Home > Reviews

Shimano SLX double crankset review: A lightweight workhorse

10 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Tucked quietly in between XT and Deore component groups, Shimano’s SLX doesn’t seem designed to attract attention.  Nicely made and handsome, it doesn’t necessarily stand out on a bike.  Which is a shame- because right there in plain sight are hiding some of the gems of Shimano’s line.

Case in point? The SLX crankset.  Hollow forged from aluminum, the FC-M675 wide-range double costs $60 less than the XT and manages to shift nearly as well while weighing 4g less.  As an added bonus, the arms’ XTR-inspired machined faces will wear better once heel rub takes hold.  Hit the jump to find out even more reasons why the SLX crankset is the pick of the litter…

As much as we want to give Shimano the benefit of the doubt on their gearing combinations, some of us still struggle with their wide-range doubles.  While the 26-38 doubles do provide a wide range of gearing–said to be especially suitable for 29ers–the sweet spot for most riding seems to lie at the top end of the 26 and the bottom of the 38. Rather than sitting in a triple’s middle ring for 90% of a given ride, the combination forces much more front shifting than would be necessary with a 34-36t big ring.  Racers won’t mind pushing a taller gear, but trail riders may want to consider the FC-M670 triple.  Setting ratio preferences aside, it is awfully hard to fault the Shimano rings’ shifting performance.

Stiffness is more than adequate under normal riding conditions:  it would take a big rider or exceptionally stiff frame/wheel combination for the SLX cranks to be the weakest link.  Even on a wide-bar’d carbon fiber singlespeed, the Shimanos impart no noticeable flex.

Given the fact that the SLX’s chainrings are (at least visually) heftier than the XT double’s, found ourselves wondering if SLXs’ weight would compare even better once rings were removed.  Shimano SLX crankset singlespeed 2Also because we thought that double’s tidy spider would look clean with a single ring, we pulled the FSA SL-K crankset off of our Project 1.2 singlespeed and the chainrings off both- and were surprised to find only a 5g weight difference.

That’s right:  Shimano’s mid-range aluminum cranks are every bit as light as some carbon fiber models.

So with SLX, Shimano have a forged aluminum crankset that is handsome, competitively priced, shifts with the best, and is weight-competitive with considerably pricier models.  The English and PF92 bottom brackets may not be as free-running as some competitors’- but they do seem to last considerably longer.  It’s hard to see the price/performance ratio getting any better than this:  the FC-M670 and -M675 are the smart shopper’s pick.

marc

www.shimano.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

10 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
RC
RC
10 years ago

If you want 180mm cranks shimano still makes you pay up for XTs.

Pablo
Pablo
10 years ago

FSA makes overweight, underengineered garbage? You’re surprised?

plume
plume
10 years ago

SLX is the forgotten group because it’s not significantly cheaper than XT while XT IS significantly cheaper than XTR. The dollar to gram ratio is in favor of their most popular group, and for good reason. I’ve enjoyed SLX cranks in the past, in the 9 speed days – but that’s where triple cranksets should end. 26X36 is a pretty darn low gear if you ask me. I just love Shimano in that they never jumped on the BB30 trend and are sticking to what actually holds up, a 24mm STEEL spindle. Now they just need to release something to go against SRAMs 1X11. That said a nod to this group is worthy, especially when fitting a customer on a budget with a custom build!

So, now what?
So, now what?
10 years ago

Thats a darn good looking crank set!

MaLóL
MaLóL
10 years ago

[edit: I prefer the look of the XTs, but that’s just my opinion.]

Joshua Murdock
10 years ago

I have a full SLX build on my new trail bike. I’ve been loving it! Great performance and super durable.

Solo
Solo
10 years ago

Handsome cranks in deed

Drew
Drew
10 years ago

To Plume – Shimano has already released an 11 spd system it’s call Alfine and you get it with or without electronic shifting! Or maybe Shimano will just continue to offer more than single c/ring systems along with front mechs that work no matter where you go.

Ham-planet
Ham-planet
10 years ago

Why have Shimano dropped double-and-bash cranks? Glad I picked up a set of the old SLX cranks before they were all gone.

Lumberjake
Lumberjake
9 years ago

Its hard to deny that when it comes to cranks, its really hard to find a better deal than Shimano.
About the only thing that always surprises me is how close in design the entire Shimano gear line is from Deore to XTR. The differences are really small steps like steel instead of alloy or bearing rather then bushing. Other than that its finish and XTR being made still in their Japan maker which, I suppose, accounts for that massive increase in price?
I actually prefer the SLX look to XT as all black reminds me of that first all black LX that wore through so easy, a machined surface is an extra step unless they smartly maskit then simply peel butstill more labour and with Shimano charging next level premium for small upgrades it seems like a bonus to me. Anything less than 50g on a crank is almost not worth mentioning.
Who payes hundreds for crank sets? I know many paid much more in the after market crazed 90s but then everything in Canada seemed insanely pricey.
I’ll go to bat for FSA. From my personal experiance my Afterburner set has performed flawlessly for over a year. I suppose thats not long but I read how bad they were and was expecting the BB to be toast but it still runs s new.
Would be very interesting to have a racer use Deore for a race.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.