With the Next SL, SixC and Turbine having all switched to Race Face’s spectacular Cinch chainring mounting system, it was only a matter of time before the Atlas alloy all-mountain cranks joined them. That time is now.
The move lets you easily swap between 1x rings and double spiders. It’s more than just the new ring mounting interface, though. The arms themselves are now forged instead of machined, which dropped 33g for the combo of a 34T chainring and new crankset. The cranks are only a hair lighter, most of the weight savings comes from using a direct mount chainring versus the old spider-and-chainring combo.
But, it’s much stiffer lateral thanks to the 3D forged back pocket system. The old I-beam design was stuff up and down, but not as much laterally, so they’ve improved upon the cranks without changing their burly appearance.
The forged design lets them add the weight saving recesses and stiffer shaping without the added time and energy of excessive machining.
The Cinch system uses an oversized bolt (black piece) that threads into the arm around the spindle’s splines to hold either a direct mount chainring or double/triple spider firmly in place.
If you recall, these cranks were teased a while back with a shadowy image that some folks counted as having 38 teeth on the chainring. Since Race Face’s current direct mount offerings are limited to even numbers from 26 to 36, that raised some eyebrows…so we asked. While they didn’t have anything to show at Sea Otter, turns out they will have 22/24 and 38/40/42 rings coming soon. The smaller range is aimed more at fat bike riders, and the upper end makes them perfect for cyclocross.
The Atlas pedals gain orange and purple colors, two hues that have been in Race Face’s palette before, and they may show up on handlebars again soon, too.
