Hey everyone welcome!
I don't know about you but we have been using SRAM branded cranks for quite a while
I specifically liked the ability to change the chainline by just replacing chainrings.
In this new iteration of their cranks, the T-Type Transmission Cranksets they introduced a few more changes
so in this video I'm going to take a look at the differences between the new and the old SRAM cranksets
and see if you can use them interchangeably or not.
It is TRUVATIV in California that designs all their cranks and bottom brackets
and yes, they are to be thanked for the 28.99 mm DUB spindle that they introduced a few years back
The DUB spindle and BB is one that is carried over to the new cranksets
however with these new cranks they have reduced the availability of certain spindle lengths.
When it comes to different chainlines that's how these companies address the needs for 55mm, for SuperBoost, for DH spacing or FAT Bike
and I have a video talking about Shimano I'm going to link it up in the corner.
SRAM is no different, they use different spindle lengths for different rear spacing on our bikes
and the new cranks only come with DUB Wide which provides you with 55 mm chainline, and that's it!
Here's the new, beautiful X0 crankset that is DUB however this is DUB Wide
and that means that the length of the spindle is 11.8 centimeters
the same way to take out the play is used here on the new cranksets just like with the old.
This older crank uses a standard DUB spindle length and that comes up to 11.2 centimeters
so there's 6mm spindle length difference between the standard DUB and the DUB Wide involved by the new T-Type cranks.
So if you have DUB cranks right now you can easily replace them with the new T-Type cranks
and SRAM actually has a really nice table explaining you
what bottom brackets and what kind of spacers you should install for the different cranksets they offer.
This cranks will also work on bikes that require SuperBoost or 56.5 - 57 mm chainline
but again that would be different than the T-Type transmission that is optimized for 55mm.
Why 55mm? Because many of the current bikes require that chain line anyway just to make room for fatter tires in the back
and because the T-Type cassette is pushed outwards 2.5mm, more about that when I talk about cassettes,
the chainline that these cranks provide, so 55mm, is actually no better or worse than the chainline used by the good old Eagle drivetrain.
But enough talk about the non-drive side cranks because here on the drive side is where the major changes are
We're talking about the integrated bash guards and the new chainrings.
Old versus new, side by side.
Here on the DUB cap you're gonna see the 54 Nm that is needed to tighten these up with an 8mm Allen.
As you probably know these caps tend to migrate out so you can lose them.
You unfortunately need a tool like this to tighten them up.
If you lose that cap you're gonna have to order a replacement that comes with the bolt and everything else.
It is the same on the XX just a different color,
I really wish SRAM stick with the old style where you had a 10mm Allen to tighten this cap
and then he had the 8mm on the inside.
The length of the crank is clearly visible here in the back but it's not at the bottom anymore is right there in the middle where the Eagle logo is
and also these aluminum X0 cranks have a little hole here at the bottom,
I don't know if that does anything or is useful for us endusers, I assume has something to do with the manufacturing process.
Carbon cranks are still color coded, you have the purple here for 170mm which is written right around the hole.
The other thing that's specific here is the shape of this crank boot which has that diagonal cut.
This is the old crank boot from SRAM that by the way fits right in.
Bash guards - they are made out of plastic for the X0, they are made out of aluminum in case of the XX, they do not exist for the XX SL
and if you flip it over you're gonna see a couple of things:
Number one, they use a different method to attach the chainrings to the cranks,
you have 8 bolts over here as opposed to 3 on the old cranksets.
Now the old cranksets used T25 to remove the chainrings.
The new one because the bolts are a lot smaller use a T20 and tighten them to 4Nm.
If you look here on how these are attached to the chainring it's fairly simple you have two bolts on a side.
Even this little plates here are specific to the chainring size, these are for a 32 tooth and you see the T25 Torx.
Obviously you can remove one or both bash guards if you don't like them and...
this X0 crankset without the bash guards, I think it looks even better, look at that!
The XX cranks do not have those plates at the back of the chainring and you still need a T25 to remove them.
They use thicker bolts similar to what we used to use for chainrings and again this would be chainring specific, 32 tooth specific.
And here there are side by side without the bash guards, which one do you like best the X0 or the XX?
I think I like the look of the X0 a little bit better than the XX,
there's not a lot of information here on the front of it aside from the SRAM logo somewhere
and they're both made out of aluminum.
X0 specific chain ring, 3mm offset, SRAM T-Type chain only.
Same information is to be found here, and this one is going to specify XX and then the size, and very similar information.
Interestingly with these being 3mm offset, that tells you that third parties might be able to give us different offset chainrings
to go back to that 52mm chainline if we want to.
It wasn't too long ago when I looked at the new T-Type chains and I'm going to link that video up in the corner
so what does that mean for the current chainrings? How different are these?
I mentioned the T20 Torx and the chainring comes right off.
This is how it looks like obviously this is quite a bit different than the old style installation method with the 3e bolts
but SRAM did use the same design on the road groupsets in the past.
And when I found out the details of the new chain I always thought that the teeth are taller on the new chainring.
I was very wrong, the teeth are no different whatsoever definitely not in height, definitely not in shape,
however because this old Eagle 12s chain is actually thicker and bigger in all dimensions compared to the new Flattop chain introduced by the T-Type
you're gonna see that the teeth of the new and the old differ in their thickness.
By exactly 0.1 of a millimeter, this is the thick tooth on the new chainrig at 3.4mm.
And the old is 3.53mm, the narrow tooth here is 1.93mm
and on the new chainring this is going to be 1.8mm
so 0.1 - 0.13 of a millimeter difference between the thickness of the teeth with the shape being the same.
However even though this is slightly a bit thicker
it seems to mesh nicely with the new T-Type chain take a look at this...
look at that
the chain has
wax on it that's why it doesn't fit perfectly.
And here's the same chain on a Garbaruk oval chainring designed to work with both 12-speed Eagle and Shimano HG+
and obviously the Flattop chain is gonna work no problem with the new dedicated T-Type chainrings.
So I would say with a bit of caution that you should be able to use your existing cranks with the new Flattop T-Type chain
if you want to upgrade to the new system and use or reuse your existing cranks.
By the way some of you asked me about the road Flattop chains versus the MTB Flattop ones
and the answer is the road Flattop chains are a bit thicker externally
so they would not fit the MTB cassette properly, but I will talk more about that when I do the deep dive on the cassettes.
But let's put these on the scale and let's start with the chainrings and here's your X0 with 75 grams
XX at 75 grams as well and even though they are marked XX and X0 here in the back they're fully interchangeable no problem.
If you're wondering about the tightening bolts, 8 of them here is 83 grams so 1 gram per bolt.
170mm XX cranks with crank boots are at 423 grams
add the chainring and that's 498 grams remember we have to add 8 grams for the bolts
and if I add the little bash guards, 525g, one more 550g
so five..
here we go, 560 grams all together.
My X0 cranks are 165mm and they come up to 532 grams
here's your 8 little bolts and you add on the 32 tooth chainring and that is 615 grams
and if we are to add the bash guards let's add them one by one 656g,
both plates and all the screws, this comes up to 697 grams for the X0 165mm.
So there you have it guys, the new T-Type cranksets versus the old DUB cranksets from SRAM.
Which one do you guys have? Which one are you gonna keep?
Are you gonna replace your old DUB crankset with the new T-Type? If so why? Let me know in the comments below.
Let me know if X01 or X0, the aluminum crack is the reason for that I definitely like the design of this
and I am considering using one on my newly built Yeti ARC.
Otherwise these new cracks are compatible again with the good old 12-speed Eagle chains and with the new Flattop chains that I have reviewed recently
so if you like the style, if you like the looks if you want to be forward compatible, these will probably be the way to go.
So what do you guys think? Did you like this video? Let me know in the comments below.
I hope you found it useful and if you did don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment,
and until next time hope to see you guys on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!