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Race Face Deus XC Crankset

3.54/5 (26 Reviews)

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MSRP : $289.99


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Product Description

Deus is the lightest aluminum crank ever made by Race Face. It's machined from 7050 aluminum in Race Face's British Columbia manufacturing facility and designed just for Race Face X-Type bottom brackets.


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Reviews 1 - 15 (26 Reviews Total) | Next 15

User Reviews

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by coling a Weekend Warrior

Date Reviewed: January 12, 2013

Strengths:    Lightweight, smooth pedal, effortless crank, attractive

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:   
rumors exist the bottom bracket is a weakpoint on this set but I have not experienced any of that. My entire set came in at 859g which is only 2/3 the weight of the old set I had. Fantastic upgrade and very smooth, effortless pedal. teeth are nice, grab the chain smooth and the attractive face of the crank arm adds a nice finishing touch to a well-built kit. Also 70% off from bluesky so a great deal.

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Favorite Trail:   Duthie

Duration Product Used:   Not long enough

Price Paid:    $119.00

Purchased At:   Blue Sky Cycling onl

Bike Setup:   2013 Giant Revel 1 29er
Overall Rating:2
Value Rating:1
Submitted by suga a Downhiller from wa

Date Reviewed: February 2, 2012

Strengths:    When they worked, they were great!

Weaknesses:    BB bearings. Splined interface

Bottom Line:   
I had higher expectations for a RaceFace product. My previous experiences with their products has been positive. I do realize that this item was a lower end product, but the cranks should last more than a couple of months. The splined interface kept failing. I went though three sets of these before I sold the replacement set. RaceFace has admitted that these cranks had a design/manufacturing flaw. However, RaceFace customer service was fantastic.
The BB - dont even bother putting it on your rig! Garbage!
Giving Overall Rating of 2 chili's because of great customer service

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Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Purchased At:   oem

Similar Products Used:   RF Turbine & Atlas, Saint, XT, XTR, Profile, ect...

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by beatfarmer a Cross Country Rider from Appleton, Maine

Date Reviewed: July 18, 2011

Strengths:    solid, stiff, light, easy to maintain. Can't comment on the BB; this is only for the cranks...

Weaknesses:    the crank puller cap has gotten very hard to find for the 05-07 years...more on this below...

Bottom Line:   
Bought the bike used a few years ago with these cranks and a XT bb; the bb gave up the ghost this year, so dropped a Chris King in there and these cranks fit right in; installation took all of about 10 minutes.

But back to the cranks; they've been rock solid despite countless hits on the logs and rocks that make up our northern New England trail substrate. Chain rings are still totally solid; new chain last year and didn't skip a beat.

Now, as I mentioned the crank puller cap has gotten more or less impossible to find, which makes it hard to replace the bb. So after being sent the wrong one by the one site that has had them in the past, I emailed RF on their site with the situation. The replied within hours with a request for my mailing address so they could pop a replacement they had there off a warrantied crank, no charge. Since it was posted from Canada it took a little longer, but in about 10 days or so the part showed up with a handwritten note and a sticker.

So big props for the cranks, bigger props for the service, and even bigger props for the service to a product that technically was made by a different company. If this is what the new Race Face is about, I'm a customer for life.

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Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Purchased At:   came on the bike...

Similar Products Used:   XTR

Bike Setup:   horst 5 spot loaded with goodies
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by stumblemumble a Weekend Warrior from santa Rosa, CA

Date Reviewed: May 14, 2011

Strengths:    Race Face rings
Light
Easy install, removal

Weaknesses:    BB does suck

Bottom Line:   
I've beat the hell out of mine and they're still trucking. Just toss the BB as soon as you get them. I've run mine 3x, 2x and 1x9. Loose a chili for the junk BB's RF makes.

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Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:3
Submitted by TucksMedicAided a Cross Country Rider from Seattle

Date Reviewed: September 21, 2010

Strengths:    Light, stiff, excellent shifting (ie good chainrings)

Weaknesses:    BB bearings are junk (but easy to have a decent set swapped in)

Bottom Line:   
Buy them for the cranks and the BB shell and plan on having new bearings pressed in. There's a good description in the forums on how to service the bearings (super easy). If I had it to do over, I'd start there and fill them up with grease to start with. I just serviced them and, the non-drive side was siezed (after about four rides and only two wet ones, but wd-40 got it freed up). The non-drive side has the green sealed x-type bearing, but the drive side has an orange sealed bearing marked 6805-2RS (which is in perfect shape).
If I had filled them up with some Phil wood grease to begin with, they'd probably still be perfect. Unfortunately it looks like they barely put any grease in the X-type (green sealed) bearing.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Ryan's Eternal Flow

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $219.00

Purchased At:   LBS

Similar Products Used:   Campy stuff, shimano stuff . . . including frigin' octaspline (way to make it obsolete nation of the rising planned obsolescence). I've tried most types of BB's over the past 25 years and still miss the ease of working on old school races and square taper spindles, but I do appreciate the stiffness and lightweight of the new stuff.

Bike Setup:   2005 fsr 100 comp disc, mostly stock.
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by BokorSolo a Cross Country Rider from Occoquan, VA

Date Reviewed: August 28, 2010

Strengths:    Stiff. Lightweight. Great price. Graphics. Shifting. Inexpensive chain rings.

Weaknesses:    Stock bottom bracket was a bit of a problem. Since then I have been using XTs and have no more problems.

Bottom Line:   
This is by far one of the better crank sets I have owned. They are really lightweight, the spin great and I feel like I am really putting the power to wheels with these. I've been using these for years and we are still going strong. Same crank set. I would definitely buy them again.

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Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT, Truvativ Stylo.

Bike Setup:   Full rigid.
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by tumble_downs a Cross Country Rider from Melbourne, Australia

Date Reviewed: June 30, 2010

Strengths:    Light, strong, cheap

Weaknesses:    None that I can think of

Bottom Line:   
Never had a problem with either of the 2 pairs of 2008 Deus cranks I own. Bolts don't loosen, and if chainsuck occurs, it's been a problem with my setup - not the cranks. I've since set up both as 2x9s, and they shift flawlessly

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Christmas Hills

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Price Paid:    $200.00

Purchased At:   Online

Similar Products Used:   XT, Stylo

Bike Setup:   Hardtail 29er and FS 29er
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by cdv478 a Cross Country Rider from Fallon, Nevada

Date Reviewed: June 5, 2010

Strengths:    Relatively light, strong, shift well and look great.

Weaknesses:    Occasional chain suck

Bottom Line:   
This crankset has been great. It shifts as well as XT but never drops the chain under load. The finish on the silver arms is durable. If it gets ratty looking, it is easy to polish and make presentable. Install was easy and I have had zero trouble. This review is for 2007 model cranks.

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Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Price Paid:    $200.00

Purchased At:   Beyond Bikes

Similar Products Used:   Shimano of all kinds since 1990 except XTR.

Bike Setup:   2007 Specialized Epic Expert. Spinergy Xyclone wheels, XO drivetrain, XT cassette.
Overall Rating:1
Value Rating:1
Submitted by KMT a Weekend Warrior from Lakewood CO

Date Reviewed: April 13, 2010

Weaknesses:    Chain suck is horrible, and no amount of adjustment could solve the problem.

Bottom Line:   
I built a pivot Mach 5 with these cranks and they were horrible. Raceface said that they would send a "new and improved" chain ring set. If they knew there was a problem, they should have sent replacement chainrings for existing sets. Fortunately, the bike shop exchanged them for some XT cranks, and the XTs work great.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Purchased At:   LBS

Similar Products Used:   Shimono XT, Deore

Overall Rating:1
Value Rating:2
Submitted by xcbarny a Cross Country Rider from Brisbane, Australia

Date Reviewed: February 24, 2010

Strengths:    Cranks are stiff. Fairly lightweight

Weaknesses:    Bottom bracket lasted 6 rides, seized and damaged the axle.
Polished version corroded after 3 months - finish now looks like ####

Bottom Line:   
I really expected better from Race Face. They need to get their BB's sorted, or not bother selling them.

Crank finish should be Anodised silver to prevent corrosion, like other reputable companies do (eg Chris King)

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Rotorua NZ

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Price Paid:    $200.00

Purchased At:   wheel and sprockets

Similar Products Used:   Race Face Turbine LP

Bike Setup:   S-Works Epic 2007, Fox F100 RLC Sram X0, Chris King Wheels
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by mike_d_1583 a Racer from cincinnati, ohio

Date Reviewed: February 9, 2010

Strengths:    Light and strong. Shifts very well

Weaknesses:    none

Bottom Line:   
This is a great crankset, I was turned on to it when I needed to replace my chainrings on my shimano and I noticed how well they shifted. The shift ramps help out. Never had any problems, always stayed tight and I'm always doing drops from 2-4'. Overall a good crankset that is worth the money.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   anything dangerous

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $230.00

Purchased At:   online

Similar Products Used:   Shimano square taper stuff

Bike Setup:   09' Hardrock disk
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by bholton@apotex.com a Cross Country Rider from Ancaster, ON, Canada

Date Reviewed: February 8, 2010

Strengths:    Stiff, light, strong

Weaknesses:    None for me

Bottom Line:   
I've had these cranks for two bikes and 5 years! The chain rings are now finished. I regularly maintain my drivetrain and was disappointed when I installed a new chain to find it skipping on the middle and small ring. These cranks owe me nothing. I don't understand all the negative reviews. I have ridden these things hard, rock gardens, logs, and everything else that the Niagara Escarpment throws at them. Two bottom brackets in the same time frame or about 12000 km. Not bad for a fair amount of bashing. I would recommend these to any rider looking for strong, stiff and durable set of cranks.

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Favorite Trail:   Hilton Falls

Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Price Paid:    $250.00

Purchased At:   Ancaster Cycle

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XTR

Bike Setup:   Giant Trance 1
Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Andrew a Cross Country Rider from New Zealand

Date Reviewed: December 9, 2009

Strengths:    Looks smart, shifts as good as Shimano XT, chain rings don't wear out. No problems with B/B. Straight forward to fit

Weaknesses:    Aluminium allen bolt not very strong

Bottom Line:   
Bought these 'cos got fed up with buying new Shimano chain rings. Had the B/B properly faced and everything went together okay...sort of. I tightened the allen bolt then took it off and re-fitted as per instructions. It stripped the threads. Replaced with a steel Shimano allen bolt. Since then these have been smooth, quiet and top performers. I've bought another set for my SuperLight

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Queen Charlotte Track

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Purchased At:   CRC

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT

Bike Setup:   Kona Kula Delux
Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Mountainfrog a Downhiller from Phoenix, AZ, USA

Date Reviewed: October 17, 2009

Strengths:    Super light, easy to install, external bearings.

Weaknesses:    rubber coated spacers

Bottom Line:   
I've been abusing this crank for three years now with absolutely no problems. However, my ex-girlfriend rider managed to toast the crank arm spindle on hers somehow, I can only attribute this to improper maintenance, crankbolt locknut check. On the plus side, her crankbolt locknut actually holds it together. I'm buying her a silver replacement for her birthday, even though she's a princess pain in the crank! She's my favorite riding partner and rides the same bike set-up.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   100

Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Price Paid:    $220.00

Purchased At:   Pricepoint

Similar Products Used:   RaceFace Evolve XC X-type, built hell-for-stout also, no problems.

Bike Setup:   '06 Reign, all the sh*t.
Overall Rating:1
Value Rating:2
Submitted by BigJ a Weekend Warrior from Tucson, AZ

Date Reviewed: September 27, 2009

Strengths:    Light weight. Strong. Slick look.

Weaknesses:    Chain suck. Chain suck. And more chain suck.

Bottom Line:   
Worst chain suck I've ever experienced. When shifting from small to middle chainring, chain catches outer rivets on large chainring causing suck. We'll see if the replacement ring will fix the problem...

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   50 Year Trail

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $260.00

Similar Products Used:   Truvativ. Bontrager. Shimano.

Bike Setup:   Niner Air 9. Rockshox reba fork. Race Face Deus cranks. Chris King headset. Ritchey stem/bars. Thompson post. Mavic C29SSMAX wheelset.
Reviews 1 - 15 (26 Reviews Total) | Next 15

Review Options:  Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating

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