Compact cranck Stronlight / FSA Stiffness

[Ridley]

Hi,
I'm searching after a good and stiff (!!!!) compact cranck.
What do you guys think of these crancks? I know the vulcan looks superB but I want also price/quality
FSA Energy Compact (claimed 585g) 129 USD, around 150 EUR in Europe


Stronglight Vulcan (claimed 465gr) 250 EUR


And I was also curious about this the Token TK 904 (claimed around 570g I think) 130 EUR


I'm currently riding a bike with a double veloce 10sp groupset, do I need to change the FD?

[nexusheli]

...I'm currently riding a bike with a double veloce 10sp groupset, do I need to change the FD?

While you don't need a new FD, it will shift much better with a Compact specific FD. FSA makes one, and Campy is releasing Veloce and Centaur CD FD's as we speak.

[mike]

i would go with stronglight out of the three, having used the pulsion and have nothing but good things to say about it.

[MGS9500]

I have two bikes, one bike with the FSA carbon and the other with the Pulsion. I have used both for over one year without a hitch or complaint.

For the weight and the looks, I prefer the Pulsion. The set up is easy and it is lighter.

I'm not certain what Nexusheli bases his claim that a new FD is needed.

I have used the standard Campy Record FD on the FSA and the Shimano Durace on the Pulsion. Shifts are flawless and over and undershifts are as rare as standard cranks.

Save your money and simple adjust the front derailleur to specs as you would on any new crank and chainring.

The FD does have to be dropped. On some bikes with a fixed front derailleur bracket, it may not have enough clearance to allow the FD to be dropped low enough. On the Scott CR1, that is a problem.

This is solved with a dremmel tool and about 5 minutes of patient grinding. The bracket slot can be increased about 5-10mm without compromising the integrity of the bracket and this is all it needs.

Bottom line, go with the Pulsion, keep the FD, get a good ISIS BB.

[kman]

Ridley, could you please PM me and let me know where you are getting the Stronglight cranks from? I'm considering some myself...
Thanks.

[Ridley]

...I'm currently riding a bike with a double veloce 10sp groupset, do I need to change the FD?

While you don't need a new FD, it will shift much better with a Compact specific FD. FSA makes one, and Campy is releasing Veloce and Centaur CD FD's as we speak.

I heard that the campy compact FD shifts really bad on a non-campy crank

[2002SaecoReplica]

I read of a test some kids at UMass did testing the stiffness of the FSA/dura-ace/and ultegra cranks. It was a rather long article but at the end they noted that while the Ultegra was the stiffest(but also the heaviest) that the amount of flex in the FSA cranks was to the point where powerloss was negligable. Basically, companies say their cranks are stiffen than others and that is true, but it is so insermountable that you would never notice!

I ride my Record compact cranks with a regular Record FD 5 times a week and have ZERO problems.

[Etienne]

Hi,
I'm searching after a good and stiff (!!!!) compact cranck.
What do you guys think of these crancks? I know the vulcan looks superB but I want also price/quality
FSA Energy Compact (claimed 585g) 129 USD, around 150 EUR in Europe

Ridley,

I have the FSA Energy Compact crank on my bike, and I'm really satisfied with this product ... stiff, light enough (585 g without the BB bolts, more likely 620-625 with ) for the price and pretty well finished

I'm currently riding a bike with a double veloce 10sp groupset, do I need to change the FD?

Works great with a regular FD ... and never heard anything good about those special compact FD ... worth a try, anyway