I use this crank on my backup commuter which is a fully rigid 90's vintage hardtail mountain bike. I'm running well used 9 speed shimano deore pod shifters with deore front and rear mechs and deore/rhynolite wheels. This crank was a huge upgrade from the OE late 90's vintage Rocky Mountain spice crank I was using. It is light and stiff and matched with some road slicks on those rhynolights I ran out of gears. One of the upgrades that turned a bike I loathed into a bike I loved.

Downside is bb compatibility. This crank seems to have been designed around a different bb which is difficult to get (at least Jenson hasn't carried the 121 length spindals in a long time).

Bought this as an upgrade to my back-up commuter bike. Was pleasantly surprised at how light and stiff it was. I found it very difficult determining the proper spindle length for my drive train and ended up buying the wrong one - Shimano please make this information more readily available.

My main issue/concern is the long term availability of octolink technology bb's. The rapid change in standards is likely why this high quality crankset is such a great price, but I'd like to feel confident that I'll be able to keep it running for the remaining life of the bike. I gave it full marks because my issues have little to do with the crankset itself and more to do with Shimano product development and support.

I just stripped the threads on the crank on my commuter and am thinking of replacing it with another one of these!

good crankset

I have had no complaints about this crankset. Stiff and smooth. If you need to replace your crankset, this is an upgrade that is worth every penny.

i like this website because they are dependable and i am just gonna ramble on so enjoy what i wrote bye.

I have been using this crankset for a year now. I bought the crankset with the required bb. I was able to get the bottom bracket to fit some some plastic o-rings and i have no probs. My chain does suck on this crankset sometimes even though I have a Heim 3 guide installed. I raced the seaotter downhill with this setup and im still using it today with no problems to speak of. Despite bad comments from some people i would highly recomend this crankset.

So far this crankset appears to work well with my bike and I have not had any particularproblems with it.

Will be installing it on my new frame when I get it. I predict that I will have problems with the ES51 (68x121mm) that I also odered, because my bike requires a 113mm spindle. But what was I supposed to do? Apperently the FC572's are only compatible with the ES51, and the later seem to be available in only 121mm!! Very frustrating.

At $64 this crankset is the best deal going, considering the weight and strength. I was looking for an XT crankset, but could not justify the cost over the LX crankset.I am very happy with this crankset, except for the incidental chain suck. The chain suck does not happen often enough to become maddening. It occurs seldom and is a slight inconvenience, but still prevents me from giving the crankset full marks. It would be easy for Shimano to fix this problem, with minor modifications to the big outer ring. I just ordered another one for my wife's bike.

I have recently changed from the original worn XT crankset with this Lx set the change was noticeable straight away. I am very happy.