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Best Shimano compatible crankset that isn't Shimano?

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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I was thinking about not switching groups but I still would like a compact crank for this season.

Any suggestions besides a R700? I might have to go DuRache...
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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As long it is not that Italian garbage...

btw, where is Campy, uh, Fulcrum made? Taiwan, USA?
 
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HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,006
Seattle
There is a 5600 and 6700 compact crank.
:stupid:

Why the aversion to Shimano? They make compact cranks too.


I've been pretty impressed with Sram's cranks. I do like the clamping interface Shimano uses better, but they've been well made. We've had some issues with a couple of FSA road cranks, one where the aluminum spindle interface came unbonded from the carbon, etc, enough to scare me off them. Haven't played with much Fulcrum stuff though.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,169
375
Roanoke, VA
Fulcrum/Campy stuff are the only cranks out there that are even close to the quality of Shimano stuff. The fulcrum stuff is considerably narrower, both in Q-factor and ankle clearance.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,169
375
Roanoke, VA
How do you define quality?
Quality of metalworking, shifting, bearings and proper constraints forcrank-arm attachment and bearing adjustment.

There are no better cranks on the planet than Shimano cranks- but they are too wide for my tastes.
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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:stupid:

Why the aversion to Shimano? They make compact cranks too.


I've been pretty impressed with Sram's cranks. I do like the clamping interface Shimano uses better, but they've been well made. We've had some issues with a couple of FSA road cranks, one where the aluminum spindle interface came unbonded from the carbon, etc, enough to scare me off them. Haven't played with much Fulcrum stuff though.
Well, the DuRachi is like $700. Although the bike expert better known as Mooshoo tells me he really likes the new Ultegra.

There is no way I would ever buy a FSA product and since I haven't heard of any Record/Chorus failures, I don't think a Fulcrum is going to have a problem.

And I like how it looks.
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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Cannondale Hollowgram SL. but you probably don't have a BB30 BB....
Actually, I have considered replacing the BB shell during the refurb with a BB30. However, I am not convinced that BB30 will the standard forevah and evah.

I like the Pivot Cycles bb's which insert the Shimano bearings directly into the frame.

Also, the Cannondale cranks are made by FSA...
 

crohnsy

Monkey
Oct 2, 2009
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T Bay
What bike do you own that you can remove the bb shell?

The BB30 is the standard that is taking over road. larger bearing, larger spindle, lighter, stiffer. its everything roadies want..

BB30 bearing are also pressfit directly into the frame. pivot and others are just doing the same thing as Cannondale but with smaller bearings.

I'm pretty sure Cannondale makes their Hollowgram Arms inhouse.

FSA definitely makes the rings. Even if FSA makes the arms so what? They are still among the lightest and stiffest cranks around...
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,006
Seattle
Well, the DuRachi is like $700. Although the bike expert better known as Mooshoo tells me he really likes the new Ultegra.

There is no way I would ever buy a FSA product and since I haven't heard of any Record/Chorus failures, I don't think a Fulcrum is going to have a problem.

And I like how it looks.
Well, as wrong as it feels to say this, I agree with Mooshoo there. It's only ~60g heavier than DA, it's stiff, the bearings are good, the bb interface is well executed. And at a pretty reasonable price.

The Fulcrum offerings do look nice, but I haven't played with them. My one concern from an armchair engineering standpoint is that it seems like their BB interface design would be really sensitive to having the BB shell exactly the right width, and faced properly. Not really a big deal with a good/ well preped frame, but it seems like it has the potential to be finicky. This is just speculation, not personal experience.
 
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sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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What bike do you own that you can remove the bb shell?

The BB30 is the standard that is taking over road. larger bearing, larger spindle, lighter, stiffer. its everything roadies want..

BB30 bearing are also pressfit directly into the frame. pivot and others are just doing the same thing as Cannondale but with smaller bearings.

I'm pretty sure Cannondale makes their Hollowgram Arms inhouse.

FSA definitely makes the rings. Even if FSA makes the arms so what? They are still among the lightest and stiffest cranks around...
Seven Ti custom. Suck it. They actually cut the old BB off and weld on a new one.

You are probably right about the arms though, although I bet the BB is FSA.

I'm not against the oversized BB, just think the technology hasn't settled. Like buying a tablet pc today. Better to wait 6 months for the Apple and and MS to be released.
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
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Danbury, CT
Seven Ti custom. Suck it. They actually cut the old BB off and weld on a new one.

You are probably right about the arms though, although I bet the BB is FSA.

I'm not against the oversized BB, just think the technology hasn't settled. Like buying a tablet pc today. Better to wait 6 months for the Apple and and MS to be released.
I'm fairly certain (though I can't really think of why I believe this) that FSA does make the Hollowgrams. They are just the factory though (or rather TH probably is), they are a Cannondale design, not something from FSA that's rebranded.

BB30 is cool, but I'm not so sure it's "rip off my old BB and weld on a new one" cool.
Easton cranks are pretty cool too, new Dura Ace 7950 is available compact. Oh, re: Fulcrum, depending on your size, QBP is having a 40% off sale! Check it out, I was very tempted for my C50, but I didn't want the compact on that bike...
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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I'm fairly certain (though I can't really think of why I believe this) that FSA does make the Hollowgrams. They are just the factory though (or rather TH probably is), they are a Cannondale design, not something from FSA that's rebranded.

BB30 is cool, but I'm not so sure it's "rip off my old BB and weld on a new one" cool.
Easton cranks are pretty cool too, new Dura Ace 7950 is available compact. Oh, re: Fulcrum, depending on your size, QBP is having a 40% off sale! Check it out, I was very tempted for my C50, but I didn't want the compact on that bike...
Well, I think the outboard bottom bracket is a bad idea. Just compensation for an outdated design.

If I was going to buy a new road or hardtail, it is going to have a bb30.

Thanks for the QBP tip. I was going to order it from BTI, but not now...
 

James

Carbon Porn Star
Sep 11, 2001
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Danbury, CT
Well, I think the outboard bottom bracket is a bad idea. Just compensation for an outdated design.

If I was going to buy a new road or hardtail, it is going to have a bb30.

Thanks for the QBP tip. I was going to order it from BTI, but not now...
But you're still going to order an outboard BB crankset?
I can understand ordering a new one, and I guess an extension of that is a new BB shell, since this is a forever bike, and it's not like it's not a simple job for a company like Seven.

What is the rest of the build like? Post pics? :thumb:
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,169
375
Roanoke, VA
The only thing Cannondale's Bedford facillity will be making next year is SISL cranks.
No one on the island is interested in machining those things. It's a very involved setup with an asinine number of operations- and it starts with a very big chunk of metal.

The 30mm bb spindle makes it impossible to manufacture an optimal(strength/weight) aluminum crankset with simple forging or near-net forging. The lack of commercially available high-quality competitive strength/weight aluminum crankarms sucks, IMO. If you look at the numbers, you just don't save that much weight with mid-range bb30 stuff. Meh.
 

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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BTW, QBP was out of stock in my crank arm length, so I went with ShimaNO Ultegra.