Bicycle Mechanics - LX cranks anybody

Hi, I was recently intested in upgrading my hardtial and considered maybe the LX or XT cranks. I saw that the LX cranks were like 20 grams lighter than the XTs and XTRs, does anybody know why this is? And how the LXs compare to the XTs? Thanks

From Shimano's site:
LX crank weight: 665 g. Steel inner ring, alu outer and middle rings.
XT cranks: 647 g. Same ring construction. XT gets a different alu alloy for the arms themselves and an alu crank bolt, as opposed to steel.
'02 XTR (the more common 4 arm): 685 g. Alu crank nut as well. Big difference here is stiffness and quality of rings, which are all alu. XTR requires a different bb than LX and XT.
'03 XTR (ridiculously good looking in person): 797 g with bb. The bottom bracket and crankset are now integrated. It's a really trick setup and preliminary word from the people our shop has riding it has been very positive. XTR is now compact drive, like LX and XT. Basically, as you go up in price you lose some weight, gain some stiffness, and get nicer shifting rings.

Originally posted by B1105
I saw that the LX cranks were like 20 grams lighter than the XTs and XTRs


lol.........

LX cranks are the best value/gram in the Shimano line. The additional cost of XTs don't justify their 20g weight savings, IMO.

XTRs save their weight via a much lighter bottom bracket, at a much higer cost.