Finally killed my XT crank and rings at the Transalp and need to replace. What do people suggest for enduro/XC racing? The options I have it at now are...

XT again - means no new BB
RaceFace Turbine LP - means new ISIS BB (I guess?
XTR - if I can find a cheap one

Any suggestions appreciated!

any splined crank is better than square taper, i run XTR with no worries, got an old pair if your interested, has AC five arm spider to run any compact deive crings you care to slap on!

Mmmm, Race Face Turbines. Definitely. Race Face warranty vs. Shimano warranty - let me think about that for a (nano)second. Also consider Middleburns. Either way you'll need an ISIS BB - don't get the cheap RF BBs, they suck, but the expensive ones are top notch kit.

Just seen the Middleburn RS7 XC Duo...looks v.nice. Anyone used one?

I've used one on a mates bike.

Preferred shimano to be honest - less flex (his are square tapered), more low pro.

Those Duo Middleburn are pretty flexible, and the weight saving is only the weight of a granny ring (i.e. not worth it).

I'd say go with whta you know, XT is pretty much unbeatable, I know the warrty issues, but honestly, no one i know has ever had an issue with one. Plus for the price you get the same lifetime, and better shifting. For less than £100.00 can't go wrong.

Ask yourself this, did it let me down?

It didn't, it was flawless, but I kind of expected more than 8 months out of it, being a skinny little facker who rides pretty light.

Yep, i'd expect more than 8 months too, waht happened?

Rings are screwed, middle is pretty much destroyed, not shifting well...it's had alot of hard racing miles but no crashes.

You could try getting it warrantied, XT has a 2 year warranty AFAIK (laughs).

Do I take it from that that my chances there are somewhere between slim and zilch Fion?

Fion? Growl...
Yes, in the UK certainly. I *really* hate Madison.

Er, can't you get new rings? Wouldn't that be cheaper than a new crankset?

I've been very unimpressed with my XT Octalink BB - it's worn out in 5 months, which is much less than I used to get out of LX/XT square ones.

maybe because they're putting a bigger axle in the same shell, which means smaller bearings??

My RF Turbine ISIS cranks are the dogs b*******. Trouble is the RF £80 BB is just plain b*******. After two weeks of March time riding there was nothing left of one of the bearings. Silverfish warrantied it no problem but that took a week by which time I'd replaced with an FSA £30 BB. That lasted 3 months. If I could do it all again I'd get a square drive witha good old UN72 - NEVER worn one out in all my years.
By the way - you need to file down Hope big ring to fit onto the 5 arm turbine. Good luck and roll on Chris King BB's!

I've had the RF ISIS XS BB (wow, what a lot of capital letters :¬) for about a year now, no problems with it at all, with no maintenance and lots of abuse. My Turbines aren't ISIS, they're square taper, (got North Shores on the ISIS XS), but they've done sterling service on my DH bike (using an XT BB, which has also been great). One of my North Shores is slightly bent, but that's not that surprising, and I'll get it warrantied as soon as I can be bothered - same for one of my Turbines.

ull b lucky...Silverfish will say and i quote "they are warrantied against manufacturers defects, bending is not a defect"

eions in the us, i think silverfish don't matter.

I bent my seatpost and Silverfish warrantied it. I'd only had it for less than two weeks - the new one has been fine for nearly a year. Silverfish have always treated me moderately OK (except £15 for a sticker set, and they won't even do the colour I want).

And as Alex says, I'm in the US now, so Silverfish don't matter.