From the forged in logos and post finish machining on the crank arms and chainrings to the high end features usually reserved for cranks twice the price, The Evolve XC finally brings some drool factor to the budget oriented, performance crankset market.
Strengths: Chainrings shifted nicely - didn't last very long though
Weaknesses: It appears many but maybe not all have a factory fault.
Cleary the large number of people getting "loose drive side crankarm" indicates a factory fault . As normal for the greedy corporations , Race Face has come to the conclusion it can sweep the issue under the carpet becuase there is not enough people affected to bring their name into dis-repute. We hope Race Face goes bankrupt. But I have a solution - read on!! :)
Bottom Line:
If your Cranks are loose or chucked into the back of the cupboard ..... get them out again!!
The drive side crank arm comes loose - It is not due to the washer as another guy mentioned , it is not due to an under tight/under-torqued crank bolt .
After much fiddling , I found the problem : Either the casting on the crank arm splines is too narrow or the spindle splines are too long . Either way the crank bolt bottoms out onto the end of the spindle and the crank arm therefore has very no pressure applied on to it from the crank bolt . The crank bolt should be bottoming out onto the crank arm , forcing it all the way onto the ends of the splines of the spindle where it will seat and lock tightly.
The solution was to carefully freehand grind a millimeter or 2 off the end of the spindle splines using an angle grinder . Be very careful and use safety gear!!
Now when I tighten the crank bolt till it bottoms onto the crank arm , all the pressure is doing what it should be doing - forcing the crank arm splines up the spindle splines until they seat 100% and have constant pressure applied. You may need to remove one washer off the spindle behind the crank arm to compensate for the crank arm now seating properly and fractionally further up the splines.
To check your crank : tighten the crank bolt , remove the crank arm bolt cap and then remove the crank bolt without pulling off the crank arm - there should be a tiny gap between the end of the spindle and the crank arm splines. If there is no gap and they are flush then the spindle is too long and needs to be ground shorter. Grinding it in a lathe would be the ideal option but my careful freehand grinding with an angle grinder worked perfectly.
My drive side crank arm had a huge amount of play , was ready to get thrown away - its now tight and 100% rigid. Time to go blast it down the trail again :)
Submitted by
mtnbici
a Cross Country Rider
from Frazier Park, CA, US
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2011
Strengths: An inexpensive crankset that can handle the abuse of a 240 pound rider.
Weaknesses: The bottom bracket is junk, it really ruins the crankset. The right side sealed bearings started making a clicking noise into my second year of use (less than 400 miles). It turns out the left side bearings were bone-dry. I removed the seals, cleaned the bearings, and applied grease. The jury is still out if this will keep the BB working. The BB was exposed to very little water.
Bottom Line:
Good set for the money, just keep an eye on the BB. Because of the BB bearing issues (google it, it's widespread) I can't give this product a higher rating.
Submitted by
EwanMcKinnon
a Weekend Warrior
from Aberdeen
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2010
Strengths: Cheap & Light
Weaknesses: crank arm spline design
Bottom Line:
My wife and I have almost the same set-up. My drive crank developed a "wobble" after 30 months of riding (perhaps 80-90 rides). My wife's is going strong.
My big ring and pedals have taken a few hits on rocks but total weight of bike and rider is only 75-80kg so I'm not too impressed. That said, they are sold as "XC" and, perhaps RaceFace don't think XC riders should be hitting rocks.
Still looking for a replacement but it certainly won't be the Evolve XC cranks
Submitted by
Tim Barrett Jr
a Cross Country Rider
from Greenville, SC
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2010
Strengths: Stiff, cool looking, cheap, shifts well
Weaknesses: None yet
Bottom Line:
Great cranks so far. Not one bad shift. I don't know what everyone else is complaining about, not yet anyway. Guys, adjust your chains or something. There hasn't even been a sputter from these cranks yet. Also, go with isis. Get rid of the external bb. Bad invention.
Similar Products Used: Race Face Turbine, Shimano Lx
Bike Setup: Canfield one, Fox, Azonic, Michelin, Sram
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
stosh87
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix,AZ,USA
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2009
Strengths: Forged Cranks hold up well.
Weaknesses: Bottom bracket is the biggest piece of crap.
I'm serious the bb was a SRX it lasted about 100 miles.
Seizes up and sent back to Raceface. So like a dummy I upgraded to a XC Signature. The signature got wet in Sedona
and was binding up. Took it apart cleaned it and installed.
The Xc about 90 miles later started binding again. Called
Raceface they said I could send it in for forty dollars.
Sold the the Cranks, could not stand the headache they were giving me.
Don't buy these save yourself a headache.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line don't waste your money like I did.
Can't see to put money into something thats going to break
every 100 miles.
Bike Setup: Kona Blast, no original parts
Waiting to purchase a crankset maybe SLR Shimano
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
SambaBob
a Cross Country Rider
from Sacramento CA
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2009
Strengths: Light and shifts clean.
Weaknesses: Chain rings bend easy. Drive side began to seriously wobble at @ one year.
Bottom Line:
I was loving this crankset until last week, when I noticed how loose it was. Tightened it up but it had major wobble half way through the next ride. I know that the crank bolt was bottomed out, so no problem with that. Looks like the plastic race is broken, too. Will try to get a new one of those, clean the junk out of the splines, and maybe add a hardware store washers like that one fellow recommended. In the mean time, add mine to the wobbly tales of woe that litter this thread like plastic on the beach in Mexico...
Submitted by
yfdcap
a Cross Country Rider
from Yuma AZ
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2009
Strengths: Great crank for the money.
Weaknesses: None with cranks. Bottom bracket not the best.
Bottom Line:
Most if not all spline problems are from not enuff torque. Part of this is Raceface's fault. You have to tighten until they are fully seated and the bolt bottoms. Not a actual torque spec number. I have beat on these cranks trying to hurt them and have had no issues. I go 210 LB ready to ride.
Bottom bracket is not great. I have went through a couple. Also go through Shimano's just as easy. These can be taken apart. If Phil Wood grease is used they last well.
Similar Products Used: Truvativ, XT's, FSA and so on....
Bike Setup: These cranks have been on a Heckler and are now on a Blur.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
tpparker
a Cross Country Rider
from Dgo, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2009
Strengths: The machining of the arms is pretty sharp. It's decently stiff. (It came OEM.)
Weaknesses: The splines on the drive-side arm were finished after only a season or so.
Bottom Line:
I was really irritated by this crankset, not simply on account of its premature failure; but, more on account of the symptom at first appeared to be that the drive-side bolts wouldn't stay torqued, always loosening after a ride or two. So, after ordering a new set of bolts I finally realized the splines had warped, thereby allowing play and causing the bolts to loosen. I already knew better than to ride anything but Shimano in regard to crankset, and this has just strengthened that belief.
Bike Setup: '06 Santa Cruz Nomad: Deemax, Zocchi FR 1, DHX, Avid Codes, SLX Crankset, etc...
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jbasto_tox
a Weekend Warrior
from Hollywood, FL
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2009
Strengths: looks good
Weaknesses: bearings wore out prematurely.
Bottom Line:
This crank held up pretty good at first. Looks great. When I rode in a little water and mud the bearings started to make noise. Found out that the bearings went bad. I did not ride that much or very hard. Very disappointed. My Shimano XT was replaced only because I wore out the rings. Going back to Shimano. Very weak product to be used for Mountain Biking.
Submitted by
Stevie
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2009
Strengths: Stiff crank (after fixing).
Weaknesses: I use this crank on my old steel hardtail for road-riding. I have had the same problem that a lot of the other riders in this forum have experienced. After a few hours of riding, the chain ring side would develop play and require retightening. After tightening it so many times that the fastening bolt bottomed out on its threads, I got fed up and used a thick steel washer on the bolt to allow for more contact area on the crank and tightened the heck out of it. So far, so good, but Race Face should test it's products more thoroughly before marketing them. I was able to fix this crank with a simple washer, consumers deserve better than this!
Bottom Line:
Poor design by Race Face, not enough contact area on the crank side bolt to keep it properly tightened.
Bike Setup: 1998 9-speed Oryx Oxy Gold Equipe steel hardtail with XTR shifter and rear derailleur, V-brakes, hubs , Carbon Eclipse levers, Fly Carbon seat, EC70 carbon seatpost, Titec carbon stem, Solar carbon bars, Profile Design bar ends, Maxxis Xenith tires and Winwood carbon fork.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
RobXC
a Cross Country Rider
from Baltimore
Date Reviewed: July 2, 2009
Strengths: Light, Stiff and Ballah Looking.
Weaknesses: Uhh...the fact that I waited for the crappy Truvativ Powerspline to break...which it of course.
Bottom Line:
When I had to replace my ISO Flow I was looking at the Deus from Race Face instead of the Evolve because the Deus was made of 7075 while the old Evolve was 6066. Turns out QBP didnt have the Black Deus so I grudgingly settled on the Evolve because it was 6066. Turns out while I was looking at RF website they upgraded the Aluminum for 09 to 7075 and man...I can't be happier! I figured QBP would charge me more for a new product, but dropping $120 for this was great and 100% worth it! So basically, all the bending and warping problems are all part of the past!
Bike Setup: Full X-9, BB-7s, Atomlab P.i.m.p.s, and now Race Face Evolve
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Oso Negro
a Weekend Warrior
from NorCal
Date Reviewed: June 30, 2009
Strengths: looks good
Weaknesses: Worn spline.
Bottom Line:
Race Face products look great and their marketing campaigns are impressive. Sadly, this crank just doesn't go the distance. Who should buy it? According to my LBS, no one. They don't want to try to send it in for warranty, claiming that it's too much hassle to get Race Face to make good on their products. I wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't been specd. on the bike. I'll try it again if sponsored with full mechanical support. For now it will be replaced with good 'ole XT.
Submitted by
dwoj
a Weekend Warrior
from Sydney, AUS
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2009
Strengths: Look good. Chain rings have held up
Weaknesses: Weak joint to spindle. Causes major play in drive side crank arm affecting chainline, shifting and poor performance. IMHO this is a design flaw as this has happened to two cranksets on two different bikes
Bottom Line:
These cranks have gloriously failed not only on my mountain bike but also my commuter.
I believe that these cranks have a design flaw in them with the way the drive side connects to the thru-axle.
Replaced with Shimano XT which has not let me down. Shimano joins the non drive side to the axle using a clamp system on the outside not inside. Much stiffer.
I would not recommend these to anyone that wants a robust crank for regular riding. They will not last.
I was astounded that they also failed on my commuter which received no harsh trail treatment. Way uncool!
Bike Setup: Rocky Mountain ETSX upgraded with Mavic Cross-Land Wheelset, Thomson seatpost, SRAM X9 rear mech & shifters.
Rebuilt Gary Fisher Aquila with C.King headset, Surly Instigator front fork, XT rear mech & shifters, Thomson seatpost, BB7 mech front disc, XT rear V-brake.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Aldo
a Cross Country Rider
from Milton, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2009
Strengths: Strong and light and durable - a great value crank!
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
These are great cranks for XC / All mountain and can take a great deal of abuse. I've put a couple thousand kilometres on these (onn pretty rough trails) and they are still in great shape.
... I probably wouldn't suggest them for stuff like hucking though :P
Submitted by
rommel74
a Weekend Warrior
from Sydney, Australia
Date Reviewed: April 8, 2009
Strengths: Cheap, looks OK
Weaknesses: Constant chainsuck once the chain is wet
Chainrings are soft and wear out fast, they are also expensive to replace, cost over A$100 where the Shimano is less then half that and last much longer.
Crank arm is soft metal, chips easy when hit by rocks.
Weight.
Bottom Line:
I haven't had any issues with the bearings or the crank coming loose or creaking, I think it comes down to proper installation. I'm 6'2 so I put enough load on the cranks. however the chainring material is super soft alloy which wears out fast. I only ride weekends and after about 1000Km the rings are worn while the cassette is still good.
Chainsuck in the middle and granny gear since pretty much day 1.
Crank arm damages easy when banged on rocks due to soft metal.
I'm replacing these with Shimano XT as recommended by LBS.
I'm about to order a set of cranks for my Soul Cycles Dillinger SS.
I have the Evolve DH on my burly aluminum DJ right now and I love the stiffness, but I'm not going to be doing Read More »
I bought some Evolve XC cranks to use on my Dillinger. I swapped out for a niner biocentric ebb, and I can't get the cranks to soften up. They're SO tight. I mean, no coasting o Read More »
thought this was a 25.4mm 90mm long 6 degree rise.
But swapped it out for a Syntace F99 and the Syntace is about 6mm lower at the handle bar.
So i think the Evolve has more rise Read More »
Hey all
Had my cranks replaced earlier this season to the raceface evolve XC with externall BB. The BB is on its way out with creaks and tics.
Now I hear the LX/XT is a be Read More »
Hey Folks,
Last Spring I bought a Giant NRS1 that came with RaceFAce Evolve XC Cranks. However, I just brought her in from the cold to do some indoor roller riding and noticed tha Read More »
