Twenty years on, Middleburn’s cranks are still among the toughest, most versatile all-rounders available.
The RS8s are a stronger, stiffer evolution of Middleburn’s 1991 RS7 crankset– which explains the retro looks of the forged, machined and polished arms. Stiffness is adequate, not amazing, but they’ll take a hammering without flinching.
Our original RS8s are still going strong well past a decade since we fitted them. The spider comes in interchangeable three-arm, four-arm or integrated-ring (Uno) versions. The armour plate derived Hardcoat chainrings offer outstanding wear life and a narrow-wide version has recently been introduced. The driveside axle connection makes working round chain devices easy. There’s no 30mm axle option though, and BBs cost extra.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
