e*thirteen's Radical Cassette and New Carbon Cranks - Sea Otter 2015
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e*thirteen has shown new and revised chain guides during the last few tradeshows, but it turns out that they've also been working away on a few new products, including a modular steel and aluminum cassette and some carbon crank sets. The latter will be available in two flavours: TRSr for the trail and enduro crowd, and the LG1r for those who want to drop some weight off their downhill bike. Both accept only direct-mount chain rings. Interestingly, e*thirteen is so confident in the strength of the carbon arms that they are virtually identical between the TRSr and LG1r models, with a longer 83mm spindle (with a different wall thickness) being one of the few things that sets the two apart.
The carbon cranks were also fitted with the company's new forged direct-mount chain rings.
The LG1r cranks sport an 83mm spindle for use on downhill bikes, but the carbon arms are very similar to those used for the TRSr crankset.
The carbon arms are hollow - there's no foam core or aluminum skeleton - and e*thirteen says that they will be among the lightest on the market, which should put them into the same territory as Race Face's Next SL and SIXC offerings. Pricing should be similar, too, although it hasn't been decided on yet. The Hutchinson UR Team has been testing the new cranks under the radar since last summer, but you can expect them to be available by early fall.
e*thirteen began offering their Extended Range cog awhile back, but it looks like they've gone from one cog to a whole bunch more. Their new EXP cassette will be available in ten- and eleven-speed options, but with a range that goes from a small 9 tooth cog up to a big 42 tooth pie plate. They'll also offer a downhill-specific eight-speed version that also starts with a 9 tooth cog, with all three requiring XD freehub bodies. That 9 tooth cog is going to make for a tall top-end, which means that you could run a slightly smaller chain ring for improved ground clearance if you wanted to. And while other companies have tested 9 tooth cogs in the past and decided to not go smaller than a 10 or 11, e*thirteen is confident that the design will work just fine on a mountain bike, citing their development work with the Hutchinson UR Team that's been successful.
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 The EXP cassette offers a massive 9 - 42 tooth gearing spread. |
The 9 tooth cog is interesting, but it's the EXP's construction that really grabbed my attention. Like a lot of high-end cassettes, e*thirteen has gone with a modular design that sees them use aluminum for the largest three cogs and steel for the smaller seven (or eight on the 11-speed cassette), with the idea being that the smaller cogs wear faster and need to be made from a longer lasting material. The difference is how the EXP cassette attaches to the XD freehub body, though, with only the three-cog aluminum section screwing down onto the freehub body's threads with a lock ring. Then, the steel section of cogs actually locks onto those via interlocking feet by turning it to the right, which is how the pressure is applied when you're pedalling.
There's no word on how much the EXP cassette will cost, and it doesn't sound like e*thirteen will offer the steel or aluminum sections separately, but you can expect to see a production version sometime in the fall.
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MENTIONS: @ethirteen-components
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They could surprise, but I wouldn't expect under $250, sadly.
Will be great if anybody can share research on this topic.
djconnel.blogspot.com/2010/01/drivetrain-losses-introduction.html
Punchline: 2-5% efficiency loss going from 21 to 11 tooth.
Losses will increase as cogsize decreases.
"But there's another case to consider, which is whether it's more efficient to ride with a 110 mm BCD "compact" crank (for example, a 36/24) or the equivalent gear with a 130 mm BCD "conventional" (for example, a 39/26). Is one more efficient than the other? This question has been discussed in online forums, but I can't say I've seen a clear conclusion on the matter."
It seems to me like the smaller gears might actually be more efficient, since I think less contact area with the chain would mean less friction. Sounds like nobody really knows for sure, though. It'd be interesting to see a study on it.
If you read carefully, what is clear is that *ALL* previous studies *measured*, under lab conditions an increase in drivetrain efficiency losses as cog size decreased.
This is a reproducible, physical fact.
The question is not *if* losses get worse with even smaller cogs, but by how much?
Changing other variables like chainring size, chain wear, chain contamination, lubrication, etc. will change the order of magnitude, but not the laws of physics.
Do not buy the new E13 cranks. I have the 2015 LG1R cranks on my DH bike, after 4 months the BB needed replacing as it has developed a reasonable amount of play. I contacted E13 as I was unsure on removal as they did not come with any instructions. They gave me a link to a 'How To' guide which also told me what extracting tool I would need. After purchasing the tool and following the guide with no success I handed the bike over to my bike shop who also were unable to remove them! They contacted Silverfish the UK E*Thirteen distributor who stated that this is a common fault with this crank system.
They told them they had spoken to many customers that had either cut the cranks off or were not going to put the crank system back on once removed.
They advised we do the same, and that cutting them off was our only option.
E*Thirteen have not replied to any of my emails I have sent about warranty replacement or offered any help or assistance and have put me off buying any of there products ever again (I have also previously snapped a pair of there LG1+ pedals in half).
It is also worth notting the UR Polygon team are still running the older crank design maybe for this reason...
Seems a bit much to have to ship your entire bike to another country, or another continent, for warranty.
Have you tried backing out the bolt halfway and hammering hard on the bolt head with a rubber or plastic mallet?
DO NOT BUY!!! Awful
With so much great gear on the market, it boggles the mind that hacks like e13 can stay in business.
Must be the pretty ano for the fashion victims...
Not good that the bearings were crap in the first place though. Definitely put me off buying e.13 again. Shame as I really like the look of lots of their kit.
I'd suggest (if you haven't) you should try through the shop you bought them or the distributor for your country (think it was Silverfish in the UK) if you don't hear from e.13.
I really have no idea how some of these companies stay in business. I now have a British Bird Cycleworks and Superstar wheels, any problems are sorted within the week!
I don't understand how they can sell products with such a high price tag with bearings that fail in such a short time. It definately puts me off ever buying e.13 again, which is a shame as some of the new stuff they are releasing looks pretty nice.
I'd love to buy a Shimano 1x drivetrain, but damn, the thought of running like a 36T upfront and not giving up anything on the climbs is just too tempting.
Running this cassette would give you a range just short of a standard 2x 10 speed (472% range). If you could somehow wrangle that 44T cog onto it, you'd actually beat it at 488% range.
Read up & down this page. Like all the e13 owners I know, every single e13 owner weighing in here reports that their stuff breaks. Fast. Every time.
Caveat emptor.
Every alternate cassette design that has entered the market since the advent of cassettes has always debuted as low-volume, high-cost, and with major durability and/or performance compromises.
Don't hold your breath on this one.
I really like the idea of 9 tooth cogs if they do in fact last - almost more of a pull for me than it being 11 speed. Means you can have a smaller chain ring, and a smaller largest ring on the cassette - or open up even lower gears for climbing.
I'd love to know what happened with that Hope prototype, 9 tooth on a normal hub would be great.
LG1 wheels:
1. Rims dents way too easily. In fact way easier than MTX33 which I've had before
2. Bearings in rear hub has significant drag. Even after gen2 axle upgrade. The preload can be set up either with drag, or play.
3. The tall flange construction of hubs significantly changes the angle of spokes. The rims eyelets are not angled though. Therefore all spokes are bent significantly right where they meet the nipple. At first no problems, but after about 20 days of riding they started to break. Record is 4 spokes per wheel in one day! I changed spokes to DT swiss but it does not really solve the poor engineering design.
Therefore not looking forward the BOOST thing unless rims will be adapted.
38t chainring - Slightly bent. No impact, only pedaling.
LG1+ chainguide - Pieces of the taco guard were broken off after flying rock impact. The roller cage has broken (ok, maybe because of high bolt torque though) Would have expected stronger impact resistance though..
LG1r crankset - significant bearing drag. Luckily I sold them before anything happened. Friend of mine managed to bend left crank while riding.
And the design for 2016? Seriously? The looks of every other Chineese component brand. The cassette looks like garage engeneering... 9t sprocket.. check what the bmx guys have to say about it.
Never ever e.13...
#Winning
If you have a warranty case, *they fix it.* Period.
Read up and down this page for what e13 has been up to.
Another part is personal opinion. You say that Shimano has been making the most reliable drivetrain components on Earth since 1921. While they have certainly been making bicycle drivetrains for a long time, I wouldn't go so far as to call them the most reliable. I have found that I warranty far more Shimano components than SRAM or even Campagnolo.
You may be tight w/ them, but a*holes like that will never see a dime of my money, and that's even before you consider how easily their stuff fails.
As for Shimano, I'm an ex-industry guy & competitive cyclist going into his 4th decade in the game.
I literally have personally put in tens of thousands of miles on SRAM, Shimano & Campy stuff, and have both the hands-on & industry knowledge to call BS here.
1) Campy: Shimano outsells Campy 14-1. With the exception of those creaky splined crank axles, Campy still makes some decent stuff. Their chains & cogs, for example, are excellent. Since Shimano is 14x more prevalent, however, then you are logically going to see a larger number of warranty cases. There is a reason Campy doesn't make MTB components any more: they simply could not make stuff that performed reliably in the dirt.
2) SRAM - because they bought Truvative, SRAM makes the most failure-prone cranks in the biz. They also own the Avid fiasco they've only just recently begun to turn around. Chains? Hands down worst wear & performance of the big 4 (they're also well behind KMC): proven year in & out by the drivetrain wear tests pubished by independent testers like Tour or Bike magazine. SRAM derailleurs also wear far faster at the pivots than Shimano. This isn't a warranty case, you're just getting 20-25% less wear for your money. Techs in all of our biggest & best local shops refuse to run SRAM or sell it to their buddies for that reason.
And this is just comparing Shimano to the ones who survived to keep things interesting: Suntour, Mavic, Miche, Regina, Simplex, Ofmega and others crashed & burned out of the gruppo business because they couldn't keep the pace.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Pretty easy and a great option for those who prefer fewer gears!