Easton EC90 SLX Clincher Wheelset Pro Review - By Twain Mein

• Hand built, fully aluminum rim
• Sapim double butted and stainless steel spokes, 18 front radial, 24 rear radial/2-cross on drive side
• 20mm deep front, 24mm deep rear
• Weight: Front: 600 grams, Rear: 820 grams, total 1420 with rim strips. Estimated 1390 actual versus claimed weight of 1398 grams.
• Ceramic bearings with tool-less bearing preload adjustment
• Included quick releases skewers, 121 grams
• No rider weight limit
• $1000 msrp for the pair

A few years back, Easton bought a wheelmaker, Velomax. Velomax made some fantastic wheels, including what became the 2006 Easton Ascent II. They were highly regarded as being a great value in a superlight wheelset (1430 grams w/o rimstrips). Some folks complained that they were a bit flexy; I own a pair and they have been plenty stiff for me and the only issue I had was the need to replace the rear wheel bearings last year. Easton customer service was excellent and installation was a breeze.

Easton hits a home run, first time at bat!

• EC90 Cranks: MSRP $699.00
• Ceramic Bearing Bottom Bracket: MSRP $199.00
• Crank: 170, 172.5, 175 arm length, 53×39 chainrings (compact coming soon)
• Crank weight: 574 grams including end cap
• Ceramic Bottom Bracket Weight: 102 grams. Total 676 grams
• 5 year warranty

Of all the upgrades, I was most excited about Easton’s new carbon cranks. I’ve been using 9-speed Dura Ace with FSA Superlight Cranks (543 grams with bolts) and the reliable and light Dura Ace Octalink bottom bracket (175 grams). The combined weight of 718 grams seemed hard to beat; most of the newer 10-speed crank/bb’s actually weigh more. But since I switched to 10-speed recently, I wanted a crankset that was optimized for the 10 cogs. Easton’s crank was the one that was lighter without being quite as cost-prohibitive as some of the competition. Better still, the EC90 crank and bottom bracket weigh a total of 676 grams, a savings of 32 grams.

How does it compare?
So how can you objectively measure the relative worth of these cranks without riding them? To try and quantify this, I looked at the weights and MSRPs of the latest high end standard sized cranks (the FSA K-force Light TI was not compared because it is only available in compact). I then gave 100 points to the lightest and 100 points to the least expensive with proportionate weighting to each. Each crank is then graded relative to the best in class.

In the end, it’s very clear that there is a huge price premium for ceramic bearings; the jury is still out if the maintenance is worth the claimed reduction in friction. However, and more importantly, along these two judging criteria, the EC90 with standard BB has the best overall score. With the ceramic BB, it comes in at 3rd.

Looking purely at $/gram, the EC90 with standard BB slips to 2nd with the Ceramic BB version still at 3rd.

Not a bad empirical showing for the EC90.

Easton EC90 Cranks - First Impressions

• Construction:CNT™ composite crank arms and spider 7050 aluminum pedal inserts 24mm CrMo steel spindle
• Chainrings: 53/39t standard, Ceramic Teflon coating, shift pins and ramps
• Length: 170, 172.5, 175mm
• Weights: 558 grams (crank arms, chainrings and CrMo spindle)
• Standard BB: 105 grams
• Hybrid Ceramic BB: 100 grams
• MSRP: $699

First Impression? Excitement. How can you not be excited with a feathery light carbon crankset (558 grams!) that is not only one of the lightest available, but rivals some of the stiffest cranks out on the market today. Sure the EC90 has been in development for quite some time, but when you’re setting out to make the best carbon crank in the world, as Easton has set to do, you want to take your time and do it right.

According to Easton, they throughly tested every high end crank currently available for ultimate strength, fatigue strength, and stiffness and aimed to best them. What the engineers and designers at Easton delivered is a carbon road crank packing the highest stiffness to weight ratio of any carbon crank currently available on the market. The continued use of CNT composite yields not only a stiff and strong crank, but an aesthetically pleasing one as well. The EC90 currently ships with a 53/39 standard and makes use of Stronglite’s CT2 ceramic and Teflon-treated rings.

Read the rest of this entry �