Crank Boots: What Are They Good For? (Do You Need Them?) [Video]

Crank boots are probably the cheapest and smartest investment you can make when upgrading your bike. Unless you are riding road or really care about saving a couple grams, running crank boots is almost a no-brainer. Crank boots are intended to do one thing, protect your cranks from strikes on rocks, roots, or pretty much anything you can and will ride over. Almost all new carbon cranks come with a set included in the box so you don’t have to worry about it. For the rest of us that are not getting new cranks anytime soon but still want that extra protection to keep our bike looking nice and in a safe/working condition, they make a set for almost any crank; alloy or carbon.

Crank boots come in all shapes and sizes and are often specific to the crank they go on. SRAM makes specific crank boots fro their carbon cranks. Race Face has specific crank boots for their Next SL G4, SixC, Next R, and alloy cranks. E*Thirteen also has their own. The reason is that not all cranks are shaped the same. Poor attempts at advertising these crank boots on Amazon or eBay have made it quite a complicated subject to deal with! Luckily we took the time to create a chart showing you what crank boot works with what crank.

Cranks boots can also be used to add some extra pizzazz to your bike. Race Face offers their crank boots in a handful of different colors that can complement the color scheme of your bike.

You may be thinking, why would I ever need these? Well, the answer is simple! You never know when your crank is going to strike an object and if you are like most people, you had to pay for your bike. One good strike could lead to a couple hundred bucks in replacement cranks and a few good strikes could even leave you stranded out on the trail.