The 7050 alloy is cold forged into smoothly flowing 'I beam' cross section arms and spider with a medium walled hollow steel axle that's fixed permanently into the drive side.
It's perhaps marginally less stiff than Hollowtech cranks or carbon ones, but it's certainly stiff enough for any XC purposes we've run them through. The cold forged and heat treated alloy chainrings wear really well and shift as well as anything else, too.
They're not log/rock hop proof but then this is an XC chainset. There are standard and compact drive chainring options too, as well as single speed. GXP bottom bracket bearings seem to run and last as well as any other external setups too, though as usual, make sure your frame is properly 'faced' for best results. Fitting isn't effortless but it only requires one 8mm Allen key, which means less to 'pre-ride' check for loosening, and no need to bring a special tool just in case. We reckon increased chainring longevity offsets the pricing difference with XT, too. There are 170 and 175mm cranks available.
