7 speed works for me. I've read stuff about 10 speed, now who the hell needs that? There are still XT 8-speed cranksets, I;ve seen them in the Pricepoint catalog. But if you really weant my oppinion, screw shimano, get a Truvativ crank or something. Pricepoint has(or had) one 30-40 bucks in there latest catalog.