Race Face Deus Crankset

3.32/5

(169 Reviews)

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MSRP : $290.00

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The Deus XC crank continues Race Face?s legendary tradition for XC excellence in aluminum cranks. Featuring their signature I-Beam arm profiling & our smooth shifting, made in Canada ?Team? rings with patented Shift Technology, the Deus crank is an incred

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Reviews 1 - 15 (169 Reviews Total)

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Submitted by Martin

Date Reviewed: May 31, 2013

Strengths:    Great looking.

Weaknesses:    Left hand crank to axle interface.

Bottom Line:

Great cranks if you can get them setup properly. An overcomplicated fitting procedure, compare it to shimano... Don't like the potential for excessive sideloading of bottom bracket bearings. Used 3 sets now, left hand crank on axle always ends up creaking like crazy. Have just hammered the factory fitted axle from the crank and refitted it with the strongest loctite I could find, if this doesn't do the trick then shimano will be fitted and I will never buy a raceface product again.

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Submitted by Rosscopeco a Cross Country Rider from Glasgow, Scotland

Date Reviewed: April 22, 2011

Strengths:    Super stiff, low weight, bling effect

Weaknesses:    Just one fault from my perspective, but a MAJOR one.....the extractor bolt! Does not provide easy quick maintenance of BB.

Bottom Line:

Love the performance, feel and look of these cranks. Over the 15 months that I used them I cannot fault them in terms of being on the bike and cycling...however! I live in Scotland...it rains here....a lot....hence the need for some good timely maintenance to my Chris King BB (usually every 2/3 months or so). Everytime the cranks were removed, and is mentioned elsewhere, a very thin skim of metal seemed to come off the alu extractor bolt. Coming from an engineering background I bought a 14mm x 1mm tap and reemed out the crank spindle thinking that a small metal burr must have been left in following manufacture but sadly to no avail. Therefore after removal No3 the threads simply stripped off the bolt. I eventualy, managed to source a new bolt through Silverfish and again after removal No3 the bolt has again stripped its threads. If I calculate the amount of maintenance time I have to spent on the bike this one fault has accounted for circa 60% of my time. They were finally removed last night for the last time and a set of Shimano SLX (only 40g heavier but 100% stiffer than XT) went on. I cannot recommend this extractor system to anyone, if it wasn't for this defect they'd still be on the bike.

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Favorite Trail:   Anywhere off the beaten track

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $150.00

Purchased At:   Chainreaction

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT / SLX / Truvativ

Bike Setup:   Orange 5, Hope, Chris King, RS Pike, FOX RP23, Rohloff rear hub.

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Submitted by cvernon a Cross Country Rider from Sydney, Australia

Date Reviewed: May 30, 2010

Strengths:    As light as XTR, very stiff and rigid. Shifts well up and down.

Weaknesses:    I had the cranks loosen and nearly fall off in an enduro race in the first 4 km. I had to ride back and get an 8mm Allen key to tighten it up and restart with the next wave.

Bottom Line:

The incident where the cranks loosened only happened once and I've owned this set since about 2005. I bought a 2nd set too in about 2008 and I think they have been modified slightly since the earlier model.

I just did another race, yesterday and it was 50km of mud and rain - the inaugural Capital Punishment in Canberra. The bike was caked in mud and the chain suck was horrendous. I re-lubed the chain and it went better but to my horror I noticed the drive side crank was loose. It was wobbly and I thought it was going to come off until I borrowed an 8mm Allen key and found it was already tight! What the hell was going on here? One of the posters down below nailed it - the cap nut was loose. It takes a 10mm Allen key and has a reverse thread. I read that today ran back to the garage and tightened it and it was rock solid again. The later model one doesn't seem to need this as it came with a crank bolt and was never loose and I replaced it with a self extracting crank bolt and never had any wobble.

IF YOU DO HAVE A WOBBLE MAKE SURE THE CAP NUT IS TIGHT.

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Favorite Trail:   Menai

Duration Product Used:   More than 3 years

Price Paid:    $180.00

Purchased At:   Jensens USA

Similar Products Used:   Shimano XT (FC-M760 and FC-M770), Truvativ Stylo 3.3.

Bike Setup:   2007 Specialized Epic Carbon Marathon and 2007 S-Works Stumpjumper.

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Submitted by Tom-Q a Weekend Warrior from Houston, TX, USA

Date Reviewed: January 12, 2010

Strengths:    Looks good.

Weaknesses:    No matter how tight i got the bolt holding it on, it still creaked. I removed it twice (including the bottom bracket cups) and cleaned and lubed everything. Then put it back together getting each component tight. It still creaked. Then about 2 years into it (the bike sat in my closet more often than i'd like to admit) the splines rounded off. I'll report again after i talk to their warranty department. I've been a bike mechanic at a large bike retailer, and i've used lots of cranks, but even the old square taper performed better than this.

Bottom Line:

Never ever would I recommend these to anyone. I talked to someone in a shop in Durango who said he owned a shop in Oregon and that they had been mailed some kind of compound to put in the splines to make them last longer. He said he had a number of these come in, and that it was a known problem.

These are the most expensive garbage cranks I've ever used. I hope to give a good review of Race Face's warranty and customer service in the near future. I'll give an update after talking to them.

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Favorite Trail:   Anything i can put the rubber to.

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Purchased At:   Rocky Mountain Bikes

Similar Products Used:   Shimano Octolink, Shimano LX (new with outboard BB cups), Shimano Saint, Truvativ Firex (old square taper), Truvativ Hozfeller, Echo Front Freewheel Cranks, Shimano STX, Shimano XT, Race Face Prodigy DH Cranks

Bike Setup:   Rocky Mountain ETSX 70. It came with these cranks, and a few of my friends had lusted over the cranks for a year or so, so I thought they'd be good.

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Submitted by mare45 a Cross Country Rider from Central NJ

Date Reviewed: December 16, 2009

Strengths:    NONE!

Weaknesses:    Chain suck galore! Ruined my brand new frame!

Bottom Line:

I have a full XTR full-suspension bike built up quite nicely, but I bought this complete bike because it had quite a few parts that I would keep and that means upgrades would be minimal. I wanted to buy a 29er to try and they came with these cranks, and XT drivetrain. I took my bike out for its first ride 4 days ago and the chain suck wrecked the chainstay. I thought it was not adjusted properly, so I had that checked out. I rode it again today and the same darn thing! My new bike, on only its second ride, has awful gouges and afterwards I learn that Race Face cranks are notorious for this. Had I known, I would have changed the cranks before I took the bike out. These cranks are coming off and I am going back to Shimano, or trying Middleburns this time around. They have very nice options for 29ers.

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Favorite Trail:   Many

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Purchased At:   Came on my bike

Similar Products Used:   I have always used Shimano XT or XTR, neither of which are similar to these Race Face because the Shimanos work.

Bike Setup:   Salsa Mamasita with XT drivetrain, Hope hubs, Stans Notubes, Thompson stuff, etc., etc.

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Submitted by kArmaClad a Racer from Madison, WI, USA

Date Reviewed: October 26, 2009

Strengths:    Lightweight! Stiff, smooth shifting, lighter and less expensive than XT.

Weaknesses:    Haven't seen any yet, I have read about the BB wearing out, but haven't seen that yet and absolutely no chainsuck at all.

Bottom Line:

Best upgrade dollars spent.

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Favorite Trail:   HPT, CamRock, Quarry ridge, quarry park

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $280.00

Purchased At:   LBS

Similar Products Used:   XT, XTR, kooka, etc.

Bike Setup:   09 HKEK stock plus RF cranks

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Submitted by jdpowers a Cross Country Rider from Phoenix, AZ

Date Reviewed: October 2, 2009

Strengths:    Stiff and cheap

Weaknesses:    Chainsuck, chainsuck and more chainsuck

Bottom Line:

One and done.

These cranks were on a brand new Hei Hei I purchased or else I would have gone with trusty Shimano. One ride on these and three chainsuck episodes later the back was back in the shop getting the cranks swapped out. Maybe it was the frame's fault (but Shimano cranks fixed it) but having new equipment fail like this is always disappointing. I would/will stick with Shimano cranks.

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Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Similar Products Used:   XT, SLX, XTR

Bike Setup:   Hei Hei

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Submitted by tkehler a Cross Country Rider from BC, Canada

Date Reviewed: December 30, 2008

Strengths:    Tough, stiff, good rings, no chainsuck (not once), crisp shifting every time (even after days of mud, dust, railbed gravel, rain and 40' long x 2' deep puddles)

Weaknesses:    None so far, though people say the BB is crap -- I've not had a single problem.

Bottom Line:

I use my bike for XC, single track, and other things like that. AND especially for long distance riding and touring. I've done many days on the Kettle Valley trail, in all kinds of conditions and I've had no trouble. (I have a nice Phil Wood external BB ready to install when I have to replace this BB, but I've done 3,000 km without any worries. And I expect to keep using the cranks for a long time.)

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Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $250.00

Purchased At:   on-line

Similar Products Used:   Numerous

Bike Setup:   Seven Sola titanium bike, Thomson, SRAM X9

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Submitted by adept1 a Cross Country Rider from Singapore

Date Reviewed: November 17, 2008

Strengths:    Lightweight, reasonable price, nice looking, good instructions (IF YOU READ THEM!)

Weaknesses:    Aluminum bolt is not suitable for the initial installation. It'll strip if you apply the necessary torque to get the bolt to bottom out all the way. I set my torque wrench to 50 ft/lbs and stripped it. Glad it was the bolt and not the spindle! Better to use a steel bolt for initial install, and replace with an aluminum or titanium one after if you want something lighter. I used an old steel bolt from a previous crankset and tightened it to 50 ft/lbs.

Bottom Line:

I really like the cranks, and have not experienced any of the problems other people have mentioned here. You need to follow the instructions properly! I think many of the problems may be because the cranks aren't torqued down hard enough, and this could result in loosening, wobbling, and improper chainlines. I think Race Face should supply a steel bolt for the initial install, and people would not have these problems. I'm deducting 1 point for this.

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Favorite Trail:   Bukit Timah

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $220.00

Purchased At:   ebay seller

Similar Products Used:   Race Face Evolve XC

Bike Setup:   XC hardtail

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Submitted by Graphxxx a Weekend Warrior from Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Date Reviewed: November 2, 2008

Strengths:    Super strong, looks great! Work flawlessly.

Weaknesses:    None that i can think of really.

Bottom Line:

To me this cranks got installed in about 5 mins no joke. Though i had small problems with the spindle at first. I would get a small play with the drive side crank arm and the spindle but that go fixed. I do have to check the cups here and there to see if any loose.

They can take abuse to the max, will stay true, never bend and will always be solid! They look great to. Yes heavy, but i don't mind weight for strength. I got a good deal and i can't be happier to have these cranks on my bike!

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Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $115.00

Purchased At:   Pinkbike

Similar Products Used:   Truvativ hussefelt, blaze

Bike Setup:   04 Hucker small, 06 66 RC2x, XT M772 rear derailleur, RF diabolus cranks, s-types, RF evolve DH stem, Nokian NBX 2.3 tires, truvativ box guide, Hayes Mags and etc.

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Submitted by kevinchellew a Cross Country Rider from sudbury ontario

Date Reviewed: October 16, 2008

Strengths: great crank and BB. Light weight, durable

Bottom Line:

this crank is just fine. I read alot of bad reviews about it. I ride in adverse conditions (rain, sand, mud, 3 ft. water holes) and after 5000 km. it still preforms like it was new. Let's all hear it for a great Canadian crankset.

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Duration Product Used: 6 months

Bike Setup: rocky mountain element 70 stock

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Submitted by dgangi a Weekend Warrior from Phoenix, AZ

Date Reviewed: October 13, 2008

Strengths:    Light, smooth shifting, durable, looks cool, adjustable drivetrain width

Weaknesses:    Installation was a pain

Bottom Line:

I'm not sure why so many people here give these cranks a bad review. I have these mounted on 2 bikes, and after a year of abuse I haven't had an issue with either. A number of my friends use these with success as well.

First, and most importantly, installation is key to the success or failure of an outboard bearing crankset. Outboard systems, regardless of brand, are highly susceptible to frame tolerances. Any problems in the bottom bracket shell -- poor facing or misaligned (not parallel) faces caused by sloppy bike frame manufacturing -- will kill any crankset. Poor tolerances in the bottom bracket shell is more common than you think...

I mounted the cranks on both of my bikes myself. I followed the instructions carefully (which were relativley easy to read). I greased every surface, torqued the cups down very snug, and mounted the cranksets with the cinch bolt to where it fully bottomed out. You need a proper torque wrench to do this.

After successful installation, these things look great and perform well. Race Face chainrings are the best wearing chainrings out there (XT crap wears like butter)...and after a year of beating on these I hardly notice any wear. Shifting is smooth and crisp (XT front derailleur on both bikes). I've never had any chain suck problems on either bike.

I bought the shiny silver Aluminum crank arms, and after a year of AZ rock rash, the crankset still looks really nice. Shimano stuff looks horrible after just a year of use. I have no idea how well the black Race Face color would work...but the silver has been great.

These cranks are very stiff. I pound the hell out of these on my Motolite, and I have yet to feel any flex anywhere in the system.

As far as durability goes, the Deus cranks have been great. I frequently smash the end of a crank arm on a rock, and besides some nice gashes in the ends of the crank arms...nothing else has been affected.

Anyway, as I said in the opening of this review...as long as you are careful to mount these properly, I think these are some of the best cranks out there. And when you do wear out the bearings, any Shimano cups/bearings will fit (Race Face and Shimano use the exact same cups/bearings) - so finding replacement parts is a snap.

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Favorite Trail:   Any one I am on

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $225.00

Purchased At:   Pricepoint

Similar Products Used:   XT outboard crankset, lots of ISIS stuff, old Race Face square taper

Bike Setup:   2007 Motolite, 2005 Giant NRS

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Submitted by Rapidtrax a Cross Country Rider from MA

Date Reviewed: September 27, 2008

Strengths:    2008 eight Deus is redesigned, solid bolt, spline redesign

Weaknesses:    well, to early to tell. riden once so far

Bottom Line:

This is an update to my previous review. I was so displeased with the performance of the original Deus product I did some research. It appears the new Deus (2008 I guess) has a solid bolt design rather than the hollowed out bolt. Also the x-type spline appears to be redesigned. Gone are the large flat spline areas being replaced by more of the finer spline ridges( and grooves). I will say that this set appears to work much better so far. Installation was the same but I did notice that the setup tightened right up at 45 ft-lbs (the recommended torque). I will have to see how well this new version works. three chillis to start; I'll go up or down from here

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Favorite Trail:   They're all good

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $245.00

Purchased At:   Seasonal Outfitters

Similar Products Used:   earlier Deus Design

Bike Setup:   Intense

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Submitted by Yetidog2 a Cross Country Rider from Michigan

Date Reviewed: August 30, 2008

Strengths:    Strong.

Weaknesses:    Crank halves freeze together. Bearing dust covers crack. Bearings seize.

Bottom Line:

Absolute crap! I just installed my third crank in nearly 3-years. Fortunately Race Face has warrantied all. The first two cranks had to be cut off the bike because the crank halves froze together. Bearings seize around 1,000 miles. Must be very careful when servicing the BB because the dust covers easily crack requiring BB replacement. If you already have RF, don't accept a warranty replacement- just pony up for a new XT crank.

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Favorite Trail:   PLRA

Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Purchased At:   Various

Similar Products Used:   XT and XTR

Bike Setup:   Stock 2006 Yeti 575 - Race Disk Build

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Submitted by steadite a Weekend Warrior from Erie, PA, USA

Date Reviewed: August 21, 2008

Strengths:    Light and gorgeous looking. Nice chainrings---good shifting.

Weaknesses:    Bottom bracket started creaking like crazy after ~100 miles. Tried to remove the crankarm and the extractor screw broke (with threads now stuck in the arm). Without success, tried every way possible to remove the crankarm (including a gear-puller and torch!) and ended up cutting the crankarm off with an angle grinder. One for the garbage bin.

Bottom Line:

Very bad design WRT arrachment of drive-side crank arm to the axle. The extractor screw simply does not have enough strength to pop the spline joint apart. Big waste of money for me.

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Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $260.00

Purchased At:   somewhere online

Similar Products Used:   mid-range shimano and FSA.

Bike Setup:   Cannondale hardtail

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Race Face Deus Crankset

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