Best Road Crankset

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mrfish
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Location: Near Horgen, Switzerland

by mrfish

If you have the money then the Zipp for me is a nice blend of lightness, stiffness etc.

If you are slightly less hung up on weight or have less $, then 7800 / 7900 is the easy winner. I have both of these. The shifting on the 7900 is why you should pick these - the 200g fades into nothing when every front shift is smoother and more positive than some companies rear shifting. Also IMO a full 7900 set just looks pro and just works. No messing about. The 7800 set is ancient but keeps going. I ride much less miles than I used to, but even then I find that if you keep your chain clean the rings last a very long time. Adjust 1x per year and keep it clean. Job done.

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kevinkalis
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by kevinkalis

stephen@fibre-lyte wrote:One of the cons you haven't mentioned with the 7900 is that the chainrings are designed to blend with the crank and although aftermarket chainrings will fit, they'll not look great. In the UK 7900 chainrings are ridiculously expensive so its something to consider if you might wear out the rings quickly.

If you're thinking silly money (Vuma, Storck, THM) then the THM Clavicula cranks for me are a no brainer. Very nice piece of kit. If you want to be more sensible then I'd choose Red, followed by 7800 (yes the older one) then Record, then 7900.

Last thing to consider as you live in the UK is availability of parts. The three pricey cranksets all require patience in sourcing spares where as Sram and Shimano parts are readily available (Campag not so much)


I did consider this slight issue about the 7900 crank, especially since I use larger chainrings and am definitely not willing to pay the premium which you pay for the DA chainrings. I would go for the 7800 but I don't like the look of them. At the moment, I'm considering an FSA crankset as a temporary measure, mainly because they look good. Either that or an SRAM crank, same thing.

I'm not really too keen on the Record crankset as it'd clash with the rest of the bike, being a Dura Ace build.

At the moment I'm thinking, temporary, cheap-ish, carbon crank like FSA SLK Light or an SRAM Red and then eventually get either the Zipp Vuma or the Storck Powerarms SL.

So, for now, can anyone give me their opinions on the FSA and the SRAM cranks. Main issues again are durability - I'm willing to take the slight weight penalty for the time being.
K2

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kevinkalis
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Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:29 pm

by kevinkalis

PalleRaa wrote:Why not chose the Carbon edition of the 7800 Dura Ace crank? From what i read it should be just as stiff and 22grams lighter than the original. Further more it is pretty rare which makes it cool imo :)

Image


These are still a very realistic option, I'd be willing to take the weight penalty permanently if I could get hold of these cranks, but, as you mention, they are pretty rare.

Anyone with a set of these wanting to offload them, I'm willing to part with a few organs to make it happen :D
K2

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PalleRaa
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Location: Denmark - Copenhagen

by PalleRaa

You can buy the Carbon Crank here:

http://www.bike-components.de/products/ ... ch-II.html

Only 799€ ;)
Light. Strong. Cheap. Pick two.
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gumgardner
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Location: Pittsburgh

by gumgardner

I never thought the Zipp's compared well with the Clavicula's. Similar price, but the Clavicula's are lighter and basically just as stiff. So why does everyone like the Zipps more?

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mythical
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by mythical

Those Shimano cranks I've only seen in 172.5mm so that renders it useless for anyone who needs, say, 175mm... (like myself) As for those Zipps, mine had issues with the axle interface (it had play I couldn't get rid of) and the Zipp service guy kept telling me that it was the wavy washer, which

THM Clavicula's, Storck Power Arms, Sram Red cranks (not the BB30 kind), and the new AX-Lightness Morpheus have wider Q-factors, therefore might not be ideal for everyone. Weight-wise the Look Zeds are ridiculously light at 320g but who has a BB shell big enough to fit them besides those TT bike owners?

Cranksets are all a big compromise. I know really tall guys that need 190mm cranks or really the occasional vertically-challenged girl that has to make due with relatively long 170mm cranks, there's an abundance in difference of width, stiffness, weight and durability is a serious issue on some models.

I think the best cranks has yet to hit the market, which is probably the EE cranks...

@kevinkalis: my suggestion is buy something that works and save up for something lighter some 3-6 months down the road, especially with what's gonna be shown at the fall trade shows to see what's coming to the market in 2011.
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PalleRaa
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Location: Denmark - Copenhagen

by PalleRaa

Looks?
Maybe people don't like the wide q-factor of the Clavicula's?

The fact that quite a few Clavicula's cranks have cracked where you mount the chain rings?
Light. Strong. Cheap. Pick two.
_.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-.__.-*'´`'*-._
In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice, there is.

gumgardner
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Location: Pittsburgh

by gumgardner

Are the Extralite E-bones QRC any good? Extralite isn't known for their stiffness, but Madcow did a good review on them back in 2007 or 2008 and said they were the best all around crank. I'd have to assume that this no longer holds true.

Does anyone know when the EE cranks are coming out? I know he was having problems with the production.

Briscoelab
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by Briscoelab

Don't waste you time or money on the FSA..... just get what you want to start with. If you really need something inexpensive to hold you over, get a Sram Rival OCT crank for the time being. They are VERY stiff, look decent, and are cheap.

Something else to think about would be the Fulcrum TorQ RRS cranks. They look good, are very light, have fantastic CULT bearings, and you can run aftermarket rings on them if you wish (but honestly, the Campy/Fulcrum rings are long lasting). Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK has them for a decent price.

sawyer
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Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

I'd second what briscoelab says both on the Rival crank (which is very good IME) and Fulrcrum / UT.

The UT crank with CULT bearings is the smoothest, classiest looking crank out there.
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strobbekoen
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by strobbekoen

How about some lightning carbons ? I really like mine, simple to install, can be used on pretty much all configurations and BB's, looks good with aftermarket rings, and it's light.

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madcow
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by madcow

Mythical hit the nail right on the head.
mythical wrote:Cranksets are all a big compromise.


So far there is no crank which has been the super end-all-be-all kind of crank. You have to balance the characteristics which are right for you, weight, price, stiffness, looks, durability, fit, q-factor etc...

My recommendation would be to sit down and rank the different characteristics as they are important to you. That should help point you in the right direction. Honestly almost every crank I've tested is fine and a problem can be found with any of them.

Someone asked about the eecrank. Design/testing has been done for a while. The hold up has been with the machine shop. It's a long and sad story and ultimately doesn't matter. All I can say is i'm still hopeful to see something this year, but not certain.

One other new crank which I've been interested in lately is the smart foot. It looks to have the right mix of characteristics for me. With the 30mm spindle, larger arms and new bb design they seem to have addressed pretty much all of my concerns with their previous crank.

Oh, and about that DA carbon crank, if you really want one, I still have one or two that I tucked away.

karlch
Posts: 115
Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:00 pm

by karlch

i realy like the look of the dura ace crank i think it will be my runner up if i dont get the clavicula or the ax see how much of my redundancy i have left after my wheel spending spree!!!!!!!

gumgardner
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Location: Pittsburgh

by gumgardner

Where is that AX crank anyway :noidea: :noidea:

by Weenie


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