Drive Train Replacement

Randall Schulz said:

Hi,

I'm replacing the drivetrain on my Klein road bike and have more or less
settled on the FSA SL-K compact front assembly. The bike's components are
currently all Campy Centaur.

Can (hah!) anybody tell me about the choice of the FSA crank, rings and
BB? Anything to beware? Any possibly better alternatives?

I'll just stand back and watch you guys beat each other up over your
respective opinions (of the equipment and each other, of course).

Someone I know got an SL-K and it seemed like it was just fine. Somehow
the tightening bolt got a bit loose or something and the left arm
developed a bit of a wobble. Something about the design and tolerances
resulted in the arm being ruined by a few km of riding with the bolt a
little loose. By the time he was able to feel the slight wobble (1-2mm)
it was too late.

Sure it should have been tightened properly, etc, etc, but a lot of
other designs have more tolerance for problems of that sort.

The guy gave me the cashed crankset and I tried to bodge it by putting
in a soda-can shim. Probably wouldn't have worked anyway, but I never
tested it because the shoulder of the M20 special bolt sheared off when
I was tightening it. I was "overtightening" it to be sure, but only
with a 4" long hex-key and hand pressure. If I can kill the bolt with a
short hex-key, it's underspec'ed if you ask me.

Why not keep it Campy and go for a Centaur compact carbon if that's the
sort of thing you want? If you want outboard bearings, wait a few
monsths for the 2007 Campy stuff.

Joseph

Randall Schulz said:

Hi,

I'm replacing the drivetrain on my Klein road bike and have more or less
settled on the FSA SL-K compact front assembly. The bike's components are
currently all Campy Centaur.

Can (hah!) anybody tell me about the choice of the FSA crank, rings and
BB? Anything to beware? Any possibly better alternatives?

I'll just stand back and watch you guys beat each other up over your
respective opinions (of the equipment and each other, of course).

RandyS

As Joseph said, just put on a Campagnolo Centaur compact crankset.
Aluminum Centaur compact is about $100 overseas. $140 in the US.
48-34, 50-34, and 50-36 options available from the factory. It takes
standard 110mm bcd rings so you can find replacement rings everywhere.
No need to change anything else on the bike. Centaur compact uses the
same 111mm bottom bracket as you are running now. Front derailleur
will work just fine too. I use a Veloce double front derailleur to
shift a 48-30 compact setup. No need for these special compact front
derailleurs.

[email hidden] a écrit :

Quoted message said:

Randall Schulz said:

Hi,

I'm replacing the drivetrain on my Klein road bike and have more or less
settled on the FSA SL-K compact front assembly. The bike's components are
currently all Campy Centaur.

Can (hah!) anybody tell me about the choice of the FSA crank, rings and
BB? Anything to beware? Any possibly better alternatives?

I'll just stand back and watch you guys beat each other up over your
respective opinions (of the equipment and each other, of course).

Someone I know got an SL-K and it seemed like it was just fine. Somehow
the tightening bolt got a bit loose or something and the left arm
developed a bit of a wobble. Something about the design and tolerances
resulted in the arm being ruined by a few km of riding with the bolt a
little loose. By the time he was able to feel the slight wobble (1-2mm)
it was too late.

Sure it should have been tightened properly, etc, etc, but a lot of
other designs have more tolerance for problems of that sort.

The guy gave me the cashed crankset and I tried to bodge it by putting
in a soda-can shim. Probably wouldn't have worked anyway, but I never
tested it because the shoulder of the M20 special bolt sheared off when
I was tightening it. I was "overtightening" it to be sure, but only
with a 4" long hex-key and hand pressure. If I can kill the bolt with a
short hex-key, it's underspec'ed if you ask me.

In my area, anytime there is an alloy crank bolt, the practice is to
tighten it with a steel one, remove, install the alloy one after. I
don't know how you get these products, but I got steel bolts with the
BB, and alloy ones with the crank.

--

Bonne route !

Sandy
Verneuil-sur-Seine FR

Another vote for Campy. I have a full Chorus drivetrain on my primary
road bike which still shifts flawlessly adfter 30,000 miles of riding
and racing. New TT bike has FSA Mega-Exo SLK chainrings/Dura Ace. Front
shifting balky and chain occasionally hangs between the rings during
downshifts despite everything being properly tuned.

Lou D'Amelio

Yo!

At Sunday 16 July 2006 07:45 in rec.bicycles.tech Randall Schulz said:

Hi,

I'm replacing the drivetrain on my Klein road bike and have more or less
settled on the FSA SL-K compact front assembly. The bike's components
are currently all Campy Centaur.

Can (hah!) anybody tell me about the choice of the FSA crank, rings and
BB? Anything to beware? Any possibly better alternatives?

I'll just stand back and watch you guys beat each other up over your
respective opinions (of the equipment and each other, of course).

Did I offend you guys with that last remark? Or have you no opinions?

I really thought I'd hear a lot more about drivetrain components...

RandyS

Randall Schulz said:

Yo!

At Sunday 16 July 2006 07:45 in rec.bicycles.tech Randall Schulz said:

Hi,

I'm replacing the drivetrain on my Klein road bike and have more or less
settled on the FSA SL-K compact front assembly. The bike's components
are currently all Campy Centaur.

Can (hah!) anybody tell me about the choice of the FSA crank, rings and
BB? Anything to beware? Any possibly better alternatives?

I'll just stand back and watch you guys beat each other up over your
respective opinions (of the equipment and each other, of course).

Did I offend you guys with that last remark? Or have you no opinions?

You've got parts (crank and BB and rings) that you propose to replace with other
parts. Nobody here really cares about another man's parts.

And yes, the form of the question was insulting, you knew that.

Quoted message said:

I really thought I'd hear a lot more about drivetrain components...

Plenty has already been said.

Ron

Ron,

At Monday 17 July 2006 07:34 in rec.bicycles.tech RonSonic said:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 06:48:11 -0700, Randall Schulz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yo!

...

Did I offend you guys with that last remark? Or have you no opinions?

You've got parts (crank and BB and rings) that you propose to replace
with other parts. Nobody here really cares about another man's parts.

And I wasn't asking anyone to care about it, but this is Usenet; it's all
about opinions and they generally flow quite freely.

Quoted message said:

And yes, the form of the question was insulting, you knew that.

Quoted message said:

I really thought I'd hear a lot more about drivetrain components...

Give me a break. About a week or so ago I asked about a problem in my
shifter and the ensuing exchange devolved into a bunch of BS about Campy
vs. Shimano. My remark was hardly far off the mark.

Quoted message said:

Plenty has already been said.

Such as? Nothing was said. I asked for opinions on some components. I got
a couple of brief remarks about components I did not ask about.

Furthermore, I searched the Internet, including Usenet, and there was very
little out there, so I asked here. Is that unreasonable? Perhaps you can
point me to the "plenty" that has already been said.

Quoted message said:

Ron

Randy

Randall Schulz said:

Ron,

At Monday 17 July 2006 07:34 in rec.bicycles.tech RonSonic said:

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 06:48:11 -0700, Randall Schulz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yo!

...

Did I offend you guys with that last remark? Or have you no opinions?

You've got parts (crank and BB and rings) that you propose to replace
with other parts. Nobody here really cares about another man's parts.

And I wasn't asking anyone to care about it, but this is Usenet; it's all
about opinions and they generally flow quite freely.

Quoted message said:

And yes, the form of the question was insulting, you knew that.

Quoted message said:

I really thought I'd hear a lot more about drivetrain components...

Give me a break. About a week or so ago I asked about a problem in my
shifter and the ensuing exchange devolved into a bunch of BS about Campy
vs. Shimano. My remark was hardly far off the mark.

Quoted message said:

Plenty has already been said.

Such as? Nothing was said. I asked for opinions on some components. I got
a couple of brief remarks about components I did not ask about.

Furthermore, I searched the Internet, including Usenet, and there was very
little out there, so I asked here. Is that unreasonable? Perhaps you can
point me to the "plenty" that has already been said.

Quoted message said:

Ron

Randy

Uhh... I think he was joking.

Joseph