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Best 83mm BB for Race Face cranks on Glory?

dropmachine

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
2,922
10
Your face.
friends dont let friends run race face cranks.


if you have to use those cranks go with a shimano sealed, xt type, otherwise go shimano all the way
Really? Whys that? Is it the lifetime warranty? Is it the fact that Diabolous are widely considered the strongest x-type crank on the market? Is it because you like xt cranks that bend? What part is is that makes raceface so undesireable?
 

knorke

Chimp
May 17, 2008
17
0
I've never had any problems with my Diabolous Cranks (i've 2 sets).
I would recommend Diabolous if you want it bombproofed and Atlas Fr if you want to watch weight.
I really like the way you can adjust the chainline with those spacers.
Even my X-Type bearings, everybody is complaining about, are still fine!

@gonefirefightin,

what do you mean exactly with "in pieces"? Broken BB? I can't imagine that crankarms break like collarbones...
 
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RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
Yep as you can see from my sig.. They are not good..They do not hold up to what they claim on there warrenty.

Northshore cranks
Diablous stem
BB (after 1 days riding)

Would not warranty any of them!!!

Get saints, and if you want to be pimp Hope hollowtech BB.. They are amazing!
 

atrokz

Turbo Monkey
Mar 14, 2002
1,552
77
teedotohdot
because 4 out 5 of them that has come through the shop in the last 10 years have been in pieces.
You know, while the BBs might not be the best on the market, I've already torn through 3(!!!) sets of shimano Hone cranks in less than two years, while every RF crank I've owned still exists either on my bike or as old spares in my toolbox.

the solution to any crank problem then, for me, is to run a shimano BB, with a pair or RF cranks.

Cue some e-gineer who works in a box factory to tell me how RF cranks are the devil.
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Yep as you can see from my sig.. They are not good..They do not hold up to what they claim on there warrenty.

Northshore cranks
Diablous stem
BB (after 1 days riding)

Would not warranty any of them!!!

Get saints, and if you want to be pimp Hope hollowtech BB.. They are amazing!

Any background on this? Silverfish have a reputation for being excellent when it comes to genuine warranty claims
 

TA..

!
Aug 21, 2007
228
0
Bionics department
friends dont let friends run race face cranks.


if you have to use those cranks go with a shimano sealed, xt type, otherwise go shimano all the way
I call BS on this one Ive had 5 RF sets I still have 2, I get a hard time about this on another forum but imo either!

1: people are talkng about the low budget RF cranks or can't install hem correctly which is a peace of pie compared to shimano's, which aren't hard either!

Ive had Atlas since day one 4years of hard abuse on my AM/FR bike, I run diablous external bearing no issues and normally I do 3 to 4 months of soilid mud riding through winter, for me Shimano BBs have been a source of issue, I used to maintain other peoples bikes and having to always work on this for them, why do they wear out so quick yours don't doh.

Ive got Deus on my 5inch bike and Im 210lbs all geared up no issue one set of external BBs in nearly 2 years and Ive done a s h i t load of mileage on these!

I had Diablous on my DH bike for all of last season no issue with crank or BB, Ive had Saint and I like the crank but would never trust a Shimano ex BB again, It would be Hope when they bring out there DH BB all stainless bearings and fully serviceable!

The Diablous BB has longer threads/deeper insert has bigger bearings, some early ones had no or crap grease from the factory now they use Phil Wood grease, which is supposed to be the ticket, Ive not yet tried a set cause all my sets are still running sweet, Ive never had any of these come loose like some report, again lack of installation knowledge imo!

also you can remove the bearing's and replace em with Phil wood bearing's if you want its not hard even though they say they are not replaceable they are!

I prefer the 8mm crank bolt and 10mm self extractor another benefit if ya know what ya doing and a monkey should be able to figure that out!
Plus the spline is much bigger than Shimano's though I haven't seen the latest Saint, I'll be likley going with the new Atlas RF on my future DHR!

I don't work in a bike shop so I have no bias, all my riding buddies were riding XTs, after my reliabilty proven they have all switched to Atlas cranks on there AM bikes and they were die hard XT fans!

So imo the 2 Ds Diablous and Deus and Atlas are sweet as far as Im concerned!
 
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davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
Although I think that RF does build a great product in general and they have been nothing but amazing with any warrante issues that I have had, they are trying to get into markets that they were not traditionally part of (low end) and I think that can lower the perceived value of the entire line. Some kids just cant tell the difference in cheapo OEM cranks vs diabolus or atlas...

With that being said, I dont think the press fit spline system that RF chose to use is the best idea, and I have seen a handful of them fail for one very simple reason (two seperate pair were my own).
The splines on the arms are softer than the spindle for obvious reasons, and the tolerance between the two is EXTREEMLY critical and small..with no way what so ever to adjust or make up for mfg variations. In my case, the cranks went on nice and tight the first time (actually a couple times for fitting a guide). Then after removing for a cleaning a few months later,the cranks went on quite easy. The bolt bottomed and they were 'tight' but the crank arm would 'clock' around the spindle a fraction of a degree.....shot. Both pair did the exact same thing. THey had a very definate life of about 2 or 3 install/removal cycles and then they were done.

I also am adamant that the 'bearing preload by fixed spacers' is a seriously flawed idea and leads to the majority of fialed RF external bbs. No other bearing adjustment on a bike (or any other rotational mech that I am aware of) is adjusted in this way. There is absolutely no way to determine the amount of preload force you are applying, other than...'if the bb wont turn, remove a spacer'....descrete half mm adjustment increments is total BS!! What if you could only adjst your hubs, or headset in full turns of the adjuster..no 1/2 turns or 1/4 turns..or just a hair less to get the correct load....just a full turn or nothing. THere would be a LOT of hubs and headsets either loose or too tight!!

They were VERY early production models, and RF sent new parts at the deop of a hat (actually before I sent the old stuff back:cheers:).
The thing that gets me about this design, it that it is exactly like the first generation redline flight cranks....and they all did the same thing. Ths solution was one of two things: add a pinch bolt on the existing course splines (redline did this) or to go to much finer splines (with angled sides)that provided much greater contact area and room for mfg tollerance.....
Shimano has done BOTH of these things to their current generation of external cranks. I have never heard or or seen an external bb shimano crank fail at the interface....

As far as bbs go, the real difference is that RF uses full complement bearings, where shimao does not. The full complements have a higher load rating (more balls) but it is not all good. The extra bearings take the place of and allow much less grease to be in the bearing cartrage. THer is also less room or places for contaminants to 'go' to get out of the way of the race/bearing track. So in clean conditions, the full complement should provide a more durable product, in the real world where seals are not 100% and grit/mud/water get into the bearings, a non-full complement bearing will provide better lubrication and be more tollerant of contamination.....ie last longer.

You can also just swap bearings with something from Phil, enduro, etc in carbon steel, stainless or ceramic...
 
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yuroshek

Turbo Monkey
Jun 26, 2007
2,438
0
Arizona!
funny because my RF cranks are shot too. i guess the spindles are shot in mine too just like dave said. so i ordered up some gravity lites.
 

TomBo

Monkey
Jan 13, 2004
300
0
Calgary,Alberta
3 years strong on my Diablous, second BB. I let my BB go kinda far, before I change them out. I have had the cranks apart about 12 times with no development of play. Other then there kinda tanks. There are no real draw backs to me. I just wish I would have got the raw polished ones. As the blacks look like a crappy purplish fade to black after some use.