FSA Crankset, which one ?

Capt.Q said:

I'm in the process of purchasing a FSA crankset,but I require a some additional input from another source. Here's my dilemma. I am unable to decide whether to purchase one of FSA's intergrated cranksets with the outwardly placed bearings, or one of their 3 piece cranksets that has a completely seperate bottom bracket.Im the past I personally prefered to select my own choice of bb's, but I'm entirely open to change if the facts support it. I must candidly admit that the unit with the wider witdth spacing that protrudes beyond the bb shell looks real funky to me. I'm a real hard core roadie who's quite hard on my equipment. I have sheared more bb's than can even count!
Any experienced riders out there, who are willing to to help?

External bearings rock! They are much stiffer and lighter.
The crankset...FSA compact carbon. Get the newer K-force. I replaced the Duraace with it. People get rid of records to use these! 🙂

netscriber said:

External bearings rock! They are much stiffer and lighter.
The crankset...FSA compact carbon. Get the newer K-force. I replaced the Duraace with it. People get rid of records to use these! 🙂

Are you rejecting FSA's SLK MegaExo because of the additional weight? TheChain rings on the SLK look much cleaner.

Capt.Q said:

Are you rejecting FSA's SLK MegaExo because of the additional weight? TheChain rings on the SLK look much cleaner.

One thing that's nice about the Gossamer MegaExo cranks is that the BB is the same for all three versions (MegaExo, Compact MegaExo, and MegaExo Triple). FWIW.

Capt.Q said:

Are you rejecting FSA's SLK MegaExo because of the additional weight? TheChain rings on the SLK look much cleaner.

Nope. I meant I have the megaexpo. I know people that have replaced their originals with Kforce.
I personally like the megaexpo. It looks much more carbonish dark and cleaner too.

I can't really compare all the models, but I do have a couple of comments.

1) The FSA K-Force with the external bearings is the only crankset I have ever used where I get no chain rub during a hard standing effort. Of course it helps that it's on the stiffest frame I've ever had (Specialized Tarmac Carbon).

2) If you are a weight weenie be warned that FSA equipment comes with 3 different weights - what online retailers quote, what the FSA site quotes, and the truth. In my case the numbers were 660, 785, and 823 grams. These are huge percentage differences, but of course for most of us the actual performance difference isn't significant.

My personal view is that you should get the external bearings, but among the models with that feature you can choose by price, looks, or whatever suits you.

netscriber said:

External bearings rock! They are much stiffer and lighter.
The crankset...FSA compact carbon. Get the newer K-force. I replaced the Duraace with it. People get rid of records to use these! 🙂

1. It's doubtful anyone notices the difference in BB stiffness or can seperate any flexion there from flexion at the BB by the frame and so on.

2. FSA stuff is pigishly heavy.

3. External bearings are NOT lighter. I can find many square taper BB's and ISIS BB's that are much lighter.

4. People that get rid of Record cranks have problems w/ their decision making.

If you want nice, get a Pulsion crankset (compact or standard) w/ any number of ISIS BB's. The Pulsion performs at least as well as the FSA stuff. Or get a Campy crankset. Muy nice. Muy durable w/ square taper BB. Or get the new Shimano cranks or their new compact. Any of these choices will perform as well as the FSA and will be lighter to boot.

Capt.Q said:

I'm in the process of purchasing a FSA crankset,but I require a some additional input from another source. Here's my dilemma. I am unable to decide whether to purchase one of FSA's intergrated cranksets with the outwardly placed bearings, or one of their 3 piece cranksets that has a completely seperate bottom bracket.Im the past I personally prefered to select my own choice of bb's, but I'm entirely open to change if the facts support it. I must candidly admit that the unit with the wider witdth spacing that protrudes beyond the bb shell looks real funky to me. I'm a real hard core roadie who's quite hard on my equipment. I have sheared more bb's than can even count!
Any experienced riders out there, who are willing to to help?

Why are you only looking at FSA? Ride Cycling Review (an Australian roadie magazine: ridemedia.com.auridemedia.com.auOpen ↗ ) recently tested 12 or so cranksets for stiffness using a jig. Also rated the cranksets according to price and weight. From memory 10sp Ultergra came in first (stiffest and cheapest), Dura-ace 10sp was 2nd, Campag Chorus Carbon was third. The thing that shocked me was all the FSA stuff, and the really expensive Time carbon works of art, were compartively flexible.

It might be worth your while to read the RIDE article before you buy. BTW I have no interest in RIDE other than as a reader.

Is the crankset article available online, and if so can you please post a link to the article rather than the front page of the site?

I am finding the Ride site quite impenetrable. While my crankset opinions are admittedly subjective, I know a bit more about web site design. This is one of the worst sites to navigate I have seen recently.

If the content isn't online, I'll try to buy the issue or a reprint. I don't see a way to buy one on the site, but perhaps I can email their US distributor and see if they have a vendor nearby.

Balderick said:

Why are you only looking at FSA? Ride Cycling Review (an Australian roadie magazine: ridemedia.com.auridemedia.com.auOpen ↗ ) recently tested 12 or so cranksets for stiffness using a jig. Also rated the cranksets according to price and weight. From memory 10sp Ultergra came in first (stiffest and cheapest), Dura-ace 10sp was 2nd, Campag Chorus Carbon was third. The thing that shocked me was all the FSA stuff, and the really expensive Time carbon works of art, were compartively flexible.

It might be worth your while to read the RIDE article before you buy. BTW I have no interest in RIDE other than as a reader.