SRAM Red BB30 Crankset

SRAM Red BB30 Crankset

SRAM’s Red Crankset is one of the big reasons that Red is the lightest road bike group around. The hollow arms along with the extensively CNC-machined, relieved, pinned, ramped, rings are aided by the five-arm hidden-bolt spider to make this a killer crank.

Exogram is the technology used for the arms. The arms are hollow for light weight. But thanks to the long cross-section, incredibly stiff. The hollow construction extends into the spider, yet is still the stiffest crank SRAM has produced to date. This is helped by the fact that the fifth arm of the spider is part of the crankarm itself and the chainring bolt threads into the arm itself.

The chainrings are designed to work best with SRAM’s 22-speed shifting systems, SRAM chain, and Yaw front derailleur. They’ll also work with 10- and 9-speed systems. The 7075-T6 aluminum plates are thinned to the minimum they could be while still maintaining the stiffness the biggest-legged sprinters need. The ramp and pin pattern evolved from SRAM XX, where high-torque situations are common and slipped chains can be deadly.

Red comes with either a 110 or 130mm bolt circle diameter and 53/39, 52/36, 50/34, or 46/36 chainrings. Crank length ranges from 167.5mm to 177.5mm in 2.5mm increments.

The bottom bracket is not included, so you can choose what works best for your needs. The cranks come with a thru-axle that can be either a GXP, the traditional 24/22mm SRAM bottom bracket spindle, or a BB30. The GXP version mates to English- or Italian-threaded GXP bottom brackets or with adapters to most bottom bracket standards (BB30, PF30, BBright, BB86, BB386EVO, BB47). The BB30 spindle works with BB30 and PF30 standards and can, in some cases, be mated to an external bottom bracket as well.

The SRAM Red Crankset is light, stiff, shifts great, and is super-durable. It has ticked off all the boxes.