Is the 7950 crank much better than Ultegra SL?

[jojoma]

I've been riding an Ultegra SL group for about 1.5 years. I have, however, upgraded the cassette, chain, and bottom bracket to 7900 over the past six months.

I'm thinking of upgrading the crank to the compact 7950. You think I will notice any difference?

Thanks

 

[alienator]

Difference how? If you're going from a standard to a compact crank, yeah, you'll notice a difference if you don't end up with a cassette that gives you the same gear range that you had before the change. You'll also notice that the 7950 chainrings are insanely expensive.

Will you notice a performance difference in cranksets? No. Shimano wants you to think you'll feel a difference.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Difference how? If you're going from a standard to a compact crank, yeah, you'll notice a difference if you don't end up with a cassette that gives you the same gear range that you had before the change. You'll also notice that the 7950 chainrings are insanely expensive.

Will you notice a performance difference in cranksets? No. Shimano wants you to think you'll feel a difference.

What he said. $450 for a big ring...

 

[dhk2]

I've been riding an Ultegra SL group for about 1.5 years. I have, however, upgraded the cassette, chain, and bottom bracket to 7900 over the past six months.

I'm thinking of upgrading the crank to the compact 7950. You think I will notice any difference?

Thanks

Who are you going to believe....a couple of guys on a Forum or Shimano? Let the suckers lose power, you need to put every watt to the road, and only the new 7950 crankset will let you do that. In fact, I'll bet if you try, you'll be able to feel the flex in your Ultegra cranks, as well as the sluggishness due to the extreme rotational weight of those solid chainrings.

Seriously, what really turns me off about the new DA stuff is the price of replacement parts. Chainrings don't last forever, and paying over $500 for a replacement set seems ridiculous. My FSA triple set was $100 last year....and I thought that was too high

 

[jojoma]

Thanks for the feedback. One of the other reasons I was looking to upgrade was because I think I need a new 50t ring. And when I saw that a 50t Ultegra SL ring was around $100, I said screw it, I'll just upgrade the entire crank. But now I'll probably stick with SL.

But the 20% increased torsional stiffness of 7950 is compelling.

 

[531Aussie]

I hope this is slightly revelant. A bike shop guy once told me this about 7800: "Ultegra 10sp cranks are stiffer and stronger than Dura-Ace, and eveyone in the biz knows it."

Interesting. I have both, but can't tell the difference (uncanny), although I noticed the axle is thicker on the Ultegras -- the DA cap doesnt't screw in to the Ultegra axle.

 

[alienator]

I hope this is slightly revelant. A bike shop once told me this about 7800: "Ultegra 10sp cranks are stiffer and stronger than Dura-Ace, and eveyone in the biz knows it."

Interesting. I have both, but can't tell the difference (uncanny), although I noticed the axle is thicker ont he Ultegras -- the DA cap doesnt't screw in to the Ultegra axle.

Funny but true. I wonder why stiffness weenies weren't jumpin' outta their pants to buy Ultegra cranksets. I wonder why race teams weren't knee deep in Ultegra cranksets since they obviously had a performance edge over Dura Ace? I wonder if it's because crank stiffness is just another bone tossed out by the marketing guys that all the slobbering spec weenies gotta get their teeth on.

All I can say is it's a good thing we're not riding square taper BB's anymore. Heck, there's no way in all the Universe that someone could win a race, today, with a square taper and with the loss of all those watts such a flexy BB must be hemorrhaging.

For the sarcasm impaired, uhm, I was being sarcastic.

 

[pat5319]

You'd only notice a difference if you are insanely strong, can sprint at 40 mph plus or climb most "cols" in your big chain ring

QUOTE=alienator;3917219]Funny but true. I wonder why stiffness weenies weren't jumpin' outta their pants to buy Ultegra cranksets. I wonder why race teams weren't knee deep in Ultegra cranksets since they obviously had a performance edge over Dura Ace? I wonder if it's because crank stiffness is just another bone tossed out by the marketing guys that all the slobbering spec weenies gotta get their teeth on.

All I can say is it's a good thing we're not riding square taper BB's anymore. Heck, there's no way in all the Universe that someone could win a race, today, with a square taper and with the loss of all those watts such a flexy BB must be hemorrhaging.

For the sarcasm impaired, uhm, I was being sarcastic.[/QUOTE]

 

[alienator]

You'd only notice a difference if you are insanely strong, can sprint at 40 mph plus or climb most "cols" in your big chain ring

Funny but true. I wonder why stiffness weenies weren't jumpin' outta their pants to buy Ultegra cranksets. I wonder why race teams weren't knee deep in Ultegra cranksets since they obviously had a performance edge over Dura Ace? I wonder if it's because crank stiffness is just another bone tossed out by the marketing guys that all the slobbering spec weenies gotta get their teeth on.

All I can say is it's a good thing we're not riding square taper BB's anymore. Heck, there's no way in all the Universe that someone could win a race, today, with a square taper and with the loss of all those watts such a flexy BB must be hemorrhaging.

For the sarcasm impaired, uhm, I was being sarcastic.

Tom Boonen seemed to win a lot of races on a Campy square taper, while everyone else was using "stiffer" cranksets.