ridethecliche

I've been looking at campy veloce and centaur compact UT cranks and it seems that they're the same with the centaurs having a better finish and different chainrings.

The veloce has exo drive and centaur has ultra drive chainrings and I was wondering what the difference in the two is. I'm guessing the centaur has a better finish, but how much more durable are the chainrings.

How much life can I expect from chainrings in general. Thanks!

Barabaika

Veloce is more durable because it's made of steel, Centaur - aluminum.

Peedtm

Know nothing about your Campy parts. Your chainring life depends on how well you maintain your drivetrain and how dusty your neck of the woods is and if you replace your chain on time. If you buy a new chain and it doesn't fit your chainring, it's worn. Your LBS has a tool (and you can too) that measures how worn your chain is. If you replace it when needed, you can get a lot more life out of the rings.

This has to do with the fact that your chain will need to be replaced first. By the time it falls apart though, it has "stretched" and the gears have been widened to match, no longer matching a new chain. So replace it more often and your cogs/rings will always be worn to a new chain's pitch.

ridethecliche

I'm actually going to use an old chain and cassette with the crankset. I've done a pretty good job of keeping the chain and cassette clean (lube and wiped every 2-300 miles and cleaned well after a dirty ride). The chain and cassette only have about 1200 miles on them, so they should be good for a little bit even with a little stretch.

I'll keep that in mind and make sure to try replacing stuff every 2-3k miles depending on wear!

rmwkokomo

Both groups use aluminum chainrings but the machining and finish is better on the Centaur. UltraDrive refers to modifications to the tooth profile which provides smoother and quieter (than ExaDrive) shifting. The Centaur also uses the EPS antifriction treatment which both helps smoother, quieter shifting and reduces wear.