SRAM has just pulled the curtain back on a wide range of updated single ring mountain cranksets under the Truvativ name. With light carbon or affordable 6000 series aluminum cranks, and bottom bracket options for everything from XC racing to proper gravity riding, it looks like there is something for every mountain biker with the reintroduction of Stylo cranks and complete overhaul of the Descendant line. The recent addition of the affordable GX Eagle wide range 12 speed option seems to drive the refresh with an across-the-board move to direct mount 1x X-Sync2 chainrings. Get a closer look at the new light carbon or alloy Stylo & burly carbon or alloy Descendant cranks after the break, along with pricing and summer availability…
The Stylo name has meant trail-ready components at XC weights since its introduction and these latest cranks seem to carry that on. The top of the line is an all-new Stylo Carbon crank that SRAM sees as their all-around singletrack crank paired with a 1x Eagle drivetrain. It gets a new Truvativ proprietary carbon construction to balance light, stiff performance with the durability to survive real world trail riding and the occasional bashing through rock gardens. The cranks get new Eagle direct mount rings and are available from $225-245/239-255€ in splined BB, 24mm & 30mm spindles and standard or Boost spacing to fit a wide range of frames, with claimed weights from 568-600g.
For everyday trail riding on a budget a few aluminum Stylo 6K cranksets are also available. The forged cranks are get a couple of different sets of arms in what seems dependent on the type of bottom bracket you go for. Pricing starts at just $100/107€ with SRAM’s splined bottom bracket, then a 24mm spindle version, and topping out at $125/129€ for the beefier looking 30mm spindle cranks. Again you get full 1x compatibility with the included Eagle direct mount rings, and a claimed weight range from 622-657g in either standard or Boost chainline.
For the more gravity fueled the new Descendant cranksets are almost direct analogues to the Stylo versions. The top Descendant Carbon crankset shares the same new Truvativ carbon construction for what SRAM calls a crank “light enough for XC, yet bold and badass enough for Enduro.” That’s a pretty strong claim in what looks from the outside to be the same as their XC Stylo crank. No official weights have been released yet, but the Descendant Carbon cranks get the same $225-245/239-255€ pricing and the 24 & 30mm axle options in Boost or regular chainlines.
The alloy Descendant 6K cranks share the same Stylo profiles (& weights) as well, which suggests these both just being branded to sell to two different target audiences. Again you get forged 6000 series aluminum, weights from 622-657g, Eagle rings for reliable performance and chain retention when paired with SRAM chains, Boost 52mm or standard 29mm chainlines, and splined, 24mm or 30mm bottom bracket compatibility for $100-125/107-129€.
All of the new cranksets should be available to buy through regular SRAM/Truvativ distribution channels in July 2017. In fact, we’ve already started seeing them pop up as OEM on some of next year’s 2018 mountain bikes.
