There isn’t much to get excited about when it comes to cranks however when e*thirteen announced its premium alloy Helix Race crankset earlier this year they immediately caught my attention. The beautiful CNC-ed arms and classy bronze colorway immediately set these alloy arms apart from the other best MTB cranks around.
Unlike other components like tires, brakes, and suspension that have clear performance gains when upgrading, there isn’t all that much separating a good budget crankset from a really good top-end set. The premium finish of e*thirteen’s Helix Race cranks certainly positions the Helix Race above most cranks aesthetically, but do they offer enough performance to justify the upgrade?
