The Alternative Crank

Rating:

The Good: 1)They are stiff, and the tabs don't bend. 2)They are quiet 3)They look cool 4)Reasonable weight

The Bad: The crank arm comes loose and the finish on the cranks fades over time.

Overall:

I said in my review of the Shimano Saint Cranks that they were the only cranks I would ever buy. Well, I lied, and I blame Specialized. Thanks to the super, mega sector awesome new industry standard dubbed pf30 on my Demo 8 frame, I was forced to buy a new set of cranks to rid the annoying, creaking, horrible plastic pf30 to 83mm BB adapter that came with my frame. The adapter would self extract, and leave me hating my life.

Being the semi-smart guy I am, I listened to what e-nerds on Ridemonkey were saying and I learned that e13 was making a press fit BB for their new LG1 crank. I immediately bought it, and it was expensive.

The cranks/bb came in a fancy box with some directions and such. Nothing special there. The cranks also had a mass and they needz moar carbonz bro. Again, nothing special there. The cranks also did not say Shimano on them. That’s an auto –50 gnar points right there.

The cranks did look cool however, and the crank spindle was much bigger than my old Saint spindle due to the PF30 BB. Bigger is always better. Ask the bro’s with those 15 inch lifted trucks how bad ass they are… In reality there is no difference in the stiffness of the Saint cranks with 83mm BB and the oversize spindle pf30 BB E13 cranks. Seriously mtb industry, fuck you. Seriously. Stop introducing worthless standards.

Anyway, now is where the actual review starts :p.

I put these cranks/bb on my Demo frame and I no longer have any creaking noises coming from my bottom bracket. I thrashed these guys this summer with 23 Northstar days, 6 days at Mammoth, 4 days at Whistler, and shuttle days everyday that I wasn’t working or riding lifts. The crank arms and tabs are still straight as new, which is the most important factor to me in a crank.

However, I’d give the E13 cranks a C in the second most important factor of a solid crank, which is that once you install it you never have to look at it again. The E13 cranks have a tendency to come loose when you ride them a lot and it is a pain in the ass to always be thinking about your cranks coming loose. I carry an 8mm allen around now just in case.

That said, the E13 cranks are the best current alternative to the almighty Saint Crank. I don’t know which is heavier and frankly I don’t care. There is no difference to me in stiffness between the Saint and the E13 crank. To me, the main difference is that the Saint is set and forget and the E13 is never set, it’s just constantly loosening.

They’re still great cranks, but I’ll take my Saint’s back thanks. If E13 can get my cranks to stay on my bike for me I would rate these just as highly as my old Saint cranks, which are now still chugging along underneath another dude that still shreds the crap out of them daily.

The Best DH Crank. Period.

Rating:

The Good: 1)Extremely reliable 2)Extremely durable 3)It says Shimano on it. It must be good.

The Bad: 1)Could be lighter(lol) 2)Graphics will wear off eventually(also lol)

Overall:

The Good:

These cranks are extremely reliable/durable. You install the BB and cranks and you basically have to do nothing ever again(except grease the BB occasionally). You could literally throw your bike of the empire state building and the cranks will still be in perfect working order. There aren't too many products I would say this about. In all seriousness, I have bashed my set of Saint Cranks on hundreds of rocks, bottom bracket cased big jumps and drops, and the Saint's never let me down. After three years of hard riding my cranks have a bunch of scratches, but are perfectly straight(the tabs too). I did go through one bottom bracket in November of last year after a ton of mud somehow got in there and seized the bearing after the Angel Fire Collegiate Nationals disaster, but other than that, I've never had an issue with this set up. I can't put into words how great these things are.

The cranks are also very stiff. I don't notice any flex, or play in the crank/bb set up, which is big plus. Also, once set up properly there is no creaking of any sort. And they say Shimano on them.

The Bad:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these cranks. Sure, weight weenies on Ridemonkey will say that they could be lighter, but I don't want these cranks to be(unless they will still survive the apocalypse). I like buying one set of cranks every 3-4 years and not going thru multiple crank arms per season. The graphics do wear off, but that means that you that you actually ride your bike, and don't sit behind a laptop wasting your life away. You should be proud the graphics on your crank have worn down.

Summary: Do you need cranks?

A - Yes--> Buy these!

B - No-->Buy these anyway.

One last thing. Chainreaction usually has these for a very good price. I've always ordered stuff from them because it's literally like stealing Saint stuff depending on the currency conversion at the time.

The Official "Budget" DH Fork

Rating:

The Good: 1)Smooth with fresh grease/oil 2)Adjustable- High/low speed compression and beginning/ending stroke rebound 3)Relatively Cheap 4)Easy to rebuild 5)Relatively light

The Bad: 1)Needs to be rebuilt all of the time for best performance 2) It's flexy 3)Doesn't come with the correct amount of oil

Overall:

The Good:

1)With fresh oil in the lowers, a rebuilt damper, and a ton of slick honey on the seals the fork feels really good. The problem is that the feel doesn't last. I went threw countless sets of seals/dust wipers on this fork.

2)The fork is quite adjustable for the price. You get three springs which can easily be swapped out if you do not fit the stock spring rate, and a multitude of adjustments(Bottom out, high and low speed compression, and beginning/end of stroke rebound)

3)The $850 price point puts this fork in a price range that your typical downhill rider might actually be able to afford.

4)The fork is relatively light for a coil fork.

5)The fork is simple to rebuild. Anyone with some directions, a few special tools and a few minutes to spare can do it.

The Bad:

Before I start, I just want to say that it may seem like I am being negative about this fork. That's because I kind of am, but I am just trying to be completely honest. I really feel you can get a better fork for the money.

1) As I said above, the fork needs to be rebuilt(oil in lowers and slick honey on seals) after almost every weekend of riding in order for it to actually feel good. After a normal weekend of riding, the suppleness in the initial part of the travel tends to dissipate, which yields arm pump to the rider and kind of takes away a rider confidence coming into anything rough. This could be isolated to certain riding environments like Northstar(where I usually ride), which is especially dusty.

This might not be a deal breaker for some but for me I had this fork apart way to much. Also, when you throw copious amounts of slick honey on the seals, the stanchion of the fork usually retains some of the grease, so you end up getting more dirt on your stanchions, which ends up in your seals and lowers of the fork. You are trying to fix the problem, but by fixing the problem you are just recreating the problem, and creating a need to buy new seals. This is the reason Fox tells you to not grease the seals when rebuilding your fork.

2)The fork is more flexy than its counterparts(Fox 40, Manitou Dorado, 888). This could actually be a benefit to you if your a lighter rider, or prefer a more flexy fork, but I feel like I am more in control and more confident in my riding with a different fork up front. The flex is especially evident to me in corners and in rock gardens where the front tire can be deflected from side to side. However, this fork(flex wise) is a major improvement upon the previous generation of the fork.

3)It is a well known that Rock Shock's quality control isn't the best. My fork came with hardly any oil in it which was very disappointing to me after paying my hard earned money. It's an easy fix, but for those who are clueless on how to work on a fork this could present a problem.

In conclusion, the Boxxer R2C2 is a good fork when you put in the work to keep it maintained. It did not mesh well with me, but it may work well for you. It obviously must mesh well with somebody because this is probably one of the most popular forks you will see at any bike park. However, personally, I would buy the 888 Rc3 or even the 888 CR for the same price if I was to buy a fork in under $900 price range again. The 888, to me, is a far superior fork in ride quality and reliability to the Boxxer.

The Only Brake I Will Ever Buy

Rating:

The Good: 1)Reliability 2)Power/Modulation 3)Easy to Bleed 4)Lack of brake fade

The Bad: 1)The metallic replacement brake pads tend to squeal like a pig.

Overall:

Good:

1)I've been using the same set of Saint brakes since June of 2009 and only a month ago did I have to bleed the brakes. I probably ride roughly 30-35 bike park days per year and shuttle at least once per week. I've never experienced another brake that I've never had an issue with. Just replace the pads as you ware them down and you are good to go. If you do run into issues, I've found there is usually a Shimano tech at most West Coast races and they will not hesitate to get you sorted out. SRAM may lead in the warranty replacement department, but that doesn't help you if they aren't at the race.

2)The Saint brakes are the most powerful brake I've ridden. There is no fade as you go down the hill. OK, maybe there is a little, but compared to other brakes(Avid Code, Elixr, older Hayes offerings, etc) there isn't any fade. Most of the trails I ride are 15+ minutes of DH, so this makes a big difference to me. The power allows you to easily and consistently one finger brake which reduces arm pump and stress on the rider. I also can lock the brake out when I want to or just slow down without skidding. It's like the jack of all trades.

3)These brakes are extremely easy to bleed. If you can't figure it out, you have no business owning a mountain bike. All you do is put new mineral oil in at the top and old fluid flows out at the caliper. There is no fancy bleed kit or special tools necessary. It's just plain easy.

Bad:

1)As said above, the metallic replacement brake pads from Shimano tend to squeal like a pig. I've fixed this by using the organic pads. A con of the organic pads is that they deliver a bit less braking power according to forum nerds and ware out a bit faster than their metallic counterparts.

2)This isn't really a negative, but the rear brake cable is very long. If you are lazy like me and never cut your brake cables people will look at you funny.

In summary, these brakes have made me a Shimano fan boy for life. The Saints are everything one could possibly want in a brake and more. 5/5 stars