Praxis Zayante Carbon M30 Direct Mount chainset

The Praxis Zayante Carbon M30 Direct Mount chainset is a decently priced carbon fibre option available in a range of lengths and chainring sizes, and thanks to its direct mount fitting system you can swap in a 1x setup for a bit of off-road action. Shifting is impressive, as is the stiffness.

• Pros: Excellent stiffness levels, good range of options including sub-compact
• Cons: Specific tool for fitting the specific bottom bracket adds to the cost

What differentiates the Zayante to most other chainsets on the market is the fact that the spider – the 'legs' that the chainrings bolt onto – isn't part of the drive side crank setup.

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When you open the box you'll find the drive side crank complete with 28/30mm axle, the non-drive side crank, and a separate spider with two chainrings. The spider – or X-Spider as Praxis calls it – attaches to the back of the crank using three T25 Torx bolts and this is where the Direct Mount part of its name comes from. It means you can also add aftermarket power meters from the likes of SRM or Powerlink to the crank, and Praxis even offers the Zayante Carbon with a 4iiii Precision power meter for £500.

It also means that you can swap between a double setup like you have here to one of Praxis' Direct Mount Wave 1x chainrings (review of the 42t coming soon) without hassle or any bodging. It could be quite handy if you use your gravel bike for weekly commuting on the road but then like to hit the hilly trails at the weekend, for example.

Quick fit

Installing and removing the crankset is quick and easy, so even if swapping the rings over was a common occurrence it wouldn't take you more than 10 minutes.

The Zayante comes in four options, the 48/32 sub-compact I'm testing here, 50/34 compact, 52/36 semi-compact and 53/39 for the racers or those who just need big gears.

> How to get ultra-low gearing for gravel bike adventures

While most compact chainrings use a BCD (bolt circle diameter) of 110mm, with both the inner and outer rings attaching at the same point, Praxis has gone for an outer ring of 160mm BCD and just 104mm for the inner.

If you look at a Shimano Ultegra (or any Shimano) chainset from the rear you'll see how far the mounting bolt is from the teeth of the outer ring, and that's a lot of material. On this 48-tooth Praxis outer ring the bolt sits just below the teeth, which means the ring can be a lot smaller in area, with the 104mm BCD achieving the same for the inner rings. The upshot: less weight and no discernible flex.

Praxis has used the same size BCD throughout all its X-ring options, so all sizes in the range will fit on the X-Spider. It's a shame that the rings don't appear to be able to be purchased separately.

Stiff stuff

In use, I found the Zayante to be very good, with plenty of stiffness through the cold-forged alloy rings and carbon cranks.

Praxis uses various profiled teeth in much the same way as Shimano and others do, so the clean gear changes were nothing unexpected. I never had any missed shifts and the chain would happily drop from the big to small ring under load.

Weight and value

Carbon fibre cranksets are rarely a value for money upgrade that's worth making for anything other than looks. You don't really save a massive amount of weight and the stiffness benefits can be negligible over the very best alloy cranks. The Zayante stacks up pretty well, though, at £300 when you compare it to some of the competition after an albeit brief trawl over the internet.

A carbon crank Campagnolo Chorus is around £319.99 and a SRAM Red about £339. Even an alloy Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 is going to set you back £299.99 and it's just 14g lighter. These are all web prices too, not the rrp; shop around and you can get the Praxis around 40 quid cheaper.

Extras…

As with all chainsets, you'll need to buy a bottom bracket to attach it to your bike and the Praxis M30 model to suit the 30mm spindle is pricier than most at £34.99 (an Ultegra BBR-60 can be had for a bit over £15).

There's a huge selection of bottom brackets to choose from, though: the Zayante will work with BSA, BB86, 386 EVO, BB30, PF30, T47, BBRight and the older Specialized OSBB.

You'll also need to buy the specific M30 fitting tool, which will set you back another £15 so it all adds up.

On the whole, though, the Zayante is a very good chainset in all aspects, especially if you want the option of the sub-compact ring sizes.

Verdict

Excellent stiffness from this direct mount chainset which allows you to switch easily from double to single-ring setups