[Closed] Enduro Bike Build – What cranks to get?

Is it worth paying the extra for Carbon

If you have to ask, then no it isn't.

..second hand. Is it worth paying the extra for Carbon

Definitely not both of these. I know of many CF cranks that have gone back under warranty for bonding issues to be resolved.

If you decide you want CF, get a warranty with them.

Co-signed. I would not want CF cracks without a warranty. Seen too many reports of loose inserts.
I know they're full, but GX/mid level RF/XT are all good, solid performers. You don't often hear if issues with them, and the volumes sold are far greater than most. Depending on what you're riding, you may bash the cranks quite a bit as well. Boring alloy works well for me tbh.

Plus there's the cost and availability of chainrings to think of.
One of the many things there is to hate about the e13s that came one of my bikes is the ridiculous cost of replacement rings due to lack of aftermarket suppliers.

"If you have to ask, then no it isn’t."

😉 cheers for that.

Looking for feedback. I've been running RF Next, and can't decide if they are worth the cash. I've had to warrenty them with bonding issues too – so good point regarding second hand, noted!

Turbines come in pretty competative on weight and are an interesting choice.

I would not want CF cracks without a warranty.

And, by extension, you'd want a back-up pair of ally cranks for when you send the CF ones back, so you may as well just ride the ally ones to start with!

I would not want CF cracks without a warranty.

And, by extension, you'd want a back-up pair of ally cranks so you can still ride your bike when you send the CF ones back, so you may as well just ride the ally ones to start with!

Just buy some shimano hollotech 2 cranks, xt m8000 or similar, I don't see the point in paying more as these do the job and go on forever.

IMHO... cranks are incredibly expensive
i spent ages looking for something decent at a reasonable price point
I ended up using an old generation rotor rex 3.. designed for a triple chainring.. was also 172.5mm... i couldnt notice a a 2.5mm difference..in all honesty i couldn't care less about running it with a single, it was light and cost me something like £55 new from scouring ebay

If i had gone with a full RRP crank it would have probably cost similar to a wheel

The GX cranks are pretty nice, plenty stiff, look decent. I’m running then with a Hope BB with adapter.

Yes XT or GX cranks a better bet IME. And spend the saving somewhere more important. I am not sure a self build has to cost more and that's part of the appeal in the sourcing.

Race Face Aeffect are a good budget option, new SLX or XT worth investigating.

It's one of the areas where you don't need to spend big bucks to save a few grammes IMO.

Don't buy Race Face carbon second hand! I went through 5 sets in less than 3 years, the last set where replaced with Turbines as the 3 year warranty was nearly up. I'm not heavy, though I do smack pedals occasionally 🙂

If I was buying now and feeling flush, I'd get the new Hopes, but if not it'd be Turbines or Aeffect's for even less money.

I've a set of Race Face Aeffect cranks, 170mm 2x rides old....
came off my stumpjumper before i replaced them with some existing XTR ones i already had.

Sitting in a box, doing nothing.
PM me if you're interested. 2 ride old direct mount 30t ring included....

zee cranks are normally well under £100 and work just as well as the others. I'm not certain about chain line though

Rotor are decent cranks but their catalogue is a disaster, so figuring out which cranks fit which spiders and rings and axles is no fun.

I'm on 1st gen. Hope but if I was buying again I'd go 24mm axle for sure, as the 30mm axle eats BBs for breakfast (on BB92 frame).

5lab

Member
zee cranks are normally well under £100 and work just as well as the others. I’m not certain about chain line though

Pretty heft though iirc (solid rather than the normal hollow design). Would go for SLX for £80 of them

lardman

Member

I’ve a set of Race Face Aeffect cranks, 170mm 2x rides old….
came off my stumpjumper before i replaced them with some existing XTR ones i already had.

Sitting in a box, doing nothing.
PM me if you’re interested. 2 ride old direct mount 30t ring included….

Would they happen to be boost? And include a BB?

I always liked Shimano’s pinch bolt system for simplicity, but they were a fail without being able to run direct Mount rings.

Race face carbon is always a no, seen far to many broken sets for such low volumes, their BB life could always be measured in minutes too.

I’ve run Sram for as long as I can remember, got X01 and XX1 & have smashed them into loads of rocks over the years and never had an issue. I don’t like the self extracting bolt mounting system, but the direct mount rings, weight and apparent strength has meant I’ve had zero issues. Will happily continue to run them. If I was on a budget, I’d probably run the GX eagle alloy cranks as an alternative.

If I was being Mr Moneybags, I’d throw a set of Eewings on there 😆

@mashr

Boost, yes indeed.

Include BB?.... well thats currently still running on my Stumpjumper, about 6 months old now with summer use only. Could take that out if you really wanted it?

I fancy changing it to a Wheels Manufacturing jobbie anyway.

“If you have to ask, then no it isn’t.”

😉 cheers for that.

Looking for feedback. I’ve been running RF Next, and can’t decide if they are worth the cash. I’ve had to warrenty them with bonding issues too – so good point regarding second hand, noted!

You're welcome 😉
Last 2 bikes came with carbon cranks (X01). No problems with them, but there's nothing amazing or exciting about them either. So as I was trying to say it all depends how much the extra cash means to you. If you are on a strict budget I definitely wouldn't bother. Wifey has some RF alloy cranks on her Juliana and they look just as good.

Have two sets of X01 arms, both are 3 years old now, easily over 3000 miles on each set, both have been smashed into rocks (although have run crank boots all the time). Would buy another set.

Sram GXP bb's last a 1000miles or so, a little bit longer if you take them apart, regrease the bearings and pack them.

DMR Axe cranks are strong & light 30mm spindle & usually pick up cheap or Praxis cranks, they are well made & put together cranks unlike shimano crap where splines can wear & Crank arms fall off.

Echo the comments on RaceFace carbon cranks. May as well burn your money if buying them secondhand. I had a set of Atlas cranks and they’re stiff and relatively light and look nice. Hunting about they can be found for under £100 too.

I wouldn’t worry about light on an Enduro bike. I’d get a dub bb with either NX or GX cranks - but if you don’t like the branding then truvativ descendant cranks are basically the same thing but with nicer graphics. I bent my original cranks in a crash (gx 1000’s) that I mashed my knee up on too - I picked up an nx crank with dub bb for around £75 off eBay. I don’t like the nx branding and would rather have had the descendant version but money was a bit tight at the time.

I have SRAM X9, I think they might be branded as alloy X01 now or similar. They're cheap, pretty light and look better than the latest GX ones as well imo. Also the SRAM direct mount is one of the best. And you can get an adaptor to run a Shimano BB of necessary, but my GXP BB is years old and still going strong

Stick with the GX ones. I "forcibly retired" a set of X01 carbon ones after a rock strike last summer. There's 100g or so weight difference but the GX are noticeably stiffer, tons more durable and if you follow what many testers/designers/racers are doing, they're following the idea of extra weight around the BB being a good thing for stability.

I've fannied around with various cranks and I keep coming back to ancient XTR M970s- they had a nonstandard inner ring which was a pain when they were new but they work great as 1x, and they're lighter than some carbon cranks.

Been running X0 and X01 on our bikes for as long as I can think back with no problems.
Our daughter has clattered her XX1 on the Enduro circuits for the last four years as well as extended stays in the Alps and Whistler and they are still going strong.
Always run ours with the plastic end protectors.

Swapped out the Hope crankset that came on my bike for GX, when I went to Esgle. Far prefer the GX. They just work with no faff or special tools and as other have said, the sram direct mount is simply genius.
Have carbon X01 on my hardtail and they have taken some pretty hefty whacks. Really strong but flex more than the GX.

Tracey

Subscriber
Been running X0 and X01 on our bikes for as long as I can think back with no problems.
Our daughter has clattered her XX1 on the Enduro circuits for the last four years as well as extended stays in the Alps and Whistler and they are still going strong.

I’d wager that she’s a lot lighter than a lot of the folk on this thread though

I'd go for new direct mount shimano. XTm8100

Absolute black already do aftermarket oval rings so chainring availability unlikely an issue.

Shimano cranks are always a safe bet for hard riding I found.

Unbounded a set of rf next so put the warranty replacements on my carbon xc race hardtail. No more enduro-ing on those or any other plastic cranks!

Thanks everyone for the feedback, a lot of concensous!