SRAM Rival Crankset with Shimano Chain

Question

I want to upgrade the crankset on my gravel bike.

Currently I have square-taper Ty501-2 crankset with reduced axle length (123 -> 113mm) to give ~44mm chainline compatible with the road FD (pandemic supply shortages made manufacturers creative). There is a KMC 10-speed chain on top of that and rest is regular Shimano road groupset mix (Tiagra/105).

My preference would be to go Shimano Hollowtech II, but GRX cranksets are extremely difficult to come by. Plus there is the potential chainline issue (GRX 46.9mm is further from Road 43.5mm).

I have seen however a lot of SRAM Rival DUB cranksets floating around that would suit me - chainring sizes, crank length - all works. There would be a massive weight benefit as well...

Apart from the different DUB BB and the chainline (DUB-Road (non-wide) is 45.0mm - so should work with Shimano road FD), is there anything I should know about here?

Alternatively I could go with something like Prowheel RPL-521-TT or Senicx GR3. On paper they work great - 46/30t, light, 43.5mm chainline, 24mm spindle - just like plug-and-play replacement for Shimano.

I'm however kind-of afraid of going Chinese cranks - I weight 120kg / 260lbs - so there will be a lot of stress on the axle. Plus I'm not sure about the shift quality.

Comments and ideas?

Money is an object... :)

Answer 1

SRAM AXS cranksets are designed for chains that have larger than standard rollers. This means that a Shimano or Campy chain's rollers are too small for an AXS crank. When you said DUB crank, DUB refers to the bottom bracket standard, but all DUB road cranks are AXS cranks. DUB MTB cranks use the same roller diameter as standard, and I'm not sure why SRAM chose to create a forest of incompatibilities.

I think I've heard people running Shimano chains anyway. I don't think this is optimal. To a Shimano chain, the DUB rings may act like worn rings would. The differences in diameter are small, but they may be meaningful. I wonder if the chain would skip under power, or if it would skip under power when worn. I wouldn't do this. Additionally, SRAM AXS cranks are designed to go with smaller cassette cogs, starting with 10t. You may have something like an 11-34 cassette, whereas a SRAM equivalent could be something like 10-33. The difference in chainline may cause more noise and a slightly less optimal chain angle in some cogs.

Depending on your intended gearing, you could try a Shimano road crankset, although the smallest gearing you could get on the crank is 50/34.