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Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: April 29, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Black Mtn, Canberra Australia | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$60.00 | | Strengths: | I can't believe that the LX cranks are only getting 3.48 out of 5... these cranks are GREAT! Especially for the money. Great value, great cranks! | | Weaknesses: | None really. | | Similar Products Used: | Truvativ, Race Face, and most other Shimano cranks. | | Bike Setup: | Currently running GT i-Drive 5 1.0 XT/XTR. | | Bottom Line: | Great cranks! If I ever break my XT cranks, I wouldn't waste my money buying anything better than the LX. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: March 19, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Apex | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$55.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Reasonably lightweight. Very durable. Common size for replacement chainrings. | | Weaknesses: | Flex? I don't notice it. | | Similar Products Used: | XT 110/74 crank | | Bike Setup: | Waltworks custom steel 29er frame, rigid fork, triple crank and seven-speed cassette. Lots of old XT and LX stuff. Mavic and Sun rims. | | Bottom Line: | I've got the 5-arm version from 1995. I've been using it continuously since then! Finally wore out the middle ring this past year. I replaced it and the granny, so I could get a smaller ring on the granny to go with my 28 big cog in the back. Since the granny was steel, it wasn't yet worn out. I replaced the middle ring with an exact replacement Shimano 32 tooth ring. Cost under $20, can't complain.
The only problem I've had was that a year or so ago the crank started creaking. I had a bit of trouble locating the source of the creak, but found out it was at the interface of the two crank parts, the spider part and the arm part. I dripped some blue Loctite down in there, and it shut right up. I use it with a UN-72 bottom bracket. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric W.
a Weekend Warrior
from Henderson NV.
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Dirty ones | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$175.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson | | Strengths: | I've used the same crankset, for three years, on two bikes, with three middle rings, two granny rings and I just recently put on the second bottom bracket. | | Weaknesses: | Wish the LX middle rings were still steel, like the old M-570 ones. | | Bottom Line: | These things are legendary. The overall score is low, because MTBR never updated the list of cranks to reflect the M-580 Hollow Tech 2 cranks. If the M-580-581 cranks were in a separate listing, they would have a score that is much higher.
These cranks are very durable. After more than three years of hard riding at Bootleg canyon, I finally replaced the bottom bracket. The truth was, the stock BB that came with the crank was working fine, I just felt paranoid about a 3+ year old bottom bracket out in the desert.
I've lost track of how many miles are on this crank, but it's probably at least 6000. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
TrailMaker
a Weekend Warrior
from Vestal, NY. USA
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Any one I've made! ;-) | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$85.00 | | Purchased At: | ???? - Major Mail Order | | Strengths: | Light, Stiff, Cheap | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | Bontrager Race Light ISIS, old Shimano square drive | | Bike Setup: | '05 Heckler, 5th Coil, Vanilla RLC, Thomspon X4 w/Easton, WTB Duals w/ 2.5s. Heavy Duty. | | Bottom Line: | I was really looking at the XTRs at first. Then I saw the XTs. However, when I compared the cost (2-3x+), and weight, (not much difference from XT), it was a no- brainer. I chose the LX, and have not been dissappointed.
I used to go through a BB per year minimum, if not 2-3. The brand and type didn't matter. I even drilled the crank hanger. The bearings just did not last in the muddy, rocky Upstate NY climate.
The LX Hollowtech system was a snap to install and adjust. I used pipe dope on the threads to seal them, installed and adjusted them, and have not touched them since. They are just as smooth and tight as the day I put them on.
I weigh 240lbs, and my favorite riding spot (2-3x week) has 9 creek crossings, plenty of mud at times, and tons of rocks, roots, and generally rough technical terrain.
These cranks have been flawless. I wish I had bought TWO sets! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Lowell
a Cross Country Rider
from Brunswick, ME
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Bradbury mountain, Boundary Trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambriabike | | Strengths: | Hasn't broken, light, stiff, cheap. | | Weaknesses: | Required a 121mm spindle, which sets the pedals a little wider than they need to be to fit my bike (about 1cm on each side), but I don't notice the difference while riding. | | Similar Products Used: | Old specialized oem on my 1996 rockhopper. | | Bike Setup: | Jamis Dakar Sport (1997) with xt/lx drivetrain, Manitou Skareb fork, crossmax/crossride wheels, good ol' v brakes. | | Bottom Line: | This is for the octalink hollowtech LX crankset. I am reviewing it earlier than I usually do, but I just raced with these cranks and I was going down a very fast rough section of trail at the start of the race in a tight pack, and all the sudden I hear this really loud 'crack!' from the guy right next to me, and one of his crankarms is dangling from his shoe at 25 mph. Another dude coasted through the finish holding half his fancy integrated bottm bracket crankset in his hand. Point is, it works and takes a beating, no worries. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from Orange, CT
Date Reviewed: April 24, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | West Rock Ridge | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | light, rigid, looks nice, easy to install | | Weaknesses: | i dont think you can get them in different spindle lengths | | Similar Products Used: | shimano STX | | Bike Setup: | 07 Spec Epic expert, Rock Shox Reba team fork, XTR/LX drivetrain, all the good stuff | | Bottom Line: | i bought the 2007 model with the integrated spindle. it cuts back on the weight greatly by integrating the entire bottom bracket into one unit. i bought the Race Face Diablous cups separate and these babies work great! i like the wide arms too. only thing is that they only come in 113mm lengths (i think), but most new bikes come with that setup anyway.
5 chilis for being affordable (go eBay!)
5 chilis for being a great, reliable product that lives up to Shimanos name | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michaelblade
a Racer
from SoLag,CA. USA
Date Reviewed: March 23, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$110.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance | | Strengths: | Kind of Bombproof for any rider under 160 lbs.Real easy to install.Plenty of rings that fit. | | Weaknesses: | I'm not a heavy enough body to find any.I'm working on it though.Trying to Jillflirt these cranks. | | Similar Products Used: | OEM on my old bikes that got sold | | Bike Setup: | Rattle Snake AM frame Freeride heart.XTR RD & shifters.MZ Drop Off 2 fork 20 mm.Romic R shock.8 spd.XT Cass. Specialized FR hubs & rims. | | Bottom Line: | Not much.If I was 180 lbs.I would be breaking alot more components.I haven't raced MTB yet but I was MX for 5 years so Yeah I'm a MF'n racer.I trust these cranks for my 150 lbs. Also thanks to everyone for taking the time to post here.I check here to see what works the best.That's why I'm giving an honest opinion. I run a rock guard, so with only 2 rings the set up on a 68mm BB is fine.Bigger riders need stronger set-ups for big drops and rough landings.So read the reviews. FTW Lets Ride | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ryan
a Weekend Warrior
from Crown Point, IN
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Strengths: | Stiff and relatively light. A great crankset for serious recreational use. | | Similar Products Used: | Some Suntour crank from the factory that I broke. | | Bike Setup: | 07 Trek 4300 with LX Crankset, M520 Pedals, Deore Front Derailuer. Rest is factory. | | Bottom Line: | This review is for the new LX580 Hollowtec crankset. If you are looking for a replacement crankset and on a budget, this is one of the best around. I like the design of the outboard bearings and is considerably lighter than a lot of factory cranksets. There is no flex with this setup, and paired with the M520 pedals, the power transfer is amazing. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
J
a Weekend Warrior
from Northern Ca.
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Briones | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Came with the Bike | | Strengths: | 1 year of hard xc riding and its still holding up! I weigh 230 lbs! | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | all kinds | | Bike Setup: | Spec. Epic | | Bottom Line: | Good all around crank for the money. Not light, but strong. All of Shimano's crap is over priced! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex
a Cross Country Rider
from Marengo illinois US effin A
Date Reviewed: May 11, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | came with bike | | Strengths: | better than the older ones with the square peg system. ok after extensive work | | Weaknesses: | the bolts constantly come loose, i had to weld my bolts to the arm, ruining the BB. but it works! and i stripped an arm out. | | Similar Products Used: | old square peg spindle crap on my old deore | | Bike Setup: | surly instigator, Z.1 Fork, rhino lite XL's | | Bottom Line: | its good if you have no problem putting some work into it, i personally like it better than my old setup but still sucks. there needs to be a better system, if i can strip a crank arm there is a need of a better setup | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex
a Cross Country Rider
from Marengo illinois US effin A
Date Reviewed: May 11, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | came with bike | | Strengths: | better than the older ones with the square peg system. ok after extensive work | | Weaknesses: | the bolts constantly come loose, i had to weld my bolts to the arm, ruining the BB. but it works! and i stripped an arm out. | | Similar Products Used: | old square peg spindle crap on my old deore | | Bike Setup: | surly instigator, Z.1 Fork, rhino lite XL's | | Bottom Line: | its good if you have no problem putting some work into it, i personally like it better than my old setup but still sucks. there needs to be a better system, if i can strip a crank arm there is a need of a better setup | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff Powell
a Cross Country Rider
from Anchorage,AK,USA
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$175.00 | | Purchased At: | R.E.I. | | Strengths: | Great feel and design for the money.Very similar to the XT.(This reveiw is for the new LX580 hollow Tec.)Shifts great !! | | Weaknesses: | None I can see yet. | | Similar Products Used: | Truvative triple D, that came stock on my bike.Poor shifting peice of junk !!! | | Bike Setup: | Rock hopper comp disc.Weak stock parts being slowly weeded out. | | Bottom Line: | It seems like unless you spend over 1000.00 these days on a bike, you get a crappy low end crank,(guess they gotta cut corners somewhere).The LX is a real nice upgrade without spending a fortune on some of the high end cranks out there.Would have given this 5 chilis if I had ridden it longer. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric W
a Weekend Warrior
from Henderson Nv.
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Bootleg | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$160.00 | | Purchased At: | jenson | | Strengths: | This review is for the 05 Hollowtech II version.
Looks good, stiff and reliable. | | Weaknesses: | Aluminum middle ring wears a bit fast here in the desert. | | Bike Setup: | Its made it from a Jamis Dakar XLT (POS) to a new Mountain Cycle San Andreas Classic. Old school rules! | | Bottom Line: | I've put about 3000 miles on these things in about 18 months and everything is still original except the middle ring which is neading replacing again. This crankset has taken some bad abuse that it was not designed for and just keeps going like the Energizer Bunny. It even still has the original bottom bracket bearings, I just kept the high pressure water off the bearings like I was told.
The 05 LX Hollowtech rules for extreem XC and all mountain.
Later, Eric W.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt
a Cross Country Rider
from lala land, ca
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$65.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | light, looks good, seems pretty well made | | Weaknesses: | shimano engineering. incompatible with other brands of bb. | | Similar Products Used: | sugino, sr suntour, stronglight | | Bike Setup: | KHS alite 4000, marzocchi marathon, easton bars, sram drivetrain (wish they made cranks) | | Bottom Line: | i like this crank, and it seems pretty good with a few exceptions... the small chainring has tabs that extend too far inward from the bolt holes, thus scraping the bb shell of my new alite 4000. it took 20 minutes with a dremel tool to shave enough metal off the chainring to make it fit on the bike. from a design or engineering point of view, this extra material makes absolutely no sense. it does not make the crank stronger, and is a waste of weight. it is though shimano had a random test bike at the factory that the crank fit on, so they gave it the thumbs up and didnt check to see if it fit other bikes as well. my other gripe is that when i took off the bolts for the small chainring, one of them took the threads of the alloy crank hub with it. this is a steel bolt attached to alloy with gorilla force and no thread lube or anything. if it sits in there for a while, it is going to corrode a little and cause problems like this. now i have a brand new crank with only 3 bolts solidly on the chainring and the other just lightly sitting there. if i tighten it any more it will take out the remaining threads. bad shimano---you are supposed to be better at design than this. without these probs, i would have given it 5 smelly turds. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kyle Veal
a Downhiller
from Wausau, Wis, USA
Date Reviewed: December 17, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Place of Employment | | Strengths: | this crank treatsme good. I am 220 pounds and ride my single speed agressivly, and this crank is good too me. | | Weaknesses: | none, zilch, nada | | Bike Setup: | SS GT chucker 1.0 with LX crank, LX/XT hydros the rest sucks | | Bottom Line: | Good crank!!! Stop belly aching about chain alignment. If you were a real mechanic you could find a way to fix it. Ad for those of you who thisnk this crank is too wide, stick that where the sun don't shine you sound like a freakin roadie. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kyle Veal
a Downhiller
from Wausau, Wis, USA
Date Reviewed: December 17, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Place of Employment | | Strengths: | this crank treatsme good. I am 220 pounds and ride my single speed agressivly, and this crank is good too me. | | Weaknesses: | none, zilch, nada | | Bike Setup: | SS GT chucker 1.0 with LX crank, LX/XT hydros the rest sucks | | Bottom Line: | Good crank!!! Stop belly aching about chain alignment. If you were a real mechanic you could find a way to fix it. Ad for those of you who thisnk this crank is too wide, stick that where the sun don't shine you sound like a freakin roadie. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kyle Veal
a Downhiller
from Wausau, Wis, USA
Date Reviewed: December 17, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Place of Employment | | Strengths: | this crank treatsme good. I am 220 pounds and ride my single speed agressivly, and this crank is good too me. | | Weaknesses: | none, zilch, nada | | Bike Setup: | SS GT chucker 1.0 with LX crank, LX/XT hydros the rest sucks | | Bottom Line: | Good crank!!! Stop belly aching about chain alignment. If you were a real mechanic you could find a way to fix it. Ad for those of you who thisnk this crank is too wide, stick that where the sun don't shine you sound like a freakin roadie. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Horatiu
a Cross Country Rider
from Cluj, Romania
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | came with my bike | | Strengths: | Light, good looking, strong, very efficient | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | SRSuntour, Truvativ Hussefelt | | Bike Setup: | Altrix Cougar XT, sram X9 drivetrain, deore lx crankset, avid juicy 5 brakeset, sun mach IV rims w. novatec hubs wheels, etc... | | Bottom Line: | I felt a great improvement in pedalling when switching from Suntour to Hussefelt, and another improvement when switching to the new Hollowtech II LX. It takes me less effort to climb, and that could be because of the rigidity of the system and the performance of the ball bearing.
I would recomand it for any XC rider. Maybe for more extreme activities you should get something stronger, but if you do not abuse it I think it will work fine for many years to come.
I had absolutely no problems with mine until now. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter
a Cross Country Rider
from Auckland
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Strengths: | This is for the Hollow Tech 2,smart looking,very strong,easily assembled/disassembled(after buying the correct tools) | | Weaknesses: | Compromised design,bearings more venerable to dirt. | | Similar Products Used: | earlier LX and XT | | Bike Setup: | Giant Trance | | Bottom Line: | The trouble with these cranks is that they are designed for the widest BB option possible and cannot be reduced to fit a standard 68mm BB(the difference is taken up by plastic spacers!!) This means it is impossible to repeat the same chain line that was on your bike previously(even with all 3 spacers on the L/H side-not recommended).If you do not mind your cranks being 15-20mm wider than necessary and an incorrect chain line then buy them. They are cheap enough. I removed mine. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Adam
a Weekend Warrior
from Edmonton, Alberta
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Cambodia Trail | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$110.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Weight, Stiffness, Finish, Sexyness (05 hollowtech II) | | Weaknesses: | Old LX cranks gave me a reason to upgrade when I got bored of them. I'm afraid these are too well built for that | | Similar Products Used: | '99 Shimano LX | | Bike Setup: | 99 Fisher paragon w/Z1 freeride, lx/xt drivetrain, hayes hydro discs, sun/xt disc wheelset. Basically, It's built for my 200 pound body. | | Bottom Line: | Damn these cranks are beefy for LX. I chose these because I could not justify spending an extra $80 for XT which was only 50 or so grams lighter (Since I started to build my bike for my riding style it has gone from ~23lbs to over 30...) and appear to be of equivalent quality. Shifting is excellent and I cannot yet feel the cranks flex significantly while hammering on them. These cranks are exactly what my bike needed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sean
a Cross Country Rider
from Nottingham, UK
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | chainreactioncycles.com | | Strengths: | Looks fantastic;
Low-price for Hollowtech II;
Light weight | | Weaknesses: | With the Hollowtech II system, the chainline on my Marin Wildcat isn't perfect | | Similar Products Used: | '00 XT, 02 LX, Truvativ Blaze | | Bike Setup: | '05 Marin Wildcat AXC (only the chainset is non-stock) | | Bottom Line: | Great looking chainset (just compare it to the awful blue-grey colour of the old LX). Much lighter than the Truvativ power-spline setup that came with my bike. The see-through bottom-bracket on the Hollowtech II system is something else.
However, I can't comment on the rings - I swapped them all for Blackspire Super Pros before even fitting it on the bike.
Only problem I've found is that the chainline is a little out, and can't be adjusted. This might be less of an issue with a narrower 9-speed chain (I'm still on 8). This isn't so bad, it just means I get some rub-noise when in fairly extreme combinations (which I shouldn't be using anyway).
If you want a great looking, light weight, stiff chainset using the latest BB technology - look no further!
(4 chilis because of the chain-line issue) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
amor587
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | BackBone | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Bicycle Wherehouse | | Strengths: | Great Shifting, stong, and decent weight. Got a pretty good deal on cost so that's a pretty good strength. | | Weaknesses: | Weird Bottom Bracket sizing, but after installing who really cares. | | Bike Setup: | 2005 Trek Fuel 80 with these cranks | | Bottom Line: | Replace stock Bontrager cranks (which were crap cranks) with these and improved the performance of my bike dramatically. Got rid on sloppy shifts and chainsuck. Now I can ride in joy. Trek should of put these cranks on the Fuel 80 as a stock item. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ruben
a Cross Country Rider
from Madrid, Spain
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | La cuesta de la muerte | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$130.00 | | Purchased At: | Bicycles | | Strengths: | Stiff, light, durable, looks impresive | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | Acera, Alivio, Deore, some Taiwan Crap | | Bike Setup: | Merida Matts Speed 2003, Avid S.7 brakes, Marzocchi Marathon SL | | Bottom Line: | This is a review for the Model 2005 Hollow-Tech II
I´m very happy with this Crankset. The product is very well built and works well with Shimano |
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$ 120.00
