Interbike 2008 - Race Face Deus LTD cranks and the EXI interface

Oct 7, 2008

Race Face has always had a nice booth at the show and this year was no exception. In fact, between the Heli-biking movie that was playing on the flat screen, Brett Tippie walking about in lycra, and some wicked brew being passed about, I'd venture to say it was my top booth pick of this years show. While lounging in the bar stools Julian busted out some flashy new red cranks, the Deus LTD.

Let's have a look!

HD Video with Brett Tippie Inside!

The Deus is aimed at you pedal hounds out there and engineered with typical Race Face attention and styling. Both forged and CNC'd, the Deus is made from a solid block of 7075 aluminum alloy, into the gems you see here. All you salty old dogs out there may be reminded of the original Turbine LP's that had similar lines to the Deus crank of today.

---

Here's Brett Tippie warming up with some yoga moves and installing a set of Race Face cranks!

---

The new limited edition maple leaf and red color will be a hit but the real news here is Race Face's EXI spindle setup. The butted spindle on all Deus cranks is first forged, then CNC'd to it's final shape....an ISIS interface! It's no secret that most outboard cranks are sometimes a bit tough to get fully seated onto the spindle, especially on the first go around. I've even seen tech's bust out the big 'ol cheater bar just to get an arm seated. That should be a thing of the past though as Race Face returns to the ISIS splines while still using their triple sealed X-Type BB. Tippie made it look pretty easy, even in his lycra! Torque the bolt down to the crank stop and hit the trails!


You can pick from either 170 mm or 175 mm lengths and the Phil Wood grease filled BB is designed to work with both 68 mm and 73 mm shells. If you make short work of your big ring then you'll be pumped to see both a triple and double w/ a guard option. Total weight for the package is coming in at 850 grams.

More info? Head over to RaceFace.com for that!

-Mike "Kakah" Levy

EXI interface details from Race Face:

Our EXI interface was developed to improve the ease of installation of our cranks without compromising the durability and security of the highly stressed interface area. The EXI BB spindle comes equipped with standard ISIS splines on one side of the spindle which allows for standard ISIS puller tools to be used for removal. The ISIS splines also allows for the crank arm to seat half way on the spindle before tightening. The EXI interface retains Race Face’s unique chainline adjustability with the 1mm chainline spacers which now sit directly on the integrated crank stopper which is installed into the crank arm reducing the amount of loose parts.