Weight Weenies

I have an 2012 SL4 Tarmac with the S-Works 2012 FACT cranks, with S-Works 130BCD carbon spider and S-works 53T/39T rings. I'm looking to swap these for compact 50T/34T rings and a new 110BCD spider.

I know that Lightning make an aluminium spider and replacement rings - anyone have any experience of these? I can also buy direct from the Big S but their S-Works rings and spider are pretty pricey; does anyone know of any other ring / spider combinations that will work with these cranks? I'm running Dura Ace 7900 for my chain and front mech and am keen to keep the weight down.

[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89657681@N05/8392415842/"%20title="FACT%20rings%20by%20mec287,%20on%20Flickr"><img%20src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8088/8392415842_49d92dc713.jpg"%20width="500"%20height="375"%20alt="FACT%20rings"></a>[/img]

I would just get the Specialized compact spider, they aren't that expensive and you can get aluminum or carbon.

I like using the Stronlight CT2 chainrings with these cranks. They look good and shift great.

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Can't comment on how they would look where they meet the spider. I'd be tempted to try a specialised 110bcd spider with Praxis Clover Rings. Could even go for a 52-36.

Thanks for the tips. The Specialized carbon fibre spider is £150 RRP and the rings are £200 RRP, hence my interest in 'others' as a suitable alternative!!

I have a alu compact spider and rings if you are interested.

Praxis rings are £120 at Cycle Surgery in the UK if you're interested in chekcing them out. No personal experience but shifting is meant to be top notch.

Can get them in 50/34, 50/36 and 52/36 for 110BCD. I'm about to get some to put on a 2011 SRAM Red spider.

As a user of sworks fact cranks, carbon spider and ct2 rings i have to say they're great, look great and obviously shift wonderfully!

To answer your question, you're limited to speccy for the spider or as you lightning, which is primarily what the s-works cranks were / are licenced copies of.

I've run the S-works 36/52 rings on one bike, and praxis on the other, both with carbon spiders.

I can't tell the difference in the rings. I was running stronglight CT2's on one bike before the praxis were available, and I think the praxis are slightly nicer shifting. Although, the praxis rings didn't seem to like the PC1091R chain, as praxis states on their website.

Specialized spider and Praxis rings- done.

Speci spider with Praxis rings and a KMC X10SL chain and you're done. Best shifting I've had bar none. Even slightly better than my stock Campy bikes.

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TwiggyTN wrote:Speci spider with Praxis rings and a KMC X10SL chain and you're done. Best shifting I've had bar none. Even slightly better than my stock Campy bikes.

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That's my setup, 52-36 rings.

A question for those of you with the s-works carbon spider; is it necessary to use the specialized chainring bolts as specialized insists on, or will others work?

You can also use campy ones for carbon. not the latest "nutless" ones, but the 2piece ones. But they're stupid expensive, so i would go with the specialized ones personally.
...the holes in the spider for the bolts are smaller than standard.

These are the rings at present (not the best photo I know) - I think the Praxis rings will look fantastic, but I will need to swap out the spider too!

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As an aside, 3 or 4 of my teammates had problems with the stock Speci rings on their Tarmacs/Venges. The chain kept coming off during sprints. Both Red & DA bikes. One dude crashed and smashed his collarbone and bike. Speci made it right with his bike and has improved their rings for 2013 to make them stiffer. Only the sprinter types had a problem on our team. I'd still recommend the Praxis rings for racing tho.

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