Atlas raceface cranks 9 years use on 3 different bikes minimal service a wipe down if they are muddy and they still look like new and look a whole lot better than eewings
Yeah... XT and XTR are the same... I looked at EE but couldn't swallow 3x the price of my XTR cranks. I know they are sexy, but I couldn't find the value for how much they cost.. Litterally built my entire hardtail for less than MSRP of EE..
I have a pair of XT cranks that had probably 10k miles.. Been on 4 different enduro/trail bikes, a cx/gravel bike, a DH bike and 2 DJ bikes.... I finally bent the spindle by 50/50 casing a 30ft gap on my DJ bike... I definitely got my use out of them and have a really hard time justifying Uber expensive Ti over other stuff that works so well for a fraction of the price......
But I also get that this isn't "The Most Reasonable and Modest Hardtail" thread.. And you have to throw down coin to play the bleeding edge tech and sleak and sexy game. I just am too practical for that game.. I do enjoy the views though.
Things like King headsets, hubs and ee’s Get bashed a bit because lots of the people who can afford them don’t use them hard, but it’s also true that for a lot of us, they’re a great investment exactly because they do last so well, take minimal service and while it’s more upfront $ it shakes out in the end and is a better experience throughout, not having to worry about constant service.
I have king hubs, which have been running regularly since summer 2015. I recently had them in cause there was an issue with drag and it turned out a piece inside was messed up, so CK without question sent me a whole wack of replacement parts beyond what I needed and a bottle of their lube without charge or receipt now they are running brand new and no doubt I'll be able to run them for years more. Even the stainless steel diver is pretty much flawless after multiple cassettes. Sure, there are cheaper hubs, but my hopes etc. in the past never lasted this long or worked as nicely, so they seem worth the investment, at least the rear hub. I've never had any headset fail, so not that was worth the money, but they look pretty to me. I'm also not a dentist.