when looking at user reviews you have to remember who the user is. People buying an xtr crankset are demanding perfection and are going to nitpick. Someone buying a deore crankset is going to be more forgiving and likely unware of many of the downsides because they might not know what to look for or they might not push their stuff to the limit. Also with MTBR I tend to read the actual reviews because have the time I see ridiculous things like a downhiller reviewing an XC rim and giving it a 1 because it broke on him.