Hey everyone!
So you got your new bike and it comes with SRAM Eagle SX cranks.
Are these any good? Should you upgrade right away? Let's check them out!
This is part of the Eagle family so native 12-speed drivetrain from SRAM,
you can see the Eagle logo over there,
and in one of my previous videos I didn't speak so highly about SX in particular as a group set,
because I think it has a lot of weak components, culminating with the derailleur.
You can see on this bike, it has an Eagle NX which is the better version of it.
But the cranks in particular are probably worth a look.
These cranks are made out of forged aluminum just like the Eagle NX or Shimano Deore 12 speed for that matter,
but interestingly, the Eagle SX actually offers the most options for crank length.
They start at 155 mm and they go all the way up to 175 mm.
NX starts at 165, 170, 175 mm and Deore only gives you 170 and 175 mm.
SRAM calls these chainrings Steel Eagle because they're made of steel,
X-sync 2 is the tooth profile used for all their Eagle chainrings,
and what I like about these is that they are Direct Mount.
You can replace them to get either 49 or 52 mm chainline, 52 millimeter being for Boosted frames, 49 for non-Boost.
There is even a cheaper version of this crank with the PowerSpline bottom bracket,
however this one with the DUB bottom bracket I think is the only one worth considering.
Jokes aside about the 28.99 mm internal dimension, DUB is not a bad system
and it was meant to unify the bottom brackets for the different frames.
You can see that it exists in pressfit or threaded format (BSA).
The drive side crank gets removed, and you see the 8 mm hex that's required.
These are tightened up quite a bit to 54 Nm so you might need a longer wrench for some serious leverage.
To hold the cranks in place, you can use something like a tiny stool just to lean that non-drive side crank on,
and as you push on the rear wheel with your belly try to loosen up that bolt.
And if you're still struggling with this, an impact driver might be the way to go,
I know some bike shops are using this successfully as the last resort.
In my case the breaker bar was the solution,
and now I can remove this drive side crank arm.
Use a rubber mallet to push that spindle out
and you can see that blue seal that sits right around the spindle.
And here on the left side or the non-drive side you can see the spindle and this preload adjuster
that I'm going to mention again during installation.
And if you want to remove a DUB bottom bracket, Park Tool is to the rescue.
They have what's called the RT-1 tool that's used for headsets and the DUB bottom brackets.
Chainring is attached to the drive side crank arm with these 3 bolts.
With this being the standard SRAM Direct Mount, you have a Torx T25 tightened to 8 to 9 Nm.
This is a standard SRAM chainring for 12 speed so Eagle
and you can replace this steel chainring with the more expensive aluminum ones
if you want to save a few grams or if you want to install an oval.
For Boost chainline or 52 millimeter you're gonna use a 3 mm offset chainring,
for non-Boost, 49 mm chainline or older frames you're going to use the 6 mm offset chainring with the same crankset, it's that easy.
And just like with the SRAM NX cranksets you can get the chainring in 30, 32 and 34t sizes,
Shimano Deore only gives you 30t and 32t for instance.
Weight of my 175 mm SX cranks with that 30 tooth steel chainring comes up to 776 grams.
That's about 70 grams more than the equivalent NX and about the same with Deore 12 speed cranks.
How much weight can you save by installing a different chainring?
So that's a steel 32 tooth, 142 grams.
This is a SRAM 32 tooth made out of aluminum, that's 68 grams,
and this is an absoluteBlack oval which is 59 grams,
so you can save between 70 and 80 grams just by replacing the chainring.
I'm installing the crank on this other frame with a threaded bottom bracket (BSA).
When installing bottom brackets I suggest using grease like this this is Park Tool Polylube 1000 or PPL-1.
I like this one because obviously it works fine on a threaded bottom bracket,
and this is a carbon safe so you can use it with pressfit as well.
The DUB threaded BB comes with different spacers for different BB shells,
make sure you read their documentation to understand how many of them you need to install and on which side.
Thread the left cup into the bottom shell, this one is normal threaded, so righty-tighty.
Followed by this right hand cup.
If you follow that arrow that tells you that this is reverse threaded so you have to turn to the left to tighten it.
You would finish the install by tightening the cups to 50 Nm
using a tool like this Park Tool BBT-79, a 12 notch new tool that's needed for these DUB threaded bottom brackets.
Finally, SRAM recommends using this 4.5 mmspacer on the drive hand side,
this is an outer spacer that just gets pushed into here.
And get a dab of grease and just lube that blue seal that will sit on the spindle.
If you've had this installed before, grab a 2 mm hex and loosen up that little screw that keeps this preload adjuster in place.
And then turn it clockwise so it's right against your non-drive side crank.
Next, you're gonna get some grease and put it here where the spindle contacts the bearings,
so the two ends plus the spline here at the end.
Don't forget to put a bit of grease here inside, that's where my bolt was really really tight.
I'm going to push the spindle in from the non-drive side.
Now get an 8 mm hex and you start threading this on.
Remember this has to be tightened to 54 Nm
and I'm gonna use a torque wrench for that.
This is usually easier to tighten when you have the chain and the drivetrain installed,
so you can stop the chainring from moving.
Push on the crank arm to make sure that your chainring is right against that spacer,
and here on the non-drive side rotate that preload adjuster
just to take up all the slack that existed in the spindle.
Last step is to take the 2 mm hex and just tighten that preload adjuster into position.
And the installation of your SRAM Eagle DUB crankset is done!
I really like the Direct Mount installation of the SRAM chainrings because it gives you a lot of flexibility.
And if you look here third-party manufacturers have already produced chainrings for SRAM cranks,
but this one is for HG+ so you can install a chainring that works perfectly fine for Hyperglide Plus
that is the Shimano 12 speed drivetrain feature.
So if I was to go for a cheap crankset today, I believe I would go for the Eagle SX
even against the NX or the Deore 12 speed.
And maybe, maybe install an Oval on it and just call it a day.
What do you guys think about these cheap cranks from SRAM?
I like the fact that they are direct mount,
I like the fact that I can get a 49 mm chainline for non-Boost frames,
and overall I like the price.
What about you folks? Would you consider these for a beater bike or a cheap build?
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
If you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe, keep an eye on social media,
and until next time, hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!