Ritchey Compact Crankset

If you don't need a new crank then there are lots of old ones with 110 bolt
diameter. That used to be standard for touring and mid-range sport bikes.
I even have one in my parts box.

Bruce

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

Quoted message said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project. I have seen the FSA versions and know that Campagnolo will be
relasing a version in September. However, I was not as impressed with
the FSA version and I do not want to wait til September for the Campy
release. I know Ritchey is to release theirs this year, but does anyone
know when? If Ritcheys is September or later, I may just go with a
Centaur double until Campy releases theirs.

Thanks
bigsky

bigsky <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
: project. I have seen the FSA versions and know that Campagnolo will be
: relasing a version in September. However, I was not as impressed with
: the FSA version and I do not want to wait til September for the Campy
: release. I know Ritchey is to release theirs this year, but does anyone
: know when? If Ritcheys is September or later, I may just go with a
: Centaur double until Campy releases theirs.

TA do a very nice one called the Zepher Light. 34/48, 34/50 or 36/50 in
compact 110 PCD. Also available in 130PCD or 135PCD.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

bigsky <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project. I have seen the FSA versions and know that Campagnolo will be
relasing a version in September. However, I was not as impressed with
the FSA version and I do not want to wait til September for the Campy
release. I know Ritchey is to release theirs this year, but does anyone
know when? If Ritcheys is September or later, I may just go with a
Centaur double until Campy releases theirs.

Thanks
bigsky

Another one to consider is the Sugino compact...various models, but
they're pretty much all the same with variations in the rings.
Lickton's has them in 46/36/26 all alloy...I found one in 48/36/26
with only the outer ring alloy, the others steel. Price is also all
over the map--anywhere from $60 to $120. Yellow Jersey even sells a
double version of this one.

bigsky <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project.

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change the
gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you a
different gear range? It will most likely give you a different shift
pattern. Maybe, most likely, for the worse. My preferred gears,
42x15 to 42x19, do not work well with a double 110mm bcd crank. The
low end of this range falls at the upper end of the small
chainring/small cogs and the lower end of the big chainring/big cogs.
Or all on the very low end of the big chainring.

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on 99.9%
of my miles.

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads. Whether
they be in bicycles, vehicles, clothes, music, diets, etc. Advertise
it and they will buy it.

Arthur Clune said:

TA do a very nice one called the Zepher Light. 34/48, 34/50 or
36/50 in compact 110 PCD. Also available in 130PCD or 135PCD.

TA did, unfortunately. They do another now, see Peter White's
excellent <http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/zephyr.asp>

--
MfG/Best regards
helmut springer

Russell Seaton said:

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change
the gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you
a different gear range?

Obviously, as it goes down to a 34t.

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on
99.9% of my miles.

Very much depends on where and who you are 8)

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads.

Actually 110BCD is a pretty old size and IMHO more suitable for many
riders than 130BCD with a 39t. YMMV, of course.

53/36,

--
MfG/Best regards
helmut springer

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>,

Russell Seaton said:

bigsky <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project.

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change the
gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you a
different gear range? It will most likely give you a different shift
pattern. Maybe, most likely, for the worse. My preferred gears,
42x15 to 42x19, do not work well with a double 110mm bcd crank. The
low end of this range falls at the upper end of the small
chainring/small cogs and the lower end of the big chainring/big cogs.
Or all on the very low end of the big chainring.

_ You could get those gears with a 36 small ring.

36x13 - 36x16.

You wouldn't get as fine steps though if you have a
15-16-17-18-19 somewhere in your cluster. Getting a compact
crank does not mean getting a 50/34.

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on 99.9%
of my miles.

_ It works really well for me on 99.9% of my miles. There is a
gap, but with careful choice of cluster you can put the gap at
speed you don't use. If you live somewhere with long hills, it
allows a very rational set of gears. I think if you're happy with
a regular double it doesn't make much sense. It's really an
alternative to a road triple. It works best with at least 9 gears
in the back, but a 110mm double with 9 or 10 speed clusters can
easily cover the same range as many triple ring setups with a lot
less hassle and expense.

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads. Whether
they be in bicycles, vehicles, clothes, music, diets, etc. Advertise
it and they will buy it.

_ It's not a new fad, in many ways it duplicates the setup that
you'd get with a Cyclotourist half-step triple and a 5 speed
freewheel. IMHO it's a return to rationality. The fad IMHO is a
53x12. Besides, you can always return to a 42/53 if you want.
Having a compact double allows you to easily and relatively
cheaply vary your gearing in a way that's just not possible
with standard road doubles. You can get any even size you
want from 34 to 56 in 110 bcd very easily and cheaply. Odd
sizes are available, but tend to cost more.

_ Booker C. Bense

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Helmut Springer said:

Russell Seaton said:

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change
the gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you
a different gear range?

Obviously, as it goes down to a 34t.

Actually a 33t if you get the TA ring. It is about 1.5 to 2 gears
lower, depending upon how one wishes to count gears.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on
99.9% of my miles.

Very much depends on where and who you are 8)

No, Seaton's statement is false no matter what: the 110 *always*
"works." I have a 53t big ring on my 110 double. I vary the inner ring
from 33t up to 46t depending upon course need. A 130, for comparison,
dies at a 38t. I don't know why the 130 and 135 even exist other than
the market power of Shimano and Campy. There might be another reason; I
am unaware of it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads.

LOL.

Quoted message said:

Actually 110BCD is a pretty old size and IMHO more suitable for many
riders than 130BCD with a 39t. YMMV, of course.

Yes, I think it was the Sugino AT that introduced this bolt circle over
20 years ago.

"Helmut Springer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Russell Seaton said:

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change
the gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you
a different gear range?

Obviously, as it goes down to a 34t.

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on
99.9% of my miles.

Very much depends on where and who you are 8)

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads.

Actually 110BCD is a pretty old size and IMHO more suitable for many
riders than 130BCD with a 39t. YMMV, of course.

53/36,

--
MfG/Best regards
helmut springer

With an offering like a TA 110BCD Zeypher or Carmina you can do pretty much
anything a 130 or 135BCD can do. Of course, the converse isn't true. If
anything, 110BCD gives you a lot of flexibility to configure to your
preference.

The bike I'm uprading has a double 53/40. The main reason for the
upgrade is to replace a bad bottom bracket, upgrade from Ultegra 7spd to
Campy 10 spd, and to have fun working on my bike. I'm in Florida so
hills are not an immediate concern but I may be going on trips where a
triple would be helpful. The main reason I was intrigued with the
compact double is I wanted to get away from the inefficiencies with the
normal double. Between the multiple cog/chainring crossovers and the
gear inch differences that are difficult to even sense(conder tehm
redundant), it seemed that a wider spread between chainrings with
smaller changes between cogs would work better. In fact, as I started
getting back into cycling I considered converting a triple crank to a
wider double. Then I found out that others had the same idea (FSA,
Ritchey). Funny thing is, I had never even heard any of the "fad", just
considered it a "common sense" idea for my application/situation. One
question remains: Can you replace the 50 with a 52 or 53 without
shifting problems? Just curious. Thanks for the feedback.

bigsky

gwhite said:

Helmut Springer said:

Russell Seaton said:

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change
the gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you
a different gear range?

Obviously, as it goes down to a 34t.

Actually a 33t if you get the TA ring. It is about 1.5 to 2 gears
lower, depending upon how one wishes to count gears.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on
99.9% of my miles.

Very much depends on where and who you are 8)

No, Seaton's statement is false no matter what: the 110 *always*
"works." I have a 53t big ring on my 110 double. I vary the inner ring
from 33t up to 46t depending upon course need. A 130, for comparison,
dies at a 38t. I don't know why the 130 and 135 even exist other than
the market power of Shimano and Campy. There might be another reason; I
am unaware of it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads.

LOL.

Quoted message said:

Actually 110BCD is a pretty old size and IMHO more suitable for many
riders than 130BCD with a 39t. YMMV, of course.

Yes, I think it was the Sugino AT that introduced this bolt circle over
20 years ago.

Booker C. Bense <[email hidden]> wrote:

: _ You could get those gears with a 36 small ring.

: 36x13 - 36x16.

: You wouldn't get as fine steps though if you have a
: 15-16-17-18-19 somewhere in your cluster. Getting a compact
: crank does not mean getting a 50/34.

No one gearing works for everyone. For me, one of the main benifts of
my 34/48 double is that I can stay in the big ring most of the day.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Helmut Springer <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Arthur Clune <[email hidden]> wrote:
:> TA do a very nice one called the Zepher Light. 34/48, 34/50 or
:> 36/50 in compact 110 PCD. Also available in 130PCD or 135PCD.

: TA did, unfortunately. They do another now, see Peter White's
: excellent <http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/zephyr.asp>

Nah, they do. I bought one new two weeks ago......erm....though on
looking at my crankset I see it's actually called a Vega Light

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?ProductID=5360008481

It's a very nice crankset though. Very light, very stiff. I guess
this is the replacement for the Zepher.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

I am interested in the very same crank for the very same reasons. My frame is
a Ritchey Road Logic with lots of Ritchey parts (stem, bars, post, wheels,
etc.) so it was a natural to look at the new Ritchey WCS 110 V cranks. I'm
having a hard time deciding between it and the upcoming Campy Record compact
crankset. I've had much corespondance with the Ritchey tech staff as of late.
The last word on the cranks from them was:

Cranks should be her by the end of May and pedals will be close behind!!!!
Johannes Schmidt
Ritchey Design Inc.
860 Hurlingame Ave.
Redwood City, CA 94063
p. (650) 587-6705
f. (650) 261-1317
www.ritcheylogic.com

Well...it's now the end of May...I wonder where they are...

bigsky said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project. I have seen the FSA versions and know that Campagnolo will be
relasing a version in September. However, I was not as impressed with
the FSA version and I do not want to wait til September for the Campy
release. I know Ritchey is to release theirs this year, but does anyone
know when? If Ritcheys is September or later, I may just go with a
Centaur double until Campy releases theirs.

Thanks
bigsky

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>,

bigsky said:

One
question remains: Can you replace the 50 with a 52 or 53 without
shifting problems? Just curious. Thanks for the feedback.

_ Depends on your derailleur and shifters, if it works well with
a 50/34, it should be okay with a slightly bigger gap. I ran a
53/36 for a while and it worked fine. You need to be a bit
cautious going from big to little as it's a long way down.
Some people recommend installing a chain watcher, but I haven't
found it neccessary.

_ Booker C. Bense

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In article <[email hidden]>,

Eurastus said:

I am interested in the very same crank for the very same reasons. My frame is
a Ritchey Road Logic with lots of Ritchey parts (stem, bars, post, wheels,
etc.) so it was a natural to look at the new Ritchey WCS 110 V cranks. I'm
having a hard time deciding between it and the upcoming Campy Record compact
crankset.

_ Doesn't the Campy one use some wierd chainring size? The wide
range and common availablity of 110 rings is seems to me to be a
big advantage. Of course if you have to have Campy, then well you
just have to have Campy....

_ Booker C. Bense

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bbense-<< Doesn't the Campy one use some wierd chainring size? >><BR><BR>

The article said it wasn't 110mm, but they have a 34t small ring so it is
smaller than 110...or maybe 110..we'll see.

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

[email hidden] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

bbense-<< Doesn't the Campy one use some wierd chainring size? >><BR><BR>

The article said it wasn't 110mm, but they have a 34t small ring so it is
smaller than 110...or maybe 110..we'll see.

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

I read (somewhere--cyclingnews?) recently that the trick has to do
with the position of the hidden 5th bolt on the back of the arm not
being in the same circle as that which would be drawn by going through
the other bolts. Sounds very weird to me, but it would certainly
guarantee that you always got the pins and ramps set up correctly!

What gearing do you use? Cassette and chianrings.

gwhite <gwhite@hocuspocus_ti.com> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Helmut Springer said:

Russell Seaton said:

Exactly what are you upgrading? It seems your intent is to change
the gearing on your bike. Does a double 110mm bcd crank give you
a different gear range?

Obviously, as it goes down to a 34t.

Actually a 33t if you get the TA ring. It is about 1.5 to 2 gears
lower, depending upon how one wishes to count gears.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe a 110mm bcd double crank works for special event once a year
rides, but its shift pattern would not be acceptable for me on
99.9% of my miles.

Very much depends on where and who you are 8)

No, Seaton's statement is false no matter what: the 110 *always*
"works." I have a 53t big ring on my 110 double. I vary the inner ring
from 33t up to 46t depending upon course need. A 130, for comparison,
dies at a 38t. I don't know why the 130 and 135 even exist other than
the market power of Shimano and Campy. There might be another reason; I
am unaware of it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Seems to me lots of people are taken in by the newest fads.

LOL.

Quoted message said:

Actually 110BCD is a pretty old size and IMHO more suitable for many
riders than 130BCD with a 39t. YMMV, of course.

Yes, I think it was the Sugino AT that introduced this bolt circle over
20 years ago.

bigsky said:

I am interested in getting a compact crankset for my bike upgrade
project. I have seen the FSA versions and know that Campagnolo will be
relasing a version in September. However, I was not as impressed with
the FSA version and I do not want to wait til September for the Campy
release. I know Ritchey is to release theirs this year, but does anyone
know when? If Ritcheys is September or later, I may just go with a
Centaur double until Campy releases theirs.

Nonsense. All that a "compact" (road) crankset is is a 110mm bolt-circle
5-arm crankset. These are ubiquitous. If you give a rat's ass about
names, wait for the Campy one, but if you just want to ride, look for
Sugino, or older Shimano, or any of many alternate crank brands.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You
_`\(,_ | soon find out the pig likes it!
(_)/ (_) |