Compact Cranks?

Your front derailleur will work just fine with a compact crank. Cost
will be the cost of a new crankset which varies tremendously between
about $100 and $500. Your Record Carbon will have to be shelved or
maybe you could eBay it and recoup some of the cost. I forget the
reasoning but you should only have a 14 tooth difference in the front
rings so a 48/34 would be better as a 48/11 top gear should still be
tall enough for you.

Chris

In article <[email hidden]>,

Paul Cassel said:

I bought my bike from a guy in FL, but I live in NM where it's quite
hilly. A friend of mine who also has a Campag equipped bike suggested I
swap out my crankset for a compact one. Specifically, I have a 53/39 now
in a Record Carbon with what I take to be standard cranks of 172 mm.

My friend said I could replace the current crankset with a compact set
of chainrings of maybe 50/34 setup. Since I'm hardly riding around in
53/11 now, the loss of highest gearing wouldn't make any difference for
me while the lowering of the 34 from the 39 would make a great
difference, I think.

I suppose the alternative would be to go triple which seems pointless to
me because if I can get to a 34 inner chainring, I should have my hill
issues taken care of. If I need to, I could also swap out my cogset to
go lower too.

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

Mind telling us why the triple is out of the running? An
advantage to the triple is that you get lower gears than a
34/??, and can have closely spaced gears. What cogwheels
are on the rear wheel?

--
Michael Press

Dans le message de news:[email hidden],
Paul Cassel <[email hidden]> a réfléchi, et puis a déclaré
:

Quoted message said:

I bought my bike from a guy in FL, but I live in NM where it's quite
hilly. A friend of mine who also has a Campag equipped bike suggested
I swap out my crankset for a compact one. Specifically, I have a
53/39 now in a Record Carbon with what I take to be standard cranks
of 172 mm.
My friend said I could replace the current crankset with a compact set
of chainrings of maybe 50/34 setup. Since I'm hardly riding around in
53/11 now, the loss of highest gearing wouldn't make any difference
for me while the lowering of the 34 from the 39 would make a great
difference, I think.

I suppose the alternative would be to go triple which seems pointless
to me because if I can get to a 34 inner chainring, I should have my
hill issues taken care of. If I need to, I could also swap out my
cogset to go lower too.

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How
big of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so?
How much does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

If your crankset NEEDS replacement, the the smaller bolt circle makes all
the sense in the world. On the other hand, a cassette change (if you are
using a 12 tooth first gear) could be a very enconomical alternative. Campa
rear derailleurs will handle 28 or 29 teeth fine, which is roughly the same
as moving from 39 to 34 up front, if your current cassette is topped out at
24 or 25. Besides the crank change, figure on a bottom bracket change, and
the cost mounts.

On the other hand, I will send my address and pay postage for the discarded
Record unit and its BB, should you be as rich as Croesus.
--
Bonne route !

Sandy
Verneuil-sur-Seine FR

Paul Cassel said:

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

If you want a direct replacement, all you need do is get a Campy
compact crankset. The cost would be the crankset cost less what you
can sell your Record cranks for.

If you want to compromise on the brand and get something that works
well and is durable, Sugino XD cranks are available from
www.yellowjersey.org but I don't think they come in 172.5. I use
those on a couple of bikes. Nashbar's compact crankset is an
excellent value and the rings are equivalent to things such as FSA.
In each of these cases, you'd need to changeout the bottom bracket on
your bicycle but the total cost can be <$150. That cost may net you a
profit when you lose the Record crankset. The derailleurs should work
fine.

I once used a triple with a 30-tooth inner. I swapped that out for a
compact, and I don't miss the triple at all.

Your front derailleur will work just fine - stay with it! (You might
consider a guard to keep from losing your chain inside the small ring.
I occasionally lost my chain there, and I have never been able to
"recover" without getting off and putting the chain back on with my
fingers.)

The expensive way is to go with a Record compact and keep your current
BB. The cheaper alternative is to get nearly any other crank and their BB.

Paul Cassel said:

I bought my bike from a guy in FL, but I live in NM where it's quite
hilly. A friend of mine who also has a Campag equipped bike suggested I
swap out my crankset for a compact one. Specifically, I have a 53/39 now
in a Record Carbon with what I take to be standard cranks of 172 mm.

My friend said I could replace the current crankset with a compact set
of chainrings of maybe 50/34 setup. Since I'm hardly riding around in
53/11 now, the loss of highest gearing wouldn't make any difference for
me while the lowering of the 34 from the 39 would make a great
difference, I think.

I suppose the alternative would be to go triple which seems pointless to
me because if I can get to a 34 inner chainring, I should have my hill
issues taken care of. If I need to, I could also swap out my cogset to
go lower too.

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

Paul Cassel said:

I bought my bike from a guy in FL, but I live in NM where it's quite
hilly. A friend of mine who also has a Campag equipped bike suggested I
swap out my crankset for a compact one. Specifically, I have a 53/39 now
in a Record Carbon with what I take to be standard cranks of 172 mm.

My friend said I could replace the current crankset with a compact set
of chainrings of maybe 50/34 setup. Since I'm hardly riding around in
53/11 now, the loss of highest gearing wouldn't make any difference for
me while the lowering of the 34 from the 39 would make a great
difference, I think.

I suppose the alternative would be to go triple which seems pointless to
me because if I can get to a 34 inner chainring, I should have my hill
issues taken care of. If I need to, I could also swap out my cogset to
go lower too.

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

You didn't mention what cogset you have(53/11?- then a 11-23?) Current
FD will work fine with a compact. A Campagnolo Centaur compact with
Chorus quality rings, is $160, 111mm BB is about $30. You could get a
Carbon Record or Chorus compact, no need to change the BB from the
102mm, but they are pricey. Nice items but lots of $. FSA makes a
Gossamer, outboard bearing type for $175, with the BB. Carbon version
is $375. Cheezy bearings tho and soft-ish rings. With a compact and
11-23, you will have a higher gear than 53-12 and a lower gear than
39-25.

richard said:

I once used a triple with a 30-tooth inner. I swapped that out for a
compact, and I don't miss the triple at all.

IMO, a 30T inner really isn't a great choice for a triple (yes, I know
that's how many cranks come set up from the factory). For example, a
26T inner will give you really low gears using, say, a 12-23 cassette,
which also allows for nice, small steps on the rear.

Quoted message said:

Paul Cassel said:

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

Paul Kopit said:

If you want a direct replacement, all you need do is get a Campy
compact crankset. The cost would be the crankset cost less what you
can sell your Record cranks for.
If you want to compromise on the brand and get something that works
well and is durable, Sugino XD cranks are available from
www.yellowjersey.org but I don't think they come in 172.5. I use
those on a couple of bikes. Nashbar's compact crankset is an
excellent value and the rings are equivalent to things such as FSA.
In each of these cases, you'd need to changeout the bottom bracket on
your bicycle but the total cost can be <$150. That cost may net you a
profit when you lose the Record crankset. The derailleurs should work
fine.

Thanks for the plug.
XD compact double 110mm are now available in 172.5 length

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Michael Press said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Mind telling us why the triple is out of the running? An
advantage to the triple is that you get lower gears than a
34/??, and can have closely spaced gears. What cogwheels
are on the rear wheel?

I don't see the need for all those ratios. If I had a 34 / 48 or so,
it'd solve all my riding needs.

Sandy said:

How much does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

If your crankset NEEDS replacement, the the smaller bolt circle makes all
the sense in the world. On the other hand, a cassette change (if you are
using a 12 tooth first gear) could be a very enconomical alternative. Campa
rear derailleurs will handle 28 or 29 teeth fine, which is roughly the same
as moving from 39 to 34 up front, if your current cassette is topped out at
24 or 25. Besides the crank change, figure on a bottom bracket change, and
the cost mounts.

On the other hand, I will send my address and pay postage for the discarded
Record unit and its BB, should you be as rich as Croesus.

My current crankset is functionally perfect, but it does have some
corrosion as the bike came from FL. I can get it re-anodized, I suppose.
If my current rear dérailleur will handle a cogset of 29, I'd rather do
that. I currently top out at 24. I don't know how to evaluate if I can
just swap cogsets.

Paul Kopit said:

Paul Cassel said:

Will my current front dérailleur work with the compact crankset? How big
of a deal is it to swap out my 53/39 for a set with a 34 or so? How much
does it cost to do the conversion I have in mind? TIA.

If you want a direct replacement, all you need do is get a Campy
compact crankset. The cost would be the crankset cost less what you
can sell your Record cranks for.

If you want to compromise on the brand and get something that works
well and is durable, Sugino XD cranks are available from
www.yellowjersey.org but I don't think they come in 172.5. I use
those on a couple of bikes. Nashbar's compact crankset is an
excellent value and the rings are equivalent to things such as FSA.
In each of these cases, you'd need to changeout the bottom bracket on
your bicycle but the total cost can be <$150. That cost may net you a
profit when you lose the Record crankset. The derailleurs should work
fine.

My current cranks have some corrosion which makes them, I think, much
less valuable on resale. If I re-anodize, then I lose the word 'Record'
on them which probably makes them worthless to most buyers.

The fellow who suggested this rides Veloce setup and he went for FSA
crankset. As long as my shifters / derailleur works, I'm ok with
different brand cranks, but I didn't want to lose 50% of the gruppo I
paid so much for.

Thanks.

richard said:

I once used a triple with a 30-tooth inner. I swapped that out for a
compact, and I don't miss the triple at all.

Your front derailleur will work just fine - stay with it! (You might
consider a guard to keep from losing your chain inside the small ring. I
occasionally lost my chain there, and I have never been able to
"recover" without getting off and putting the chain back on with my
fingers.)

I'll keep the guard in mind, but I don't mind losing the chain from time
to time. I am not about to enter any event where a few minutes resetting
the chain will affect the world or it's people.

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

You didn't mention what cogset you have(53/11?- then a 11-23?) Current
FD will work fine with a compact. A Campagnolo Centaur compact with
Chorus quality rings, is $160, 111mm BB is about $30. You could get a
Carbon Record or Chorus compact, no need to change the BB from the
102mm, but they are pricey. Nice items but lots of $. FSA makes a
Gossamer, outboard bearing type for $175, with the BB. Carbon version
is $375. Cheezy bearings tho and soft-ish rings. With a compact and
11-23, you will have a higher gear than 53-12 and a lower gear than
39-25.

I have the 11 - 23 cogset. I misspoke above saying it was 24
(miscounted). Is it a user possible swap out to change cranks to the
Centaur / Chorus? What do the special tools cost? (I'm sure there are
those tools). I'm not close to you at all.

OTOH, I just shook hands on a deal which will leave me broke for a few
months, so at least until well into spring, I"ll be riding what I got. I
guess you carry the Centaur / Chorus combo?

Paul Cassel said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

You didn't mention what cogset you have(53/11?- then a 11-23?) Current
FD will work fine with a compact. A Campagnolo Centaur compact with
Chorus quality rings, is $160, 111mm BB is about $30. You could get a
Carbon Record or Chorus compact, no need to change the BB from the
102mm, but they are pricey. Nice items but lots of $. FSA makes a
Gossamer, outboard bearing type for $175, with the BB. Carbon version
is $375. Cheezy bearings tho and soft-ish rings. With a compact and
11-23, you will have a higher gear than 53-12 and a lower gear than
39-25.

I have the 11 - 23 cogset. I misspoke above saying it was 24
(miscounted). Is it a user possible swap out to change cranks to the
Centaur / Chorus? What do the special tools cost? (I'm sure there are
those tools). I'm not close to you at all.

OTOH, I just shook hands on a deal which will leave me broke for a few
months, so at least until well into spring, I"ll be riding what I got. I
guess you carry the Centaur / Chorus combo?

Changing your casseette to 13-26 (assume 10 speed, 13-28 with 9 speed)
will get you a low gear of 39 gear inches. The same as a 34 inner ring
and your current 23 rear cog. Campagnolo also has a 13-29 which gets a
low of 36 gear inches. About the same as a 34 ring with a 26 rear cog.
Going to a compact crankset really only gets you one lower gear.
Unlike a triple which gets you really low gears. Cheapest to just
change your cassette, takes a $6 park tool and a $5 chain whip, and a
big adjustable wrench. 5 minute easy job. Your current short cage
rear derailleur will easily handle any cassette and compact crankset
you get.

Paul Cassel said:

richard said:

I once used a triple with a 30-tooth inner. I swapped that out for a
compact, and I don't miss the triple at all.

Your front derailleur will work just fine - stay with it! (You might
consider a guard to keep from losing your chain inside the small ring. I
occasionally lost my chain there, and I have never been able to
"recover" without getting off and putting the chain back on with my
fingers.)

I'll keep the guard in mind, but I don't mind losing the chain from time
to time. I am not about to enter any event where a few minutes resetting
the chain will affect the world or it's people.

I hope you don't mind falling then. The downshift off the big ring
while climbing a steep hill, chain comes off, and maybe you can't
unclip before falling. Some of the the chain minders are quite small,
like the Deda Dog Fang. I use a N-Gear Jump Stop on both my double and
triple cranksets.
I don't like falling, or stopping to put the chain back on. Just give
it some thought.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Quoted message said:

Changing your casseette to 13-26 (assume 10 speed, 13-28 with 9 speed)
will get you a low gear of 39 gear inches. The same as a 34 inner ring
and your current 23 rear cog. Campagnolo also has a 13-29 which gets a
low of 36 gear inches. About the same as a 34 ring with a 26 rear cog.
Going to a compact crankset really only gets you one lower gear.
Unlike a triple which gets you really low gears. Cheapest to just
change your cassette, takes a $6 park tool and a $5 chain whip, and a
big adjustable wrench. 5 minute easy job. Your current short cage
rear derailleur will easily handle any cassette and compact crankset
you get.

Reading through the responses, I think it makes best sense for me to
change the cogset. I didn't think that an option, but that's why I ask
here.

Quoted message said:

From experience on my current ride, the regular front D (mine is

Chorus) will work fine with a 34/50 combo. It's at the limit though, so
I don't think it'll work with a larger difference than that.

I cashed in on a Nahbar sale and got their house brand compact cranks
and ISIS BB for 80$. The only problem I had was an annoying tick during
pedaling which went away after I retightened the crank bolts. The
chainrings also waver during pedaling (looking at the FD cage), and I
can only suspect that it's because the chainring/crank isn't perfectly
straight. I seriously doubt I flex the BB that much on the flats.

I also don't think you'll get much for the Record cranks if the
cosmetics are poor. I imagine other may have noticed, but ebay prices
on cranks are ridiculously low. I picked up as-new Centaurs (including
BB) for 50$. However, I didn't notice any real deals on compact cranks.
If you do sell your cranks, try it later when the season is in full
steam.

Russell, Paul,

The considerable advantages of compact cranks are that with two
chainrings, you're able to:
1-Get a large variety of gearings (large differential between lowest &
highest gear)
2-Have gears that are far more practical for average people (and still
allow me to keep up with the fast group rides - who really needs a 53?)
3-Have a cassette with minimal gaps - for optimum power production (I
didn't realize the benefits until I installed mine)

I've read the plugs and defenses for the triples, but with my 34
chainring and largest cog of 23, I can climb the steepest (and it's
steep!) of my favorite climb. Whenever I get to climb the Alpe D'Huez,
I'll bring a 12-27 cassette (or higher) and that'll allow me to grind
up any mountain, so there's more to considering compact cranks, than
just the lowest gear that you need. I think the value of the triples
lies really for those with low power to weight ratio (low power or high
weight - e.g. touring).

Josh

Paul Cassel said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

You didn't mention what cogset you have(53/11?- then a 11-23?) Current
FD will work fine with a compact. A Campagnolo Centaur compact with
Chorus quality rings, is $160, 111mm BB is about $30. You could get a
Carbon Record or Chorus compact, no need to change the BB from the
102mm, but they are pricey. Nice items but lots of $. FSA makes a
Gossamer, outboard bearing type for $175, with the BB. Carbon version
is $375. Cheezy bearings tho and soft-ish rings. With a compact and
11-23, you will have a higher gear than 53-12 and a lower gear than
39-25.

I have the 11 - 23 cogset. I misspoke above saying it was 24
(miscounted). Is it a user possible swap out to change cranks to the
Centaur / Chorus? What do the special tools cost? (I'm sure there are
those tools). I'm not close to you at all.

Need a new BB if you choose the Centaur-111mm spindle. The Chorus
compact uses the same BB you now have(102mm). Need a crank puller, and
then a 8mm allen and torque wrench to reinstall the Chorus
compact(really nice BTW-in spite of the $) Lower the FD with a 5mm
allen and adjust and go ride. If tyou swap the BB to a AC-H, need a
tool for the Record BB and then a tool for the AC-H. If you use the $60
Centaur, triple bearing , same tool as for Record/Chorus.

Quoted message said:

OTOH, I just shook hands on a deal which will leave me broke for a few
months, so at least until well into spring, I"ll be riding what I got. I
guess you carry the Centaur / Chorus combo?