Road Cycling - FSA Compact& Campy

I was told by an Full Speed Ahead customer service rep that their compact carbon crankset (34/50) will work with a Campagnolo short cage rear derailleur. I'm a little concerned since Campagnolo says that their short (and medium) cage only works with chainrings that have a maximum differential of 14. The differential on the FSA is 16. Anyone have any experience in this regard? Thanks.

i have a fsa crankset on my cyclo-cross bike, and it shifts perfectly with campy centaur. of course, i have 9-speed on the bike, and the differential is 10t... so...

you might want to send a tech question to tim laflin at campyonly.com.

The compact works great with the Campy medium cage. Not sure about the short cage. The FSA guys seem to know what they are talking about.

I spoke with Eric at FSA about this issue before ordering the Compact Pro. According to Campy's recommendations (see www.brandfordbike.com) you should use both a medium cage RD and triple FD. FSA tells me that neither case is true with the Compact Pro. They recommended the short cage RD and double FD. Even with a cog as big as Campy's 29. Guess I'll find out once my new crankset arrives.

I am considering buying the Giant TCR composite 1 with the FSA cranks however it is equipped with Ultegra. I would want Campag Chorus on the bike if I was to go for it, would this mean I would have to forget about the FSA cranks?

Not at all. The FSA crankset is as compatible with Campy as it is with Shimano. Either works equally well. The only advantage that may exist is that you can get the crankset in Shimano splines for the BB rather than ISIS. That would save the cost of the ISIS BB is you all ready have the Shimano BB. Not a big cost, either way.

If Racing Snake gets Chorus, he needs the 10 speed version of the compact cranks. I think those are Isis only. I'd get 10 speed cranks in any case. They work with a 9 speed drivetrain, and you'll probably switch to 10 speed some time in the future.