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XT (M770) vs SLX (M660) Cranks

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bingobong

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
The claimed weight of the 2008 XT Tripple Cranks (M770) is 850g. In comparison the new SLX tripple cranks are claimed 889g - a whopping 39g difference :eekster:

I'm having trouble seeing the benefit of spending the extra $$$ on buying XT for a weight saving of 39g, particularly when the new SLX cranks are reported to be tougher and IMO they look better as well (I know this is subjective).

I don't mind spending the money on better performance but it just doesn't seem worth it in this case. Have I missed something here or is that 39g going to make a noticeable difference? Anyone with experience with either or both of these care to comment?
 
#2 ·
The weights are easily a bit different just with differing crank arm length or chainrings, manufacturing tolerances, scales (on weightweenies.starbike.com there's an XT770 weight of 859g for 175 arm and 854g for 170 arm, both 22/32/44 rings). LX580s were about 930g for 175s, so it's come down from there; did read that Shimano positioned SLX somewhere between LX and XT, so there you go. Why stop there? Why be satisfied with XT when you can have XTR?:D

Crankset weight is nice to keep low but no reason to get too focused on that aspect alone; design, durability, quality and fit all come into it, too. Then there's your budget and maybe who's making them and what deals you can get when you need them (or not). There's just not lots of differences in the top end Shimano cranksets, they're all quite worthy (damn them!). If weight is your primary concern, go to that link and see what's there...
 
#3 ·
I just put some new XT on my bike last week. I was originally going to go XTR but passed on the amount of coin wanted for roughly 100g of weight. The reason for the post is that I was informed that Shimano has increased the price of all of its cranksets by 20%. Your LBS may not yet be charging the newly uped price so make up your mind quickly before the are all over-priced. I did see some good prices on ebay for what it is worth.
 
#5 ·
Got to say as with DHF I haven't seen the new SLX cranks cheaper than the XT's in my looking either. You'll mainly find deals on the 185mm versions tough, prob full retail for the longer 180mm or shorter 170mm.
 
#7 ·
go to Ebay for the SLXs, you can get them new for $139 plus $25 shipping out of Thailand or Hong Kong. Don't feel bad the '09 XTR crankset is $750 at nashbar and performance.

Just checked Ebay,. price is now up to $148 plus shipping.
 
#9 ·
I believe I read somewhere that the SLX cranks are supposed to be 100% stiffer than the XT's. If they are the same weight, that's seems pretty significant.
 
#11 ·
I jut looked on Shimano's web page. The SLX 3 ring cranks w/BB are 889 grams, and the SLX 2 ring/bash cranks w/BB are 999 grams.

The XT's are 853g for a triple, but I took my big ring off and installed a Raceface 34T aluminum bash guard on there, so not sure what that did to the weight.

But one thing to note as well as the difference in weight of the two version of SLX cranks, according to the specs, the triple ring version has a steel and composite middle ring (guessing similar to the XT middle ring) and the 2 ring/bash version only has a steel middle ring.
 
#18 ·
Used both

bingobong said:
The claimed weight of the 2008 XT Tripple Cranks (M770) is 850g. In comparison the new SLX tripple cranks are claimed 889g - a whopping 39g difference :eekster:

I'm having trouble seeing the benefit of spending the extra $$$ on buying XT for a weight saving of 39g, particularly when the new SLX cranks are reported to be tougher and IMO they look better as well (I know this is subjective).

I don't mind spending the money on better performance but it just doesn't seem worth it in this case. Have I missed something here or is that 39g going to make a noticeable difference? Anyone with experience with either or both of these care to comment?
Click to expand...
SLX takes it money : performance wise.
 
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