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Submitted by
schneidie
a Downhiller
from south windsor, ct, usa
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | killington | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | light | | Weaknesses: | bendy | | Similar Products Used: | truvativ chanirings | | Bike Setup: | 07 fisher marlin, FSA bashring, FSA moto-x bb+ crankset, maxxis 2.5 inch tires, SRAM x-5 | | Bottom Line: | bendy as all hell, not good for anything where you're gonna be in muddy conditions or with rocks | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Al "correction" Osorio
a Cross Country Rider
from Zurich
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Engadin, Switzerland | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Local bike shop | | Strengths: | Cheaper than XT | | Weaknesses: | I am correcting my last report. After 6 mths a tooth riped off. I noticed sloppy shifting soon after the shop had installed and I thought it was dirty cables. Now I think it was just quicker than average wear and tear for LX level. | | Similar Products Used: | Sugoi Stiff, better investment | | Bike Setup: | XT/XTRbrakes/hartail/rockshx Duke adjustable/ | | Bottom Line: | I have had good riding in the past saving some buck when needing a new drivetain by using LX rings. Those days are over. It's an ugly sound when climbing a technical singletrack and a tooth goes! Don't save on the drivetrain of you do anything near heavy duty biking. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
peter
a Weekend Warrior
from Washington D.C.
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$64.00 | | Purchased At: | jensonusa | | Strengths: | Its light, shifts perfectly with the right deraileur and shimano 9sp chain.steel ramping is good stuff | | Weaknesses: | rather soft on the compound,not very longlasting | | Similar Products Used: | siguno, shimano steel, raceface, truvativ and some cheap stuff... | | Bike Setup: | Trek 4500/02/, custom DT spokes/xt m756/DT FR 6.1 wheels, lx crank/04 edition/xt chain and cassete, durt jumper 3 and other stuff... | | Bottom Line: | a nice chainring for light-weigh, low toque/high rpm type riders, shifting is exellent when chainline is good,and the right chain is used + 9 speed der.For the 10 bucks that this chainring costs, it is a decent buy. but if you are fat/hehehe, just kidding/ or a heavy rider, get something steel if you are looking for durability
and strengt
p.s I bought the whole crank for 64 bucks, not just the chainring | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Albert Osorio
a Cross Country Rider
from Zurich, Switzerland
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Engadin, Switz-Val d'Uina | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$125.00 | | Purchased At: | With bike-replace at bikeshop | | Strengths: | No where near as expensive as XT and only about 30 grams heavier. (worth it) | | Weaknesses: | Lasts Tops 1 and 1/2 season before total collapse. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: | German Alu Hartail (Red Bull) XT/LX/ XTR v brakes/Conti explorers/Rockshox Duke 63-115 soon to be Marzochi | | Bottom Line: | All the other reviews shocked me. I was wondering how to get my drivetrain to last longer than 2000 KM before a total replace of cassette/chainrings/chain. But after all the other reviews I guess I am doing alright. I was going to change out my chain sooner to try and get the rings to last longer-the question is how much longer.
And now I ask myslef if spending a little sooner than later is better to have a sharper drivetrain?? Does anyone really know of XT/XTR or other chainrings lasst a whole lot longer? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Philly
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | south mountain | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | They shifted well at first. | | Weaknesses: | didn't hold up | | Similar Products Used: | older lx cranks | | Bike Setup: | khs hardtail frame, set up for cross country racing | | Bottom Line: | I've hit a couple logs with these and they've already gone to hell. I replaced a worn out lx crank with the new, and well by all means worn, those four year old rings look better than the large chainring on my new crankset. I like the crank, but I need to get myself a new large chainring. That or start trying to jump smaller logs. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Johnny Rooke
a Cross Country Rider
from Pickering
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Durham Region trails | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Purchased At: | Pedal Performance | | Strengths: | Light.
Shifts well.
| | Weaknesses: | Weak!!!!!!! | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized Strong Arm | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Rockhopper FSRXC with LX comp | | Bottom Line: | The 2002 Shimano crankset was definitely a lot lighter and shifted a lot better than the stock Specialized crankset I replaced after bending the large ring.
I'm a small rider wieghting only around 135lbs and I do like to hammer the climbs. But I can't believe that a new chainring would lose a tooth after less than 3 months of use. The missing tooth is in the same location as the others reviewers, beside the shift ramps.
So far I have not encountered any chain suck but the shifting is a tad sluggish now. I'll continue to ride it until I notice a significant drop in perfomance.
This is just unacceptable. I'm very disappointed with Shimano. Next time I'll try another product.
Do not buy this product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kwinten
a Weekend Warrior
from Zonhoven, Belgium
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Bloso Route Genk | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | Martens Rijwielen Houthalen | | Strengths: | light? | | Weaknesses: | Wear out in no time. Not a very smooth shifting experience. | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | Full Shimano LX group, except front shifter, Rock Shox Judy XC, all others parts from Colorado. | | Bottom Line: | These chainrings shifted well the first 1000 km. Then I had trouble getting the chain on the smallest wheel.
A few months later my chain breaked a couple of times. So I decited to replace it, together with my cascette. After I did that I noticed my chain jumped of my chainwheels, they were totally woren out. So now I have to replace them too. Only the smallest one is intact, and that's steal one. Looks like shimano wanted to show of with their lightweight chainwheels by making them out of weak alloy.
If you don't mind replacing these chainwheels every six months, you should buy them. But I'm gonna buy BBB chainwheels, hope they last longer. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Topples
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: November 18, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Catho Loop | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Lightish | | Weaknesses: | Everything else. | | Similar Products Used: | Tioga buzz saw (i think cant remember) | | Bike Setup: | Ironhorse ARS 7.0 stocko bar new longer seat post, b eds and ouri grips | | Bottom Line: | Cheapish if you dont look at the dollars per km value. Original set lasted 600 kms, replaced and the new ones lasted 400 kms. Soft, grumpy and a waste of money. Currently looking for a good solid alternative. I live i a mreasonably hilly area but push most of it in the middle ring, the mall ring still woe out quickly and the middle ring is not far behind, im 6'9" and 96 km but i still think i shouldnt have to replace rings every 10 rides. Maybe use it if your doing flat rides and weigh nothing. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ssqa2002
a Cross Country Rider
from Fremont, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Calavaras Loop | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$45.00 | | Purchased At: | JensonUSA.com | | Strengths: | A fairly inexpensive product, light weight, looks good | | Weaknesses: | After logging about 1,000 miles, I noticed that the middle chainring was missing a tooth near a ramp point inline with my crank downward position. The whole tooth was missing, though I don't notice any weakness in pedalling, so I'm not incluned to spend the bucks to replace the sprocket just yet. I'll just keep riding until it gets worse.
I take longish 50-65 mile road rides, and use this bike when the hills are tougher than what I can do on my road bike. Some of the hills are fairly steep, and I suspect the tooth popped off on a steep grade. | | Similar Products Used: | Suntour XC a very strong crankset. A Specialized strongarm setup on my Rockhopper that creates chain suck after 100 miles climbing Mission Peak. Removing the chain wheel (small) and filing off the peaks restores original performance.
Shimano Acera, stamped steel. This product for all it's cheapness, is very durable, and reliable. If you absolutely gotta get there, us this part. | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Crossroads 17", mid 1990s, 21 speed, 700c Vittoria Techno Treads, Acera front rear ders, Body Geometry saddle, 12/28 rear casssette. | | Bottom Line: | Breaking a tooth is not a good thing, and very expensive to buy a replacement part. I'm not planning on replacing the chainring until ride quality starts to degrade to to additional wear. Perhaps Shimano cut the manufacturing process a bit much by not stress releiving the material, heat treating, or a weaker alloy. Whatever the reason, I'm not thrilled. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jack BeNimble
a Cross Country Rider
from Fort Worth, TX
Date Reviewed: February 19, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Looks good in the box. | | Weaknesses: | 1) Weak
2) Price | | Similar Products Used: | Chainrings that came with bike's original Icon cranks (now defunct). | | Bike Setup: | LX Cranks | | Bottom Line: | I got a great price on a set of 2002 LX cranks, but that's where my satisfaction ends. Within the first 50 miles, I noticed that the middle chainring had a busted tooth. I'm sure that I did it while grinding hard up a hill, but 2000+ miles on my old aluminum chainrings and I never had a problem like this. Now to replace the POS ring, it is going to cost almost the same amount as what I paid for the whole crankset.
Here's a business opportunitity... Some company out there needs to start making GOOD replacement chainrings at a reasonable price. I'd be your first customer.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe H.
a Cross Country Rider
from Buckley, Wa usa
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Below Her navel. | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Jenson Usa | | Strengths: | They shift well. | | Weaknesses: | Teeth break at shift ramps. | | Similar Products Used: | Black Spire, Truvativ, Specialized. | | Bike Setup: | LX Hollow tech cranks. Specialized HT's. | | Bottom Line: | I have two sets of LX cranks on different bikes. Both are 6 months old. Middle chain ring on 1 bike has broken a tooth adjacent to the shifting ramp. I'm sure it is from peddling it. I have a BS Ring God protecting it. My other LX is still performing with no broken teeth. Have all 3 rings on this one. Both bikes get alot of riding time. I replaced the broken one with a Truvativ and it shifts just as well. We will see about durability. Anyways I'll run the other LX until it breaks and then put my other Truvativ on I have sitting gathering dust. I am over 200lbs and exert alot of force. My riding consists of lurching, lunging and grinding uphills. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aiden Wrenn
a Cross Country Rider
from Newcastle
Date Reviewed: June 26, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Over the hills and far away | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Shift well, look nice, fairly light | | Weaknesses: | Wear out quickly | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized | | Bike Setup: | Specialised Hardrock, Marzocchi MXC air, Mavic X317, Formula hydraulics. XT rear mech, LX front & shifters | | Bottom Line: | Shift well, look nice, fairly light but wear out quickly. Not bad if you can afford to replace them every 6 months. I've replaced mine with TAs. Let's see how they go. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nic Brooke
a Cross Country Rider
from Auckland, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Down the hill at Craters of the Moon | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Penny Farthings | | Strengths: | Have Generally shifted pretty well, have lasted a year and 3000 odd kilometres on and off road, wet and dry. | | Weaknesses: | Chain jumps from the middle ring to granny ring, but that is just from lazy derailleur setup | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Wheeler 7900, Mavic D521 at back, X221 at front, Funn disc hub and XT disc on front. | | Bottom Line: | These came on my bike. Having not tried anything else, it is hard to compare these but they seem to have lasted well. I found a tooth missing when I stripped and cleaned my bike this morning (on the big ring), but they have done at least 3000km since last Nov, so this is not to bad. I don't treat them especially well, and they keep going. I would recommend these to anyone who wants rings to just do the job. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from BARRIE
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | works and looks good | | Similar Products Used: | xt, suntour | | Bike Setup: | gt avalanche | | Bottom Line: | I have abused the cranks without any problem (includes hitting logs and rocks).Just replaced middle chainring after 2 yearsand and 4589 miles due to wear. I am very happy with shimano but don't buy a chain | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick Fenton
a Racer
from Clinton
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Any one with rocks | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Teeth sheared off, this is a good thing! better shifting then almost all of the competetors, cheap, 2001 version is good. | | Weaknesses: | teeth shear off too easily, broke outer chainring. | | Similar Products Used: | XT, XTR, Truvativ Hussefelt, RaceFace, Crank Bros. and a few others | | Bike Setup: | K2 race setup, P3 set up for ds. | | Bottom Line: | I had them on my K2 before i got my XTR on. They worked great and i sudgest buying them. They are inexpensive, and shift extremely well compared to even the highest end shimano competetors. The teeth do shear off kinda easily because of teh super hard metal that is used wich increases life in bad weather and provides better shifting. I switched the inner chain ring to my specialized P3 because of the truvativ. I banged it on a rock and it was so soft that i couldn't bend it back straight enough nor shear it off neatly and it derailed my chain and ripped off more teeth in a jagged line which ruined the ring. The LX worked great but i dropped a chain and i landed hard and snapped off some teeth but was still able to ride. The teeth neetly broke off and didn't leave a big jagged ding or flailing metal behind. A bother some to some but great feature to me. I'd rather lose a tooth then lose a chainring. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Bellingham
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Shifting was fine, 8sp rules over 9sp | | Weaknesses: | 4 bolt pattern, weak spiders, teeth were damaged easily | | Similar Products Used: | XT, Kooka, Black Spire | | Bike Setup: | Kona Steel, XT/XTR, X-Vert, Mavic wheelset | | Bottom Line: | With every small ding, or mild encounter with a log, the teeth on the big ring sheared off, and the WEAK four arm spider became more and more bent, until finally the whole works had to be scrapped when I built my new frame. The four arm spider on the XT big ring that preceded the LX lasted much longer and was much more durable. The LX ring shifted well until the damage was too great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rhino77
a Weekend Warrior
from Okinawa, Japan
Date Reviewed: April 2, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | SuperGo | | Strengths: | Worked for a short time. | | Weaknesses: | -Teeth on middle chain ring snap off.
-Middle chain ring warps.
-Constantly throws chain from small ring to the space between it and the BB. And yes, I have adjusted the fr der (XT) which works just fine, and it still comes off at least twice a ride. | | Bike Setup: | New DBR XR4. | | Bottom Line: | Add my name to the list of those who have had nothing but problems with these chainrings. The bike is about 3 months old and the drive train has caused me grief from the first ride. I have tried every thing to make it work better with no improvement. No complaint with the LX cranks, but I would immediately replace the chain rings if you get a bike with LX rings. Believe me it will save you a lot of hassles. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Shawn
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | a secret. | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$21.00 | | Strengths: | Makes a nice MTB conversation piece on my desk. Topic usually centers around "Don't buy this." | | Weaknesses: | The entire product, since it's sole function is flawed. | | Similar Products Used: | Seeking an alternative right now... | | Bike Setup: | 1999 GT XCR 2000 w/upgrades | | Bottom Line: | "SNAP!" Oh, there's that familiar sound of another tooth adjacent to the shift ramps tearing off my 32T middle ring... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
david salisbury
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Sydney bush | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Strengths: | looks cool | | Weaknesses: | looks cool. | | Similar Products Used: | deore | | Bike Setup: | giant DS1 with Xt disk brakes | | Bottom Line: | seems that the only good new shimano stuff is made under licence.
i had a deore crank set and i bent the middle ring after just 2 rides, I replace d the 32 middle ring with a LX/XT ( the 2001 models share the same part number )
The LX ring broke a tooth after just 30 ks. Oh why oh why didnt i read this review before purchasing the ring....I really thought shimano stuff was O.K. I guess they just lost the plot... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J. H.
a Cross Country Rider
from San Antonio, TX USofA
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any unfamiliar one | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$70.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Arms are light and stiff. Reasonable price. | | Weaknesses: | Chainrings bend if you try to turn rear tire to go forward. | | Similar Products Used: | Suntour | | Bike Setup: | All XT(now)/XTR, easton carbon stem, bar, seatpost. WTB rims and hubs. | | Bottom Line: | I bought the LX hollowtech from LBS advice. I immediately noticed a difference in the weight and stiffness and was very pleased ---at first. After a month the middle ring was warped and three teeth were missing from the big one. I never hit them on anything, and I weigh 180lbs. The next shocker was trying to replace the either/both of the rings. No one in town had one. For the price of a 32 and a 44 it was cheaper to upgrade to XT. $99.00 at supergo!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chuck H
a Cross Country Rider
from Ottawa
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | camp fortune | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Similar Products Used: | race face | | Bottom Line: | I used these rings for about 8 monthes. I raced in the mud 8 times. I did notice a bit of chain suck in really muddy conditions but i was very happy with the performance. i have knocked out 3 of the teeth on the big ring. some of the teeth are looking a little worn but it still shifts nicely when it's dry. I upgraded to race face cranks and rings and i am thinking about going back. The LX rings would get chain suck but not as much as the race face rings. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe
a
from UK
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | rambler free | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | goodfor the first couple of hundred miles, shifting is nice. | | Weaknesses: | appear to be made from recycled KitKat wrappers | | Similar Products Used: | Sugino, shimano, Suntour, Onza, Middleburn , Pace - (arranged in increasing order of quality) | | Bike Setup: | Orange Evo2, Manitou, LX/XT, hope hubs and discs | | Bottom Line: | I had high hopes for these, could they be the first Shimano rings to last a decent time - especially as they were attached to nice pair of cranks (hollowtech LX)? Not a chance, as usual they're complete rubbish. Why can't Shimano keep the quality of the simple stuff like chainrings, brake blocks and chains consistent?
I cleaned my transmission yesterday and checked it all to find those tell tale lips on the side of the teeth where the metal has been spread out of shape. I've done maybe 3-400 miles on these mostly in good dry conditions and the middle and outer are showing signs of wear already, that's just not good enough. The inner ring is steel at least so hopefully that will stand up.
I'll be fitting a set of Middleburn rings ASAP. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Clarkson
a Cross Country Rider
from Wellington, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | light | | Weaknesses: | teeth break on middle ring | | Bike Setup: | DBR v-link | | Bottom Line: | I've broken three 32T middle chain rings this year!! Every time its tooth #5 or #21 (counting clockwise from the label)that has gone. On one ring both broke. These rings have a 16-tooth pattern repeated, so its the same tooth failing every time. Bike shop has now given me a used steel ring, which is fine, but heavier. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Stourbridge, UK
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Cheapish | | Weaknesses: | Yes, I to have suffered from the teeth breaking off | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano '00 XT, '99 XT, '98 LX, '97 LX | | Bike Setup: | Orange Evo2, Pace forks, Hope discs, XT | | Bottom Line: | I just happened to be browsing through the hall of shame and found that I was not the only one to suffer the teeth breaking off on the middle ring.
I had these in my old bike (which some ******* stole from my garage), and I managed to break two teeth off the middle ring after about 150 miles of riding, it hurts to see your brand new kit fall apart after such a short space of time.
I have '99 XT on my bike now, and all seems well, I understand that the XT rings are machined not forged as in the LX, both of the teeth broke off the LX where there shifting ramps pressed in the surface of the ring.
Shimano, you should be able to do better than this!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Phil
a Weekend Warrior
from Golden, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Colorado Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Weaknesses: | I too broke off a tooth on the middle chainring. How does that happen? The big chain ring can get bashed on rocks, and the small ring takes some heavy cranking on less teeth, but how do middle ring teeth break off?
The inner ring was worn--but good luck finding a steel granny ring. My Local Bike Shop has had one on order for 6months, but no product. I ordered a TruVative one thru the Internet, but what showed up was aluminum.
So I am using a Tru Vative aluminum small and middle chainring. Hopefully they will hold up better. They certainly shift well. | | Similar Products Used: | Tru Vative | | Bike Setup: | Bontrager Privateer S - final year | | Bottom Line: | THe whole Shimano LX/XT 9-speed drivetrain sucks. Chainrings lose teeth, the chain gets sucked into the chainstay regularly, and if you get rained on, the grits will prevent you from using the small chainring. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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$ 20.00
