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Shimano XT HollowTech II Cranks
Jim - 10th December 2007
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External bottom bracket systems are relatively new on the scene, and with any new innovation there will be sceptics, and those who snap it up straight away without a second thought. I was originally sceptical; can a couple of pinch bolts really hold the cranks together? And with an extra bit of length in the axle, will that not create a bit more flex?
Admittedly they are slightly more expensive to fit, considering you will need to face the outer edges of the bottom bracket shell in order for the bearings to sit square with the axle. However at around £85 (if you hunt around) for a set of these XT cranks, or about £65 for the cheaper LX version you cant really beat the price. Don’t be fooled by Hones, apart from the colour they are basically LX cranks in a grey/black colour.
Nice clean cranks straight out of the box
External bearing systems, named HollowTech II in its latest incarnation or X-Type by RaceFace and now Truvativ have adopted it in a variety of different ways but without the thru axle attached to the drive side of the cranks, such as HollowTech II. The basic idea is that the bearings are located outside of the bottom bracket, and therefore the bearings themselves can be bigger, and sustain more load and abuse.
Having previously owned both square taper cranks (which were a nightmare, reasons to follow...) and ISIS, which wasn’t actually bad as a system, there just weren’t many bottom brackets that lasted more than a season of abuse.
Maintenance is a key issue, and one which we all like to avoid. So far, with two sets of Shimano HollowTech II cranks - these XT cranks which I have been running for 8 months now, and an older set of LX cranks on my XC bike which are approaching 2 years old the only maintenance has been to clean and regrease the axle to remove the crap that manages to get in there, and the bearings on the LX cranks are showing signs of failure after 2 winters of wet grit slowly wearing them down.
Back in the good ol' days when square taper was everywhere, maintenance meant cutting up a beer can in order to space out the edges so that the bolt could clamp down on something other than the interface itself, and they were always coming loose.
After a few months of abuse and english weather
The silver finish on the XT's means that you wont be able to rub the colour off, the only bit that will be rubbed off is the XT logo written down the side. If you're looking to be a bit different Phil Wood make replacement bearings for the cranks which will probably outlive the cranks themselves.
If 4x is your thing then I would say the XT's are more than strong enough for you whilst also being light, however if downhill is more your mojo then the big brother, Saint is the way to go. If you keep a beady eye out this season you might even spot a few pimp daddies on the XTR mega cranks. Truth be told, the needle goes the wrong side of 15 stone when I step on the scales and I haven’t broken a set yet, despite sending them down the DH runs and through rock gardens. If DH was all I did on this bike I’d have the Saints for that extra piece of mind, but till then XT is sold and dependable.
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