I understand what Merlin means. In fact, its common knowledge in the bike business that Shimano makes better cranks than FSA. Again, I like FSA as a company...but their crank tech has lagged. But this is comparing them to Shimano who makes some of the best cranks on the planet. And for the record I ride Campy. Shimano cranks have arguably the best shifting performance. If you have ridden DA or late model Ultegra you will know why. They are uber stiff. It isn't just about the metallurgy of the chain rings Robert. Its the synergy of the whole design including hollow ring technology which adds tremendous cantilever strength to the rings under load. You can feel this stiffness when you shift under load in particular. So when considering crank design, although convenient to consider any given aspect of the crank...like chainring thickness. tooth involute or pin placement or material the chainrings are made from...what the heat treat is etc...it isn't about any given specification of the crank...its about how all the specifications combined produce performance. Also, Shimano has the best assembly in the industry IMO. Their preload and left crank arm attachment is best in class. Campy's UT crank is also a class act by comparison but likely not even as good as DA with its unbelievably stiff design. In addition, some even great companies can produce poor designs. Campy's PT crank which looks outwardly a lot like Campy's flagship UT crank is perhaps one of the poorest crank designs in the industry. I would own Ultegra hands down before I would own a Campy PT crank because of its tapered spline design. To me Campy wins the beauty contest however. I also don't just believe Campy cranks to be handsome. I believe there to be a good list of other good looking cranks as well...including Sram Red, Rotor, Cannondale...even Specialized cranks which I am not a big fan of are better looking than Shimano...but again, I am not a hater of DA...I would ride it proudly...I much prefer it to Ultegra for example. Its just seems that the new FSA crank has the same fugliness of Ultegra. FSA as a company has a strong aesthetic sense and hence the disappointment. I was hoping for better. All said, I have no doubt the new FSA crank will be vastly improved in performance. I just happen to believe its fugly just like the Ultegra crank it appears to be cloned from. Perhaps it will look better in person and the picture shown is an early prototype. Will see.