Compact-Crank Compatibilty Shimano / Campa

Why go aftermarket? Campagnolo makes compact cranks also. And they are guaranteed to work perfectly with the rest of the group.

Powerful Pete said:

Why go aftermarket? Campagnolo makes compact cranks also. And they are guaranteed to work perfectly with the rest of the group.

Well, simply because of the price. For looks sake, I'd like to stick with carbon cranks, and Campa charges sth like $350.- for the Centaur, not even talking about the Record ($440.-), as compared to $280.- I'd pay for an FSA Pro Road Compact Crank in Carbon (and that's including a new bottom bracket).

Dan

Dan512 said:

Well, simply because of the price. For looks sake, I'd like to stick with carbon cranks, and Campa charges sth like $350.- for the Centaur, not even talking about the Record ($440.-), as compared to $280.- I'd pay for an FSA Pro Road Compact Crank in Carbon (and that's including a new bottom bracket).

Dan

I am having a lot of problems with my compact crank factory installed on my Fuji Team pro bike thats got an Ultegra chain and dura ace ace rear derailleur. Loud in the small chainring, skips in some gears, tosses the chain off both directions AND wont shift other times!! And last chain will come off the chainrings in certain gears (50-11,12,13) if you back peddle.

Make sure you do your research and make sure you get the most current chainrings, etc. for the drivetrain you have. Its been a real headache for me.

To make matters worse-SRAM, maker of my compact crank wont deal with me-it has to go through the LBS.

Ray

Wait a second, you have a full record equipped bike and are concerned about price (I assume that it was not exactly a deal even if you purchased it second hand)? 😕

I know this will result in a bunch of nay saying, but I would consider that the best possible thing is to maintain the same crank as the rest of your setup (IMVHO). Campagnolo with Campagnolo. Shimano with Shimano. I doubt you will have the same level of shifting if you go with aftermarket... I know of a number of riding buddies here who are very happy with the looks of their aftermarket cranks and much less so with the performance.

I would particularly recommend staying away from FSA bottom brackets, which do not have a good reputation (at least here) at all...

Again, IMVHO! Flame away guys ...

Dan512 said:

I just bought a second hand TREK with a Campa Record group (10 speed).

I want to ditch the 52-39 crankset in favour of a compact set-up.

Are all aftermarket compact cranks (f. ex. FSA) equally suited for Campa and Shimano groups or are there special models for each.

If so, just wondering what the differences are.

Dan

I used the same FSA 53/39 crankset with S9 (SRAM chain) and C10 (Wipperman chain) without problems. Any 50/34 compact may have a bit more front shifting trouble because of the larger teeth difference between chainrings.

Powerful Pete said:

Wait a second, you have a full record equipped bike and are concerned about price (I assume that it was not exactly a deal even if you purchased it second hand)? 😕

Well, yes, I know it sounds weird. The bike is fully Campa Record equipped, it´s 1.5 years old and was ridden approx. 700 miles by a friend of mine. New list price (here in Europe) was just under EUR 6.000.- (that´s around $7,500.-) . I bought it for $3,100.-, which I consider a very good deal, but nevertheless, it did overstretch my budget a bit.

So if I can get a correct working compact crank set from FSA or another 3rd party supplier, and save $100.- or more, I´m in.

Come on guys and gals!

Can anyone help me out on this?

Someone must know if a 10 speed compact crank compatible with Shimano also works with a Campa setup,no?

Dan

I have BMC STL01 with Campagnolo Carbon Chorus Groupset with FSA K Force Carbon Compact Cranks and everything works OK. Note this is with a 'standard' Front Derailer and not a 'compact' specific Derailer

Just be careful with quick down shifts (50 -34) as sometimes the chain does come off you just need to be a little gentle. Happened twice in the last 1000 km

IMO,
I would recommend that you look into changing the cassette.
Keep it Campy...😉
Going 13-26 or 13-29 will help you find that sweet spot your looking for.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of compact cranks.

Sorry,
I have no anwser to your specific question.:o

Dan512 said:

Come on guys and gals!

Can anyone help me out on this?

Someone must know if a 10 speed compact crank compatible with Shimano also works with a Campa setup,no?

Your Campagnolo shifters are compatible with almost EVERYTHING ...

With a compact crank, I recommend that you use a front derailleur that is designed for a triple ... Shimano says that THEIR compact crank can be used with their standard front derailleur; and, that is undoubtedly true ...

You MAY note that the inner cage of the so-called COMPACT SPECIFIC front derailleurs is closer in design to the inner cage of a front derailleur designed for a triple.

With a compact crank (based on decades of using what used to be referred to as ALPINE gearing) unless you are using a straight block, you probably want a "long" cage rear deralleur to take up chain slack ... maybe, not.

Try the derailleurs you have, first.

FWIW. The recommendation (I think I read this on the CAMPY ONLY site, BTW), is to use a Shimano front derailleur (presumably, it is stiffer) ...

Now, as far as your current carbon fetish, I recommend to you what I recommended to someone ~25 years ago when he lamented that he had a regular NR rear derailleur rather than a Super Record rear derailleur: "paint it." Of course, he was appalled. But, a year or two later he "got it" ... he understood what I was saying ... that it was an unnecessary cosmetic matter.

If you want a BLACK crank, get an aluminum FSA MegaExo for the time being ...

NOW, apparently there has been a problem with SOME FSA compact chainrings based on a couple of recent threads ...

For those who don't know, prior to the recent in-vogue status of Compact 110BCD cranks, the reason that they were out-of-favor before Pinarello & Tyler Hamilton brought them back into the consciousness of all you folk is because the chainrings were NOT as stiff and therefore not considered suitable for lightning fast & reliable shifts for competitive riders.

Thicker rings + ramping-and-pinning makes shifting less problematic, though some people still have a problem setting them up OR recognizing when a chainring is warped.

My two-cents: when you have the money, you can spring for one of the UltraTorque Campagnolo cranks + derailleurs (if still necessary).

As suggested by Unbelievably, you should definitely try a cassette with a 26t cog, first ... you CAN restack your current cassette with a 26t cog (you can buy them separately through your LBS). My observation is that the chain & rear derailleur can handle an 8t jump (I brieflly put a 32t cog on what was originally a 12-23 just to test the feasibility). I think the 13-29 will require you switch to a long cage rear derailleur (an added expense which you probably don't want to make, right now).

Forget about what you've read thus far. A compact crank - Campy, Shimano or FSA - will work with any drivetrain for as long as you use a compact specific front deraileur specially if you're going for a 50/34T (also you will need to shorten the chain).

BTW, that thing about staying away from FSA BBs is just BS. Yeah some fellow happens to experience a BB failure and it happens to be an FSA (old model)octalink BB - but proly if it were a Shimano BB that same story will also hold true coz it'll be blown out of proportion. FSA BBs are fine - used in bike competitions including the TdF all the time so they're tested - as all other top BBs from shimano and campy. The platinum series with titanium nitrate treatment has very good qualities - lightweight, durable, excellent bearings, easy to service and set-up and doesn't cost an arm & a leg.

I replace more FSA bbs than anything else. Most are less than a year old. The latest one was Thursday, 6 mos. old and they're not all Octalink.

Using a compact specifc deraileur has made little or no difference in the shifting. Using the Shimano compact crank with their standard deraileur works flawlessly.

Go ahead, get the FSA, but in the mean time, start deciding on which bb and crankset that you will replace it will, because you will and soon.

As far as their being used by pro teams, life span is no big deal, when you have cases of them given to you by the company.

Every groupo is designed to work with itself. Sure, you can always cross brands, but Campy doesn't design their parts around Shimao's and Shimano doesn't design theirs around Campy.

Don't screw up the setup that you have by using [censored].

hd reynolds said:

Forget about what you've read thus far. A compact crank - Campy, Shimano or FSA - will work with any drivetrain for as long as you use a compact specific front deraileur specially if you're going for a 50/34T (also you will need to shorten the chain).

BTW, that thing about staying away from FSA BBs is just BS. Yeah some fellow happens to experience a BB failure and it happens to be an FSA (old model)octalink BB - but proly if it were a Shimano BB that same story will also hold true coz it'll be blown out of proportion. FSA BBs are fine - used in bike competitions including the TdF all the time so they're tested - as all other top BBs from shimano and campy. The platinum series with titanium nitrate treatment has very good qualities - lightweight, durable, excellent bearings, easy to service and set-up and doesn't cost an arm & a leg.

I suggest changing cassettes too.

Unless you climb a multitude of >10% hills or mountains, itis possible to make do without a compact crank.

IMO, unless you are carrying a large load, love to spin or live surrounded by extremely steep climbs, you don't "need" a compact crank, you just want one.

Answer is NO.The compact for that record grouppo cannot be shimano.The BB is square taper. Shimano is not compatible with square taper. Even a centaur is not compatible with record as centaur BB is 111mm and record /chorus is 102mm. Stick a chorus/ record/ pinarello etc on it otherwise you gotta change the BB - then why bother. Good value Carbon campag CC at www.totalcycling.com

Fitz

Dan512 said:

Come on guys and gals!

Can anyone help me out on this?

Someone must know if a 10 speed compact crank compatible with Shimano also works with a Campa setup,no?

Dan

Dan512 said:

I just bought a second hand TREK with a Campa Record group (10 speed).

I want to ditch the 52-39 crankset in favour of a compact set-up.

Are all aftermarket compact cranks (f. ex. FSA) equally suited for Campa and Shimano groups or are there special models for each.

If so, just wondering what the differences are.

Dan

With the 2007 Campy using a new design, there are plenty of deals on the older 2006 stylke cranks out there. I know they're still a little more than FSA, but you get what you pay for. FWIW, I just picked up a brand new '06 Record Carbon crankset (53/39) for $320 on e-bay. I've seen them even cheaper.

Sprint2Win said:

I replace more FSA bbs than anything else. Most are less than a year old. The latest one was Thursday, 6 mos. old and they're not all Octalink.

Using a compact specifc deraileur has made little or no difference in the shifting. Using the Shimano compact crank with their standard deraileur works flawlessly.

Go ahead, get the FSA, but in the mean time, start deciding on which bb and crankset that you will replace it will, because you will and soon.

As far as their being used by pro teams, life span is no big deal, when you have cases of them given to you by the company.

Every groupo is designed to work with itself. Sure, you can always cross brands, but Campy doesn't design their parts around Shimao's and Shimano doesn't design theirs around Campy.

Don't screw up the setup that you have by using [censored].

Just a lot of [censored]... very easy to say or claim... just your word which may not even be true. ... Proof? Nada

fitz said:

Answer is NO.The compact for that record grouppo cannot be shimano.The BB is square taper. Shimano is not compatible with square taper. Even a centaur is not compatible with record as centaur BB is 111mm and record /chorus is 102mm. Stick a chorus/ record/ pinarello etc on it otherwise you gotta change the BB - then why bother. Good value Carbon campag CC at www.totalcycling.com

Fitz

I think he knows that as all the other posters here. The issue is on the use of a compact crank and it goes without saying that the same-brand or compatible BB is to be used... its just common sense.

I have been using a Campy Chorus compact crank with my Durace group for some time now and it works great. I did get the Record compact front derailleur for it also but the Durace one worked great also. I know it sounds kind of dumb doing this to most folks.
I think that some of the reasons people maybe having trouble with Fsa BB's is that I feel they maybe more suseptable to miss alignment from unfaced BB shells. Just a thought. I have had to fix a lot of Fsa cranks because the splines do not seem to be a good fit on the crankarm and Fsa has supplied us with some new type of locktite that goes on the splines to make a tight fit.