TRSr and LG1r Carbon Cranksets



The carbon cranks were also fitted with the company's new forged direct-mount chain rings. The LG1r cranks sport an 83mm spindle for use on downhill bikes, but the carbon arms are very similar to those used for the TRSr crankset.

EXP Cassette



e*thirteen has shown new and revised chain guides during the last few tradeshows, but it turns out that they've also been working away on a few new products, including a modular steel and aluminum cassette and some carbon crank sets. The latter will be available in two flavours: TRSr for the trail and enduro crowd, and the LG1r for those who want to drop some weight off their downhill bike. Both accept only direct-mount chain rings. Interestingly, e*thirteen is so confident in the strength of the carbon arms that they are virtually identical between the TRSr and LG1r models, with a longer 83mm spindle () being one of the few things that sets the two apart.The carbon arms are hollow - there's no foam core or aluminum skeleton - and e*thirteen says that they will be among the lightest on the market, which should put them into the same territory as Race Face's Next SL and SIXC offerings. Pricing should be similar, too, although it hasn't been decided on yet. The Hutchinson UR Team has been testing the new cranks under the radar since last summer, but you can expect them to be available by early fall.e*thirteen began offering their Extended Range cog awhile back, but it looks like they've gone from one cog to a whole bunch more. Their new EXP cassette will be available in ten- and eleven-speed options, but with a range that goes from a small 9 tooth cog up to a big 42 tooth pie plate. They'll also offer a downhill-specific eight-speed version that also starts with a 9 tooth cog, with all three requiring XD freehub bodies. That 9 tooth cog is going to make for a tall top-end, which means that you could run a slightly smaller chain ring for improved ground clearance if you wanted to. And while other companies have tested 9 tooth cogs in the past and decided to not go smaller than a 10 or 11, e*thirteen is confident that the design will work just fine on a mountain bike, citing their development work with the Hutchinson UR Team that's been successful.The 9 tooth cog is interesting, but it's the EXP's construction that really grabbed my attention. Like a lot of high-end cassettes, e*thirteen has gone with a modular design that sees them use aluminum for the largest three cogs and steel for the smaller seven (), with the idea being that the smaller cogs wear faster and need to be made from a longer lasting material. The difference is how the EXP cassette attaches to the XD freehub body, though, with only the three-cog aluminum section screwing down onto the freehub body's threads with a lock ring. Then, the steel section of cogs actually locks onto those via interlocking feet by turning it to the right, which is how the pressure is applied when you're pedalling.There's no word on how much the EXP cassette will cost, and it doesn't sound like e*thirteen will offer the steel or aluminum sections separately, but you can expect to see a production version sometime in the fall.