[glorth2]

I may be building a bike and am wondering which to put on. Similarly, Race Face cranks vs. XT? Thanks.

 

[Ken in KC]

What works for me...

I may be building a bike and am wondering which to put on. Similarly, Race Face cranks vs. XT? Thanks.

I ride with Easton CF bars, Thomson seatpost and stem and XT Hollowtech and LX spline drive (until it fails and then I'll upgrade to the XT hollowtech) on my 2 bikes. Why? Because all these parts work, have worked for years and haven't failed on me.

It's the same reason that both my bikes have Chris King headsets and Avid mechanical discs. Because they work and work well for me.

I've ridden RF cranks/bb/rings and they weren't as reliable as Shimano for me. I've ridden with other stems, seatposts and bars too, but again, it goes back to reliability.

Ken

 

[glorth2]

I ride with Easton CF bars, Thomson seatpost and stem and XT Hollowtech and LX spline drive (until it fails and then I'll upgrade to the XT hollowtech) on my 2 bikes. Why? Because all these parts work, have worked for years and haven't failed on me.

It's the same reason that both my bikes have Chris King headsets and Avid mechanical discs. Because they work and work well for me.

I've ridden RF cranks/bb/rings and they weren't as reliable as Shimano for me. I've ridden with other stems, seatposts and bars too, but again, it goes back to reliability.

Ken

Thanks. I agree on reliability and have had 0 problems with my XT stuff over the years. I'm surprised a big guy would ride cf for bars though. I guess I thought aluminum was more reliable.

 

[saba]

raceface

I ride race face cranks and a diablious bar, with thomson seatpost and stem and have zero problems and everything feels sturdy

 

[Ken in KC]

Carbon Fiber

I ride with Easton CF bars, Thomson seatpost and stem and XT Hollowtech and LX spline drive (until it fails and then I'll upgrade to the XT hollowtech) on my 2 bikes. Why? Because all these parts work, have worked for years and haven't failed on me.

It's the same reason that both my bikes have Chris King headsets and Avid mechanical discs. Because they work and work well for me.

I've ridden RF cranks/bb/rings and they weren't as reliable as Shimano for me. I've ridden with other stems, seatposts and bars too, but again, it goes back to reliability.

Ken

Carbon Fiber bars are actually stronger than AL. I don't like CF seatposts because they tend to work loose at the joint between the CF and the metal seat binder.

Ken

 

[mtbykr]

Race Face

I have been running a RaceFace bar, xy seatpost, and next lp crankset with rf bb for about 3 years now with no problems. before this i was running an xt crankset which worked great ( and still is on my buddy's bike) however there was a serious performance upgrade with regards to the RF. Now bear in mind i am still running the square taper bb and have not tried anything else since (no need if it ain't broke)

i love RF and will continue to use their stuff!

 

[icodeit]

"I don't like CF seatposts because they tend to work loose at the joint between the CF and the metal seat binder. "

Wrap a little hockey tape around the seat post where you usually clamp it. It will no longer work loose.

 

[Ken in KC]

Huh?

"I don't like CF seatposts because they tend to work loose at the joint between the CF and the metal seat binder. "

Wrap a little hockey tape around the seat post where you usually clamp it. It will no longer work loose.

I'm not talking about it working loose at the seat tube and the clamp. I'm talking about the epoxy working loose where the CF seatpost and the metal head of the seatpost are glued together.

Ken

 

[icodeit]

Gottcha, misunderstood prior post.

 

[Squash]

As far as "Clydeability" goes....

I may be building a bike and am wondering which to put on. Similarly, Race Face cranks vs. XT? Thanks.

I would recommend Thomson seat post and stem. They are spendy, but at 6'5" and 225 lbs I have never bent or broken a Thomson seat post. I have bent alu Easton posts before and was not particularly impressed with the RF post seat clamp design. Not to mention that if you do break or bend a Thomson post they will replace it! But I've never had to avail myself of that option, they just don't bend or break, at least not under riding conditions. I've seen a couple that were bent in crashes, but the guys that were riding the post when it happened didn't walk away, they were carried out, and were in much worse shape than the seat post.

As for the Thomson stem it is by far the strongest, stiffest stem I've ever used as far as conventional stems go. One of my riding buds has had one for 4 years and it's still going strong. The one Easton stem that I had was quite stiff vertically, but flexed a bit lateraly (side to side). Not much, but I could feel it during hard high speed turns. A little disoncerting if you are sensative to such things. If not you might not even notice. But the quality and strength, plus Thomson being willing to back up their product is hard to beat.

For Cranks, either Shimano or Race Face will do. I've used both for years and they are both good performers. My personal preference leans toward Race Face. They are a bit stiffer than Shimano and in my experience the chain rings last longer. But a good set of Shimano XT or LX cranks are a good bet as well. And it you want a little extra oommph you can always go with the Saint or Hone crank set. Either way you won't go wrong with either set up.

Just my opinionated 2 cents.

Good Dirt

 

[applegreenheckler]

Xt cranks(even though it burns my ass to ruin an almost all sram bike these just work really really good.), Monkey Lite bars and Thomson stem and post are the way to go as more than one person on here has said.