Shimano M361 Hybrid Crankset (Black)

I purchased this because I needed a slightly lower gear ratio for my road bike. I also wanted a slightly shorter crank arm mainly to get more clearance between the pedals and the ground. These are 170 mm and my old cranks were 175 mm. Pedaling through even a moderate turn would result in a pedal strike against the ground. Never a good situation while riding your bike! The 170 mm crank arm length has solved that problem entirely, and the slightly lower gear ratio has improved my riding ability. Installation was straightforward and easy and you should not have any problems providing you have the proper tool for removing your old crank arms. I opted for the built-in chain guard which is a feature I appreciate if I am writing in casual pants occasionally. I have been completely satisfied with the quality of the entire unit and have not had any issues with it whatsoever. If you are going to install a crank set with larger or smaller chain rings than you currently have, remember that you may need to add or remove links from the chain to ensure proper shifting.

The Acera FC-M361 crank is in the low end of components in the Shimano family of bike components, but it’s not the lowest end of Shimano components. That title belongs to Shimano Tourney components such as my (now former) FC-M131 Tourney crankset for example. While the highest end components in the MTB Shimano family is XTR. However, for the casual rider Acera and Alivio are still far better than Altus or Tourney. The original Shimano FC-M131 crank I had, was 170mm, was 48-38-28 chainrings (it required a 123mm or 122.5mm square taper spindle, which I paired this with the BB-UN55 68mm x 122.5mm) had aluminum arms with chrome plating with black riveted steel chainrings. Unfortunately, after riding with the FC-M131, the aluminum chrome finish had scratches the black on the chain rings started wearing away, which that didn’t bother me at first.However, that’s something that is normal for these parts but is in my opinion super annoying and is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, but its merely cosmetic as birchwood casey bluing kit would probably take care of that problem, I always store my bike indoors and do not leave them outside or in the garage outside. Anyways, so eventually when the scratches on the chrome aluminum crank arms started to bug me and I bought TurtleWax polish for metal surfaces, it kind of worked, but still not any better, then when I took it out of the box. I also came to realize that upon originally buying this crank, the only thing I failed to do was educate myself on gearing ratios, in other words, chainring(s) teeth and Cassette and Freewheel teeth ratios, and environmental factors, like hills, or flat land etc and why having a lower gearing ratio may help going up a hills or bridges etc. Because let’s face it’s easier to go up a steep hill on lower gear ratios Such as 42-32-22 chainrings which are far better because lower profile chainring gears require less effort to exert power when pedaling and thus equals way more power.vs.48-38-28 chainrings while they certainly give you more power you must exert more effort to get more power When pedaling and therefore that’s not a great combination.With that in mind, I wanted to cut my teeth ratio down anyway from my old crank, that way I could achieve better climb especially going up hills. Since there's some in my area, and Illinois can be hilly In places. Plus while normally don’t like to spend more money than the typical shopper I wanted to spend a little more than I did previously, but still try and get the best deal. So sticking to my plan I looked at multiple Shimano cranks as well as different MTB groupset families and different numbers of teeth on chainrings of cranks and the profiles of teeth. I looked at several including Alivio which I could have bought a FC-T4010 or 4060 hollowtech Crankset That would’ve worked but then that would’ve required buying a Hollowtech bottom bracket and the Park Tool BBT-9 which would’ve been too expensive for me. Though I have considered this but it might be too light in terms of weight because while I’m not a super heavy person my bike is built more for comfort and not so much for speed. So for me that wouldn't have worked. Even though Shimano Alivio is higher end MTB groupset than Shimano Acera. With that in mind when picking Shimano parts, I came to realize it pays to pick parts carefully and find parts that match in the same groupset or that closely match as possible. For example the Acera FC-M361 crankset matches with the Acera FD-M360 (Front Derailleur) and Acera RD-M360 (Rear Derailleur) Plus there all part of the same family of Shimano MTB Component Groupset: Acera. Same With Shimano MTB Alivio Groupset for example the Alivio FC-M410 crankset goes best with ether the FD-M410 or FD-M411 (Front Derailleurs) or FD-M412 (Front Derailleur) and RD-M410 (Rear Derailleur)Now with that said I originally purchased first an altus FD-M310 and RD-310 both lowest end Shimano MTB Family groupset Derailleur components but are higher then any Shimano Tourney Parts. Altus did work but were terribly cheap alternatives for derailleurs.So upon buying the FC-M361 (square tapered 170mm 42-32-22 chainring teeth crank with removable chainrings) I bought the FD-M360 front derailleur to go with it since I already had the Shimano Acera RD-M360 Rear Derailleur.Now if we made comparisons and contrasts of Shimano cranks on the market:1.)Chainrings on the FC-M131: not removable they are riveted on.2.)Chainrings on the FC-M311: not removable they are riveted on.3.)Chainrings on the FC-M311-L: not removable they are riveted on.4.) Chainrings on the FC-M430-L: are removable5.)Chainrings on the FC-M361 are removableAnd so on.So as you can see on some models of Shimano cranks the chainrings will be removable or not removable. So for me riveted chainrings was a deal breaker for me, that meant if say I kept my FC-M131 Crank for example and 1 chainring broke or the teeth became worn to the point of usability, but the other two chainrings were fine, I'd still have to replace the entire crank, for most shoppers that may be more or less expensive, and that might be a deal breaker. While others just might buy a new bike altogether. So that was my reason for going with this crank instead. I imagine the replacement chainrings wouldn't be that expensive, and much cheaper then buying a whole new crank. Plus, my bike shifts so nicely, and More quietly than before! I've never been happier! Trust me This Acera FC-M361or or the Alivio FC-M410 are the best low end Shimano MTB components for any everyday bike rider and worth the money the Shimano FC-M410 is something I am considering, but the Acera groupset works just fine so I may or may not want to upgrade but will just see. To me it’s not worth spending the extra money for higher end Shimano MTB components unless your a racer. Although I learned that the higher end components wear out faster compared to the lower end models. However, usage of your bike needs to be taken into account as well as maintenance, and your riding ability etc. The bottom line is this if you are just a casual rider and still like to hit the trails once in while these components will work fine. But if your biking down a mountain or doing serious downhill biking then you might want to use components that will take that kind of punishment. I highly recommended this product including the other products I mentioned above.

Package came with both crank arms, mounting bolts with rubber washers, and a plastic chain guard all assembled. I added a could washers for spacing, and it matched my rear Shimano cassette perfectly.

I'm a casual bike rider just trying to get some exercise so I ride a mountain bike on the street. Stock drivetrain on a 3x7 just felt very short and was constantly shifting up and running out of gear once I got to cruising speed which still felt a bit slow and didn't match my cadence. Got this Shimano with 48-38-28 and it has increased the ratio of each gear and made cruising so much better. The rear gears now feel usable and more enjoyable to ride on the street.Now the flaws I noticed. The black coating on the chainrings gets worn out very quickly and the flakes from the coating stick to the chain and could act as an abrasive on the chain and gears. Next thing I noticed is that the height of the teeth are inconsistent. Some are shorter and some are taller. The difference is almost 2mm. So setting up my front derailleur took some trial and error to get a good shift.Overall still a good purchase and I would recommend for anyone with a triple chainring crank in need of replacement.