Mountain Biking - LX vs. XT cranks

Is there any signifigant difference between the LX and XT cranks other than about 50 grams and 50 dollars? I mean they are both of about the same quality and durrability are they not? I dont mind keeping weight down but at a buck a gram it seems kind of crazzy. If there is a quality difference however, and the XT will hold up better then perhaps I will go with the XT. And yes I do know that the XT only works with the XT bottom bracket and the LX with the LX bottom bracket, so is there a difference in the bb quality, durrability, other than the spline that attaches it to the crank? Thanks for the help.

aperently I was mistaken, the difference in weight is only 9 grams, but the price difference is still 50 bucks. Where is the benifit here?

XT isn't the ugly blue color? ;)

LX has imho crappy looks and finish...XT has only crappy finish . XT is a bit stiffer and has allegedly better rings. Its not just 9gr. I would probably buy something of a better finish, however i am a great fan of XT series.

I think we discussed this previously, do a search. I think the biggest difference was the quality of the chainrings. I think with the XT, the big and middle were aluminum and the granny was steel (typical) whereas the LX, all three were steel.

L8R

My LX has Al for the mid and outer rings. I think the 22 is Al. I have heard of problems with the "pre-worn" teeth chipping because they are so thin. XT is supposed to last longer.

I looked up the specs on shimano's sight and the only differences I could find was that 1, the small ring on the LX was steel, and on the XT all three were aluminum. And 2, was that the LX cranks are made of forged aluminum, and the XT cranks are made of forged duraluminum, what ever that is...

Two words (or maybe it's one word) Race Face. There were a couple sites with big sales on the Prodigy XC a little while back, hopefully you could find one still selling low. The prodigy, imho, is 2 steps above XT.

-Middi-zon

humm... I did a search to see what kind of prices I could fine and the prodigy xc is the same price as the XT. Only question is which bottom bracket to go with it? It says it needs an ISIS spline, but race face offers a bunch of bb's with that spline allong with a couple other companies. Any recomendations?

I'm currently running Truvativs that came stock. No complaints so far. Might be worth looking into as well. Read somer reviews at www.mtbr.com - some of the reviews start out biased/are written the day somone gets the product, but you should be able to get a fairly good idea of what people think.

-Moab

yea, its been a slow day and I have been reading a lot of those reviews. The race face cranks seem to be highly rated, but their bottom brackets not so much. The shimano bottom brackets seem to have good reviews, but very few reviews. so who knows. I might just go with the XT cranks just so that I can eventually end up with an all XT setup. But that seems like a silly reason.

Russel.... in my opinion if you want something durable dont go for shimano in terms of cranks. I love XT groupset. I got XT hydro discs, XT drivetrain, but if i am gonna buy a crank it is RACEFACE or FSA coupled with RF Evolve BB or FSA Xtreme Pro BB.

Buy RaceFace... better quality, and it's not Shimano. Probably could find it for cheaper than XT, too. The Prodigy series by RaceFace is pretty sweet.

What do you guys think for cassettes with the Race Face crank? SRAM?

Thanks,
Draft

I have a SRAM 9.0 cassette.. it works good. If you want to spend less cash, the 7.0 is fine too.. I have that one on my Jekyll.

I would'nt buy SRAM (the thieving dogs!!!).They just lost a law suit agaianst Shimano and were found guilty of patent infringement. Seems they stole Shimanos ramp design and tooth profile on the cassettes. BUy the original. Buy Shimano

LX on the commuter with over 20,000 miles on it, works great, never creaks. XT on the mountain bike, 4,000 miles on it, never creaks, works great, weight difference has never bothered me, both seam to wear at the same rate,(not at all). Spend your money wisely, go with the LX unless you really can't tollerate the blue.

Originally posted by TimB
I would'nt buy SRAM (the thieving dogs!!!).They just lost a law suit agaianst Shimano and were found guilty of patent infringement. Seems they stole Shimanos ramp design and tooth profile on the cassettes. BUy the original. Buy Shimano Would you still say that had SRAM won?

so what do you guys think about this deal? I have read a lot of bad reviews about the RF bottom brackets...

Race Face Prodigy XC ISIS Crankset and Race Face SRX BB
Price Point $109.98

Not bad at all.

Originally posted by RussellM
so what do you guys think about this deal? I have read a lot of bad reviews about the RF bottom brackets...

Race Face Prodigy XC ISIS Crankset and Race Face SRX BB
Price Point $109.98

I'm thinking of the very same upgrade, so I'll be interested to hear anyone's opinion of that BB :)