vinuneuro

My 2016 Diverge Expert is sitting at the LBS waiting to be picked up tomorrow. I'm having second thoughts about the stock FSA SL-K Light crank. The rest of the drivetrain is Ultegra. Having read about mediocre shift performance with FSA cranks in the past, I'm wondering if I might be better off just swapping out the FSA from the outset for the Ultegra. It would match the rest of the drivetrain and I've heard nothing but positive things about it's smoothness and shift quality. The FSA has strong stiffness and low weight (hollow carbon) going for it but I don't think I ride hard enough to appreciate that. The Ultegra is surprisingly cheaper than I expected to boot and I could sell the FSA as new/unridden. What would you do?

rpenmanparker 

Make yourself happy, but there is no discernable difference in shifting between the SL-K and Ultegra.

dvdslw

I have the SL-K Light on my Caad10 with Ultegra Di2 and it has been flawless. Shifts are spot on and after two solid years of my 225lb butt grinding some hills I've yet to be disappointed with the FSA Crank. I am however considering a chainring swap to go from a 53t to a 50t big ring and there's plenty of options out there from Praxis, Stronglight, Rotor, etc... so I'll take the weight savings over name status any day.

DOS

I chose SRAM Red 22 fro my CAAD10 with Ultegra everything else. I wanted 30mm spindle and, like you, had read bad things about FSA. Shimano's steadfast refusal to offer 30mm option is irritating. I thought the cost and weight ratio of tne red was a bargain at the $340 I spent, but Force would be a lower cost, albeit heavier, alternative. I have been very happy with Red.

vinuneuro

Thanks for the feedback. I've learned over the years (the hard way) to avoid over complicating things. I'll stick with the SL-K.

That SRAM Red 22 crank sure looks sharp.

deepakvrao

Where did you get the Red22 for 340, if I may ask?

Lazyass

I don't know where this is suddenly coming from. In my entire time on this site I've read one guy complain about FSA cranks. And he probably didn't have his fd set up properly.

Seattle Forrest

I've had three bikes with FSA cranks. All of them were underwhelming. First one was a long time ago, second one was too, on an otherwise Tiagra/105 bike. After that it was a 6700 Ultegra bike for five or six years. New machine is SRAM Force 22, but a Gossamer crank. None of the bikes with FSA cranks shifted well in the front. Maybe all three of them have had poorly set up FDs for the entire time I've owned them, that would be a hell of a coincidence. Great front shifting with the 6700 group, great rear shifting on the bikes with FSA cranks. But they're sold on price, that's why a lot of bikes come stock with them.

anotherbrian

I didn't see it mentioned, but I suspect you'd need to switch bottom brackets, or add adapters to the existing one, to use the Shimano cranks. That's a complication I chose to avoid with my Tarmac so stuck with the stock Specialized crankset.

RR123

2 of my bikes have FSA cranksets, 1 is 6700 with an Energy and one is 5700 with a Gossamer. Both shift just fine with a properly setup FD. No real difference from my other bike with DI2 with an Ultegra crankset. FSA does offer a couple different levels of chainrings which may account for the difference some people are experiencing. If I remember I am using the "super road" or something like that (the more expensive ones).

DOS

Backcountry.com, but I saw them on a number of sites, including Amazon, for same price. I had to look around to get size I wanted (175, 36/52 mid compact). Merlin.com had em for under 300 but only in standard 39/53 and compact 34/50. Thats a steal if you want compact or standard.

milkbaby

FSA improved the stiffness of their chainrings a few years ago, and supposedly this remedied the issues with front shifting. Most of the reports of lower performance probably dated from the quality of their chainrings before they updated them.

DOS

Never used FSAs myslf, but saw negative reviews in quite a few places.

Lazyass

Not me, nor has that been my review of multiple FSA cranks I've had. People need to learn how to tune a front derailleur.

rpenmanparker 

My experience with the top two FSA cranks has been excellent.

DOS

SI should say the negative reviews were more on the middle tier cranks, and milkbaby has me thinking that perhaps I was reading reviews dated before rings were upgraded. Also, as I recall, it was less about reviews of specific cranks that scared me off and more coming across comments on forums like this and on roadbikereview generally warning against FSA cranks, with no specifics. Certainly new k force light gets high marks in the mags like velonews Reviewed: FSA K-Force Light crankset - VeloNews.com

but they were out of my price range anyway.

loimpact

I have 2 Cannondale Supersix EVO's......one with FSA SL-K Light and the other with Ultegra 6800. Here are my observations.........

The crank arms of both are quite solid. I'd have given the nod to the SL-K Light arms as hollow carbon, but no doubt the Ultegra 6800's are just as stiff.

The chainrings of both are fine. (I know there was talk of issues with "Gossamer" FSA cranks in the past and I never had them so I'm not familiar with their issues)

Bottom bracket......bottom bracket......bottom bracket!!!!!! If your bottom bracket is not solid, your cranks won't feel solid!!!

I have Wheels Mfg press fit BB for my FSA SL-K Lights which leaves a little to be desired.

I have Praxis Works BB30-BSA adapter for my Ultegra 6800 and while not perfect, leaves things feeling much more solid.

This thread really caught my attention and now, having owned both.......I could easily recommend either. (And, FWIW, I think they both look great in their own way)

vinuneuro

Thanks. This is all very helpful feedback, and I hope others find it of use as well. Digging online it seems that the SL-K Light crankset was reengineered for 2015 and is now extremely similar to the K-Light along with new tooth profiles. I don't know if the two were mislabeled in the Fairwheel Crank Test, but they measure the SL-K to be both marginally lighter and having a better stiffness-weight ratio. Either way it's pretty close. Interestingly, even though FSA released the 2015 SL-K in late 2014, Specialized was using the old design SL-K all through the 2015 models and even some of the early production 2016 bikes had the previous five bolt design.

Road Bike Crank Test - Fairwheel Bikes Blog

FIVE ONE SIX

i've heard bad things about the Gossamer's years ago, but never heard anything bad about the SL-K's...

Campag4life

drapes (BB type) matching the curtains (crank spindle dia) much more important than SLK versus Ultegra 6800 but I have written on here before that I believe Shimano crank from 105 thru DA + threaded BB to be the best combo in the industry...honorable mention to Campy UT with threaded BB...I own both set ups.

What kind of BB do you have on your Diverge?...what model Diverge?...carbon or Al?

link0

I highly prefer the look of the 6800 crankset. I think all FSA cranks are ugly.

Campag4life

Basically a jump ball between two ugly cranks. Almost worth the extra money to go DA crank which isn't quite so ugly but still not the belle of the ball.

Lazyass

I will give you that.

deepakvrao

Wow, I owe you. Just ordered the 167.5 Red 22 compact that I was not getting anywhere. Incredible price too. 286 dollars.

Sy Reene

Could he run an Athena crankset.. would it work with all else being Ultegra?