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The arms have a musclular, squared-off look that would scare off a
Pitt Bull.
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There are all sorts of crazy things happening with
big bikes this days. Some bikes have asymetrical rear triangles,
many run chainguides (some with dual chaingirings) and use ISCG
mounts and people are coming up with other inventive ways to keep
their chain on the rings where it belongs. With all of these
combinations a system that allows the rider to adjust the chainline
easily and without having to buck up for a new bottom bracket, or
worse, new cranks, would be a welcome addition.
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The beauty of the X-Type system is deeper than the anodizing. It will
adapt to 68 or 73mm bottom bracket shells and the spacing options afforded
by the system make virtually every option a possibility. Whether you
want to run a dual rockring system with no guide, a dual ring and guide or
a single ring and a guide you should be able to space things out with appropriately
- to acheive a 48, 49 or 50mm spacing. There is even a removable granny spider
for those only running one ring.
I decided to put the chameleon-like qualities
of X-Type to the test by trying something relatively new. Apparently
the folks at the Surrey
Bike Zone have been using the Envy
Double E inner ring to set bikes up to run a dual rockring
system as well as a granny ring. The Double E is made
to mount either on the inner chainring circle or the outer one.
The mechanics in Surrey were removing the tabs that allow inner
ring mounting to make space for a granny. Envy got word
of this and they began making the Double
E2 which has no inner tabs.
Now some of you might be wondering about moving
from one ring to the other when there is an inner ring between
two chainrings - this has to be done manually. For the
riding we do here this isn't a problem because on the Shore
we face long climbs followed by equally long descents necessitating
only a couple of manual changes per ride . Thus far I
have been really happy with this combination.
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I am running a Double E2 inner ring as well as a granny - confidence
and gear selection.
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All this went together using the X-Type system with very few modifications.
I was installing the cranks on a Specialized
Demo 9 which doesn't have a lot of space between the rings and the frame
so I needed to mount the 32 tooth ring on the outer circle and this necessitated
cutting a notch in the outer rockring to make space for the crank arm.
I have been out for several rides on the Diabolus cranks thus far they
receive top billing. They are noticably stiffer than any aluminum
cranks I have used before, while tipping the scales at significantly less
than a chromoly set up (around 1200 grams including bb). While I wouldn't
hesitate to hand these cranks to Bender for a rip in his backyard in Virgin,
I have pedalled up Fromme with them more than once without feeling like
I was dragging a carcass.
In short these are some of the nicest freeride/DH cranks I have threaded
pedals into.
