FSA Compact Carbon Crank--First Look

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 16:10:57 -0400, "psycholist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the report. Mine is due in at the bike shop on Friday. I hadn't
thought about having to lower the drailleur. Makes sense, though. I'm
gonna use mine with a 12x27 cassette.

Mark's Campy double front derailleur will shift the 50/34 FSA
chainrings better than anything Shimano has. If your front derailleur
is STI indexed, a DA front will work best.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the report. Mine is due in at the bike shop on Friday. I

hadn't

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

thought about having to lower the drailleur. Makes sense, though. I'm
gonna use mine with a 12x27 cassette.

Mark's Campy double front derailleur will shift the 50/34 FSA
chainrings better than anything Shimano has. If your front derailleur
is STI indexed, a DA front will work best.

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed DuraAce the
other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic. Everyone here was
blown away with how nicely it performed. Definitely in the future for my
own bike...

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the report. Mine is due in at the bike shop on Friday. I

hadn't

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

thought about having to lower the drailleur. Makes sense, though. I'm
gonna use mine with a 12x27 cassette.

Mark's Campy double front derailleur will shift the 50/34 FSA
chainrings better than anything Shimano has. If your front derailleur
is STI indexed, a DA front will work best.

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed DuraAce

the

Quoted message said:

other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic. Everyone here was
blown away with how nicely it performed. Definitely in the future for my
own bike...

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

Funny, but I just put mine on last week. I rode it 40 miles the first time
and 75 miles today. I LOVE it! I put on a Record 12-23 in the back and it
shifts just great. I also got the platinum ti isis bb, and the only issue I
had was due to my short chainstays. The chain line isn't perfect, but I get
no rubbing in any gear and it shifts great. I went from a 39/52 13x26,
which didn't have a big enough top gear. The FSA setup gives me a bigger
top gear, smaller low gear, and much better steps along the way, with only
one crossover and NO duplicate gears!

Cat who couldn't be happier ;>

Mark A. Clark <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Summary

: So far my feelings are a little mixed. It looks great and greater gear
: range is nice, but the shifting isn't quite as good as the 39/53, and
: front shifts for me feel more awkward due to the greater change in
: chainrings.

For me the benefit of a compact setup is not having to front-shift to find a
comfortable gear. With a 48/36 and a 12-27 10spd cassette I can maintain a
comfortable cadence in the big ring for anything between 12 to 35mph, so I
just stay in the big ring most of the time.

- mark

Why not use 48-34 instead? That's exactly the same tooth difference as
53-39. And TA make a really nice matched pair of lightweight chainrings
in that size - see
http://www.schwabcycles.com/cgi/wc.dll?SCHWAB2~catalog~DETAIL~1844 for a
photo.

Nick

Mark A. Clark said:

So far my feelings are a little mixed. It looks great and greater gear
range is nice, but the shifting isn't quite as good as the 39/53, and
front shifts for me feel more awkward due to the greater change in
chainrings.

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:27:10 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction

Bicycles said:

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed DuraAce the
other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic. Everyone here was
blown away with how nicely it performed. Definitely in the future for my
own bike...

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

Once you find the best front derailleur, the FSA big ring is the best
I've used for this application. It doesn't care what crankarm is
holding it. Neither the Stronglight nor Vuelta SE rings work as well.

I have an XTR 900 front derailleur, which was made for rings of this
size, that works marvelously but it it's a triple derailleur. I doubt
it is STI compatible.

Cat Dailey said:

The FSA setup gives me a bigger
top gear, smaller low gear, and much better steps along the way, with only
one crossover and NO duplicate gears!

I happen to have the FSA on one bike like yours but any 110 bolt
pattern crank works fine and costs much less. My wife runs a Sugino
XD, my tandem an old Specialized, and my CAAD4 a Stronglight
Granfundo. I looked through a box of old cranks at a local shop and
found a Ritchey Logic/$20 and Sugino GT/$10. The conversion to 50/34
need not be costly. 48/34 and 52/36 are nice too.

"Paul Kopit" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cat Dailey said:

The FSA setup gives me a bigger
top gear, smaller low gear, and much better steps along the way, with

only

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

one crossover and NO duplicate gears!

I happen to have the FSA on one bike like yours but any 110 bolt
pattern crank works fine and costs much less. My wife runs a Sugino
XD, my tandem an old Specialized, and my CAAD4 a Stronglight
Granfundo. I looked through a box of old cranks at a local shop and
found a Ritchey Logic/$20 and Sugino GT/$10. The conversion to 50/34
need not be costly. 48/34 and 52/36 are nice too.

I guess "costly" is a matter of degrees. And I happen to be very, very
partial to carbon fiber ;>

Cat

MikeJ-<< We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed
DuraAce the
other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic. Everyone here was
blown away with how nicely it performed. >><BR><BR>

Why the surprise? I would HOPE a DA front der/changer would be able to handle
the one extra tooth difference from their advertized maximum of 15.

Glad the person got rid of the very draggy, very expensive, 'flying squirrel'
crankset as well.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

On 08 Apr 2004 13:17:36 GMT, [email hidden] (Qui si parla

Campagnolo ) said:

Why the surprise? I would HOPE a DA front der/changer would be able to handle
the one extra tooth difference from their advertized maximum of 15.

The shape of the inner plate is wrong for the 34t cog. It's not right
for the 50t but that doesn't seem to matter much. The DA front
derailleur inner cage is not as beveled as the Campy one. In my
limited experience, the Campy front works a bit better than the DA. I
don't have indexed front shifting.

Mark A. Clark said:

11. While the lower gears of the 34 are noticeable, I had a hard time
noticing a difference between the 50 vs.53 tooth big ring.

Well, it's not that big a difference. Plus a 50/12 is still a big gear. In
fact a 48/12 is big enough for most people -- identical to the 53/13 top (4:1)
which has been a standard for many years.

The main reason to have a 50-53T ring is to be able to use a 13t cog.
Drivetrain friction increases as cogs get smaller, and the ramp-up is quick
below 14T. Smaller cogs were the product of a misguided attempt to save weight.
I bet the drivetrain friction matters more.

Quoted message said:

It took
me a little while to get used to the bigger jump between chainrings
when anticipating shifts but am getting used to it. The front
derailleur is working noticeably harder to go from the 34 to the 50
but handles it reasonably well. If you are upgrading to this from a
triple you may want to just leave your triple front derailleur on.

34-48T rings would have the same 14T gap as a traditional 39-53T setup, and with
a 12t cog you'd still have a 4:1 top gear.

Quoted message said:

Summary

So far my feelings are a little mixed. It looks great and greater
gear range is nice, but the shifting isn't quite as good as the
39/53, and front shifts for me feel more awkward due to the greater
change in chainrings. If you are already running Campy 10 speed like
me you can get about the same range I'm getting with the 12-25 by
using the 13-29 cassette with a 39/53--and for a lot less money. Of
course you could go really low with this thing and use a 13-29
cassette. It would give you about the same low gear as a 30-25
without having to use an ego-crushing triple crankset, but if you
need gears that low my recommendation is get the triple.

I see nothing ego-crushing about a triple. I often gear down and spin right
past people who are trying to stomp up a big hill in a 39/25. Plus I can shift
between inner and middle rings, and alternate between sitting and standing. At
the other end, the 42-52T shift is more usable because of the smaller gap. So
when I need a bigger shift, I just use the front, and when I want a little one,
I use the rear. I use both almost equally, while other riders seem locked into
the idea of two distinct ranges. To me there's no downside whatsoever to a
triple -- it's all pluses.

Wide-double cranks do have a great niche -- improving gearing on older STI
double-ring bikes, where converting to a triple is cost-prohibitive. Of course
the FSA isn't cheap, but a 110/74 BCD Sugino with 34-48 rings could be a great
problem solver, for example. If I acquired a 10-15 year old bike with a double,
this is exactly what I'd do.

Otherwise, just get a triple.

Matt O.

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed
DuraAce the other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic.
Everyone here was blown away with how nicely it performed.
Definitely in the future for my own bike...

Mike, why not a triple?

Matt O.

matt-<< We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

<< Mike, why not a triple? >><BR><BR>

No DA 10s triple left shifters....

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed
DuraAce the other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic.
Everyone here was blown away with how nicely it performed.
Definitely in the future for my own bike...

Mike, why not a triple?

Matt O.

Because the "image" of a $5000 Trek Madone, the Lance bike, with a
triple does not work. Ego and image are very strong and over ride
logic.

Russell Seaton said:

Because the "image" of a $5000 Trek Madone, the Lance bike, with a
triple does not work. Ego and image are very strong and over ride
logic.

Whatever turns your crank, I guess...

Matt O.

Russell Seaton said:

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

We set up a TREK Madone with an FSA 50/34 with Shimano 10-speed
DuraAce the other day, and it worked, by all accounts, fantastic.
Everyone here was blown away with how nicely it performed.
Definitely in the future for my own bike...

Mike, why not a triple?

Matt O.

Because the "image" of a $5000 Trek Madone, the Lance bike, with a
triple does not work. Ego and image are very strong and over ride logic.

And because DA10 doesn't come in a triple. I've thought though that the
next modification to the DA crank (FC7803) will take the "not cut-out"
look to the extreme and will have a fully solid-looking face so other
riders won't be able to tell how many chainrings are on the inside. What
a marketing coup de grace that would be - you could have a bike with a
crank that *looked* like Lance's (or Jan's or Iban's) but that
functioned more like what a middle-aged guy with fragile knees really
needs (thinking of myself here, not Mike... for whom a compact carbon
crank would certainly be a more astute selection).

See you at Primavera next week!

--