It's kind of amazing how close Shimano came to making the best cranks on the market, and still missed. All they had to do was make direct-mount chainrings for the M8000/7000 series stuff. One chainring series with a 51mm chain line, and another for superboost (57mm?). These would have instantly been the benchmark for crankset reliability, with their 24mm steel spindle, pinch-bolt spline interface, and Hollowtech strength-weight.
Instead, for M8100/7100 etc, they decided to make the chain line adjustment through different spindle lengths, with spindle washers, and an ultra-narrow Q-factor that means you need to run a wider chain line if your cranks don't clear your frame. And it's so narrow that they don't clear on a lot of bikes! Now they're having to make alternate cranksets for a different ratio of Q-factor to chain line, so that they can clear more frames? What???
This the most complex and annoying solution to a simple problem, imaginable! Are bike shops expected to stock 9 different SKUs of Deore cranks?
The new short cage derailleur is on the right track at least. From the start, a refinement of M8000 with an 11 speeds 10-45 would have suited me even better. My 11 speed XT with a Sram 10-42 cassette has continued to be far, far more reliable than any 12 speed drivetrain I've had. I've even gone back to 11 speed on my all-mountain bike, after 2 years of frustration with 12 speed.
March 25, 2021, 7:53 p.m. - Skyler
It's kind of amazing how close Shimano came to making the best cranks on the market, and still missed. All they had to do was make direct-mount chainrings for the M8000/7000 series stuff. One chainring series with a 51mm chain line, and another for superboost (57mm?). These would have instantly been the benchmark for crankset reliability, with their 24mm steel spindle, pinch-bolt spline interface, and Hollowtech strength-weight. Instead, for M8100/7100 etc, they decided to make the chain line adjustment through different spindle lengths, with spindle washers, and an ultra-narrow Q-factor that means you need to run a wider chain line if your cranks don't clear your frame. And it's so narrow that they don't clear on a lot of bikes! Now they're having to make alternate cranksets for a different ratio of Q-factor to chain line, so that they can clear more frames? What??? This the most complex and annoying solution to a simple problem, imaginable! Are bike shops expected to stock 9 different SKUs of Deore cranks? The new short cage derailleur is on the right track at least. From the start, a refinement of M8000 with an 11 speeds 10-45 would have suited me even better. My 11 speed XT with a Sram 10-42 cassette has continued to be far, far more reliable than any 12 speed drivetrain I've had. I've even gone back to 11 speed on my all-mountain bike, after 2 years of frustration with 12 speed.