one is by far the best. Currently around $200 on CRC incl bb. You can keep the bb that comes with it for a spare, or flog it on this site for around $40-50 to get some money back.
I've run race face cranks, and two sets have worked loose on the spline eventually. (I do a lot of miles).
btw, I am a BIG fan of hope stuff too!
btw2, SLX is quite a bit heavier.

philberesford's picture

Do yourself a favour, pay the extra $$$ (shipping will still be the same) and get the XT

I would pick XT over SLX any day of the week, and as Whisperer says, you can always flog the BB

Pietra's picture

the order went in today - in the end advice from different sources pushed me to XT

SLX isn't actually that much heavier - only 40 grams according to What Mtb (they do a group review of cranks in the issue i just bought) but it is aimed at all-mtn and XT is the benchmark against which all others are measured

if only it looked more like the red and black 2010 Deus

beroccaboy's picture

other crankset considerations ...

http://www.quarq.com/cinqo

Just in case you want to install the CinQo at a later date ...

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