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Review: Race Face Next SL G4 Cinch carbon crankset

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Since their introduction, the Race Face Cinch cranks have quickly become some of my favorites. Much of that is due to the Cinch system itself. The modular design means that you aren’t limited to a certain fit, allowing you to change drivetrain options, adjust chainline, or switch to a completely new bottom bracket standard with little effort and a few parts. Over the years, they’ve also continued to get lighter as we all search for that perfect crank that not only performs well, but drops a few grams at the same time.

The Next SL G4 is the result of analyzing every piece of the crank to find and eliminate any extra grams from the Next SL. The result is the lightest Race Face Cinch crank available, and it doesn’t disappoint…

 

Using all of the light weight trickery they could muster, the Next SL G4 cranks got lighter thanks to a new arm profile, stronger aluminum pedal insert, and a new SL spindle that is even drilled out on the end. Like the other Cinch cranks, the G4 uses a replaceable 30mm diameter spindle with a bottom bracket for standard BSA threaded frames or for nearly every other bottom bracket option. That’s one of the beauties of the Cinch system. If you get a new frame that has a new bottom bracket, you can swap out the spindle or bottom bracket to fit – no need to purchase a new crank.

In this case, I’m using the standard 30mm spindle for a 68/73mm BSA shell and 175mm arms (also available in 170mm). The other part of the modular equation is the Cinch chainring which can be swapped out with a standard bottom bracket tool. One of the best features of the Cinch chainring standard is that you can flip the chainring to modify the chainline. This has become increasingly common for Boost bikes and fat bikes. You can also add a spider to run 2x if you are still holding on to that front derailleur.

One of the lightest cranks on the market that isn’t from a boutique brand, Race Face points out that the G4 is still certified for Enduro use which makes it even more impressive. On the scale the total weight of the crank with a 34t chainring and crank boots comes in a 450g, plus another 91g for the bottom bracket.

After a half year of abuse, the crank arms are still looking pretty fresh. I don’t often have issues with ankle rub, and I haven’t experienced any here either. There are a few scuffs on the crank arms, but it’s on the clear protector that comes pre-installed on each arm. I have ridden with people who mentioned that this crank specifically seemed to rub on their shoes more than they were used to, but that was not something I experienced.

The crank boots are also looking pretty fresh, but I know from experience that this is not always the case. On the Pivot Switchblade I rode in Moab, I quickly punched holes through the crank boots in the more technical rocky sections. These seem thinner than the normal boots and could stand to be made out of a harder or thicker material. Around here we don’t have much in the way of technical rocky bits that cause a lot of crank strikes, which is why these are still in great shape. Update: Rob at Race Face informed me that the boots that I received and the ones that were on the early samples for the Pivot bikes were pre-production pieces, and that the production boots have been updated with a more durable rubber. So hopefully they will be less prone to tearing.

Fitted with the 73mm BSA threaded bottom bracket, initially there was a lot of resistance in the bearings or the seals (even without any preload) but it seems to have broken in fairly well. Without the chain installed, a flick of the crank will still only spin about one full rotation, but the bearings spin smoothly. While probably not the most efficient bottom bracket, it does seem to bode well for longevity as it’s only getting better.

In that same 6 months of riding, the Race Face Cinch chainring has started showing a bit of wear to the teeth, but still holds the chain with tenacity. I’ve yet to experience a dropped chain, even in fairly aggressive and muddy riding. At Sea Otter these cranks were shown with a new carbon/aluminum chainring, but they were sent to us with the standard aluminum ring as the carbon version has apparently been put on hold.

I opted for a 34t chainring this time even though I’m typically riding a 32 on account of the rear cassette. With the 10-50 Shark adapter from OneUp, you really can get away with a bigger chainring up front and still have plenty of climbing gears. Like we’ve learned in past experiments, bigger rings in the front tend to wear more slowly which should help prolong the narrow wide tooth profile’s life.

In the end, there’s not much to say other than the Next SL G4 is an extremely light weight crank that is still massively stiff and covers nearly all the bases (XC Race, Trail, Enduro, Fat Bike, etc.). The bottom bracket probably won’t win any awards for efficiency in terms of watts, but for such a versatile crank that is almost guaranteed to drop some weight off your bike, those details are easy to overlook.

Sold as a complete crankset with a 1x Cinch chainring, the Next SL G4 goes for $499, with the bottom bracket sold separately for $59.99. You’ll also need the Race Face BB spanner tool or other 30mm BSA bottom bracket tool for the installation. The crank arms are also available without a chainring or as a double, and each version has five options for crank graphic color and another five color options for the crank boots.

raceface.com

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24 Comments
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AK Fatbiker
AK Fatbiker
7 years ago

Too bad there’s no option to measure power with their cranks. It would be awesome if they teamed up with Stages or 4iiii.

openmold
openmold
7 years ago
Reply to  AK Fatbiker

AFIK you can use the Hollowgram stages as the spindle ends are the same between the RF cranks and Cannondale’s Hollowgram spindle.

Seraph
Seraph
7 years ago
Reply to  openmold

I can’t imagine that running an aluminum crank arm with a carbon one is going to give you very accurate power readings.

J
J
7 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

Stages just measures deflection on the hollogram arm and x2 for power output…

strikeir13
strikeir13
7 years ago

https://stagescycling.com/us/products/for-30mm-sram-bb30-race-face/ this doesn’t work? I don’t know myself and I don’t have a crank or Stages to test

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

I’d like to see tis compared directly to the Praxis Lyft cranks.

Howie
Howie
7 years ago

Love my Next SL G4 crankset on my fat bikes. However, after going through four Raceface bottom brackets, I decided to switch to Wheels Mfg Angular BBs. What a difference. No drag, and super smooth. The Raceface BB is the only weak link in the Cranks.

Brian
Brian
7 years ago
Reply to  Howie

That’s been my only nit to pick with my cinch set up as well. Chris King now makes a BSA30 thread set as well, so I’ll be getting my LBS to get one on order shortly

WhatADrag
WhatADrag
7 years ago
Reply to  Brian

That’s funny… I got rid of the Raceface BB also as I thought that the drag was just to much when spinning the cranks. I went to a Wheels Manufacturing BB and there is still some drag for some(?) reason. The bearing pre-load is set VERY light so I guess(?) that the crank/BB setup just needs to break in ???

Derek
Derek
7 years ago

What happened to the carbon/aluminum ring they showed at Sea Otter?

rupert3k
7 years ago

I also use Next SL with Wheels Manufacturing BB, great combo.

sad
sad
7 years ago

the rf bb is pretty bad. that said, if bearings are smooth and you get one rotation only then you probably need a tiny additional spacer.

PRoDiGY
PRoDiGY
7 years ago

Hopefully 4th generation doesn’t suffer from inserts coming loose. Had 2 cranks 3rd generation and both failed at all the aluminium inserts, luckily at least the first one was still in warranty. But since then no more carbon cranksets from RF for me.

neologisticzand
neologisticzand
7 years ago

I have the previous generation of Next Sl cranks and absolutely love them. However, what I don’t love is Raceface’s customer service. Honestly some of the worst that I have ever encountered.

Vincent Riboulet
Vincent Riboulet
7 years ago

it miss size > 175mm.

For 180mm, shimano is the way to go.

RobertW
RobertW
7 years ago

It’s a good looking crank, and quite light. It looks to be made by Truvativ, the same company that makes SRAM cranks, which means it’s high quality.

Seraph
Seraph
7 years ago
Reply to  RobertW

It’s not made by Tuvativ.

Joey B
Joey B
7 years ago

@RobertW The Next SL cranks are made in Canada by Race Face.

Evan Feekes
7 years ago

I just installed a turbine cinch on my Wolverine (BSA BB), and it spun about 1 rotation. Some quick detective work showed that the plastic insert was the cause of the drag. Removing it improved friction in the BB by a lot.

LLOYD FLANDERS
LLOYD FLANDERS
7 years ago

RAD TURNER BURNER!!

Ben
Ben
7 years ago

But is it really worth $500??

ol shel
ol shel
7 years ago
Reply to  Ben

One aspect that adds to their value is the spindle modularity. I got my Cinch cranks (SixC) because I could pair them with a spindle for an 83mm BB and the chainring of my choice. I could also get spindles to run them on a BMX frame or swap them over to a traditional mtb, down the road.

Is any high-end part worth the money? It depends on your priorities. Generally, though, no; the money is better spent on people rather than things.

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