5DEV R-Spec RaceTrail/Enduro Crankset [Rider Review]

There's a new crankset company in town and looks like they're here to stay. The 5Dev cranks not only have a beautiful CNC machined look, but they also live up to the abuse of mountain biking. See what our customers think of the cranks!

Overview

I have recently converted my hardtail to a mullet configuration and, while it has been an overall improvement for riding local trails, switching to a 27.5 rear wheel has lowered the bottom bracket significantly. As a result, there has been an increased tendency for more frequent pedal strikes while traversing across chunky technical sections. The particular bike is a titanium On-One Wrekker (née Loco Moto) with 150mm travel, SRAM GX drivetrain with 170mm cranks, and 29+/27.5+ wheels. For reference, I am 5'10" with 32" inseam and regular human proportions.

In order to reduce the incidence of pedal strikes, changing to shorter crank arms seemed like the obvious solution. So, down the rabbit hole I went, poring over blogs, forums and reviews to better understand the benefits, caveats and availability of shorter MTB cranks. As it turns out, these days there are lots of good options for shorter cranks at a wide variety of price points. I narrowed my search criteria to 160-165mm crank arm length, SRAM-compatible, with reasonably good aesthetics. Then, as luck would have it, Worldwide had the 5Dev R-Spec Race/Trail Enduro crankset in 160mm length on sale. I did not hesitate to make my purchase and within a few days those sweet cranks arrived at my doorstep. Installation was straightforward, since this particular 5Dev crankset is compatible with my existing Dub bottom bracket and SRAM direct-mount chainrings. 

As expected, the primary benefits were immediately noticeable - less pedal strikes in technical terrain and improved stance while descending. The improved ability to pedal through chunk is a real treat. Reducing crank arm length by 10mm did feel a little weird at first, and it was necessary to move my saddle up and back to get a good fit. 

To be honest, it has taken several rides for me to become fully accustomed to the shorter cranks. As others have observed, gearing selection becomes much more critical when trying to finesse technical sections and tall ledges or pedal out of corners. Higher cadence tends to be rewarded, and thus I have swapped out my normal round chainring in favor of a smaller oval chainring. Also, the change in body position does work the leg and hip muscles differently - although I did initially experience slightly more fatigue and lack of power, after a few rides I do feel back to my normal power output and I am cleaning all the usual tech sections again. Another unexpected benefit is reduced strain on my patellar tendon which occasionally gets sore from high-output technical climbing. For this reason, I am considering purchasing an additional set of 160mm cranks to use on my full-suspension enduro bike.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I am very happy with the performance, fit and finish of these 5Dev cranks. They are relatively lightweight, stiff, and have a sexy industrial look. For this particular bike and type of riding, the 160mm cranks have been a great improvement. I am now a believer in the virtues of short-ish cranks for technical or downhill riding, with some caveats as mentioned above. For less technical xc riding or endurance racing I would definitely opt for 170mm crankarm length, but either way 5Dev has a variety of offerings in various crank lengths that are compatible with a variety of drivetrains.