rocdoc

Hi everyone,
I have a recently purchased entry level road bike, one of REI's own Novara Stradas. I really like it, and I think it was a good deal for the money. Most of the drivetrain is Shimano 105, but the crank is an FSA Omega. It comes with a Mega Exo bottom bracket. I see that the Gossamer cranks are pretty cheap, and if it's better than the Omega I am tempted to buy one. My bike is due for the complementary service they offer, and I figured I'd ask them to swap them. Or is it a waste of money, even at 60 bucks? The reason would be just to make small optimizations on the bike, it works fine as is, I'm just thinking of long term incremental improvements. Thanks!

rmfnla

Unless there is something about the existing cranks you don't like I'd leave it as it is.

Upgrading entry-level bikes is not really worth it, and what you describe is not a significant improvement...

AnkleWork

Better in what way? It must not have much bling value if you have to ask.

HillRider

That won't be an incremental improvement, it won't be an improvement at all. If your current crank has the gearing you like and shifts adequately, no changes are justified even at "only" $60.

dr_lha

Regular Gossamer (I.e. Not "Gossamer Pro") is one step up from Omega. You likely won't notice much difference. Why not get a 105 crank? More money I know!

GravelMN

My entry level road bike came with 105 except for the brakes and an FSA Gossamer crankset. The FSA crankset looks decent and performs well. When the chainrings are worn out, I might upgrade to 105 but until then I have no reason to put more money into it.

BikingGrad80

105 is good stuff not entry level. Sora/2200 is entry level. My steel bike has an FSA Energy and my carbon FSA SLK light which has 9500 miles on it and I have not had reason to touch it since I bought the bike. Some people have had issues with their bottom brackets (mashing, hill riding monsters) and their older design pinch bolts (I torqued them down and haven't had an issue though I had to replace the bolts when I took it off for powder coating).

If you really want a worthwhile upgrade I'd recommend re-cabling the bike with a top of the line housing and cable set. That will give you a noticible performance boost particularly with the shifters and rear brakes. Best $30 upgrade ever when I recabled my carbon bike with Jagwire racing and the blue housing is really bling.

dr_lha

I too was wondering about this "entry level" bike that came with 105.

HillRider

+1 However, many bike manufacturers will advertise a model as "105" but substitute an FSA crank for it's lower cost. There were some shifting problems with FSA's earlier cranks that made replacing them worthwhile but that seems to have been straightened out and current ones seem to perform quite well.

dr_lha

I own one of those bikes! Although I know it's not entry level, because they also made a version of it with Sora stuff and a crappier FSA crank.

BikingGrad80

Yes a lot of bike manufacturers will spec with Shimano brifters and derailleurs and put an FSA crank and Cane Creek/Tektro brake calipers, and sometimes a Sram or cheaper casette. They still work well the calipers especially with better aftermarket pads like Koolstops.

fietsbob

Omega Ωμέγα is the last letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet , Omega - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


BTW the parts on the bike were chosen by a product manager at the Importing Company , the factory just followed the parts pick list given them .

One factory now makes a bunch of different brands of bike, (ie A paint job on the frame tubes), for various Importers , around the world

Ronno6

As previously stated, Gossamer is one level above Omega. I have several Gossamer cranksets on various bikes, and am happy with all.
But, also as stated, I see no valid reason to switch.If the Omega set is working for you, then wait til you need new chainrings to upgrade.

rocdoc

Thanks everyone. Lots of useful information. The sound decision is probably to hold off. I may go for the 105 crank instead when it comes time to upgrade, Nashbar sells them for 125, which seems like a good deal. I'm intrigued about the cable upgrade suggestion - I'll look into that as well. Yes, I don't really NEED any of these upgrades, it's just fun to tinker and see what the incremental differences are. I am realistic that these are toys, but you know what? They're cheaper than a therapist

milkbaby

It's a waste of money at this time unless you need to change the front gearing. Actual upgrades that will significantly enhance your riding experience right off the bat would be contact points (handlebar, saddle, and pedals) and then tires and tubes.

BikingGrad80

Yep a lot of cyclists blame the drive-train or brakes when the real problem is that their cable housing is either crap or poorly installed (sized). There are probably tons of bad reviews on various Shimano, Sram, Campy, etc stuff claiming it shifts like excrement. When I got my newest bike with the 6700 group I had tons of trouble with shifting the first week until I discarded the stock housing and plastic ferrules and bought higher quality housing with metal ferrules and with my latest upgrade to Jagwire racing teflon I never miss a shift and it is smooth as butter. Just changing the housing is like going from 2200 to Dura-Ace. Back when I was in college and looking at my colleagues department store bikes that was also the main problem there. They had completely crappy housing, that was installed poorly causing huge amount of friction on the cables and poor shifting and braking.

The two biggest problems I see on stock bikes is the housing from the chain-stay to the RD is too short, and the housing from the top tube to the rear brakes are too long.

rocdoc

Since it was mentioned: yes, I fully agree that other upgrades take priority. Saddle was the first one, of course, and I think that's natural, everyone needs a saddle that fits them. I also replaced the seat post with a carbon one, reduced weight a lot and I think it improved vibration damping, but it may be placebo. I also changed the stem (lighter and stiffer, and that feels very good) and the tires, but those primarily so that I could go to Gatorskins so I worry less about flats. I think the crank on this bike is a weak point, but I also get that it's neither an emergency nor likely to make a tremendous difference. I hadn't thought about cables but now I certainly am... I think wheels would be a good upgrade to think of in the future, but that would be a major expense to go up from the ones it came with, and I'm not about to spend more than the cost of the bike on just wheels. I got a nice deal between the 20% coupon REI was offering and the dividend points - getting a decent bike with mostly 105 group and TRP Spyre disc breaks for little more than $800 gets a fella really spoiled.....

dr_lha

Don't let people talk you out of getting a crank upgrade. I just think you might want to aim a little higher than just 1 step above what you currently have.

Dr_UNIX

I know its an old thread, but one that comes up high on Google results. So I wanted to add that folks considering such an upgrade need to factor in the cost of a new bottom bracket. The Gossamer takes a 24mm Mega-Exo BB (same size as Shimano). BUT the Omega uses a 19mm Mega-Exo BB. So this needs to factored into any crankset upgrade/exchange.