martin_j001

Well, I had my FSA Gossamer Compact Mega Exo cranks and bb installed at my LBS yesterday. They were expecting an IRD compact front derailleur as well, but that never showed (bad t-storm knocked out lights and all while I was there). Anyways, when I walked into the shop, they had the bb in and were about to put the cranks in. First thing I noticed was that the cranks were polished, not black, with black chainrings. I asked them to hold up a minute so I could see if I wanted to go that route, as I was expecting all black. Well, I decided I'd go for it anyways, and in the end I'm glad I did--I think it actually looks better than if it were all black. Well, everything went together smoothly (except for the f.d. that is), so I took the bike and figured I'd come back for the f.d. whenever it showed up, but I definitely wanted to get a ride in this morning. So, I took the bike out on my regular Saturday route for a good 35 mile ride to test out the cranks. I noticed that I don't feel any real difference between my old DA cranks (7700) and these--maybe I am not capable of feeling any flex in this area, but I really didn't notice anything all that much, so the stiffness "feels" about the same to me. As far as the gearing goes, I'm using a 50x34 in the front and 12/25 in the rear. I found that I did end up changing gears in the front more often, but other than that I really didn't notice much of a difference there either. I do know that my use of the cassette was more spread out than usual, though--I feel like there wasn't a gear on the bike that I didn't use at some time during my ride today. I also found that my old DA front derailleur works absolutely fine with the compact crankset--I didn't even move it lower or anything, and it works beautifully. I did readjust the inner limit screw to line up with the inner ring better, but other than that I didn't make any changes. Luckily my LBS is cool enough not to charge me for the derailleur even though they ordered it for me, as I won't really need it now. In short, I'm very happy with my new cranks. (Pics coming soon, getting the camera out now).

citizen560

Look forward to pics - especially if it's that sexy Gunnar Roadie.

martin_j001

Here are the pics, sorry it took so long....

citizen560

Looks good. I love those Gunnars...if my Reynolds 531 Trek wrecks (God forbid) or I become inexplicably wealthy in the near future, I'm going to build one up.

martin_j001

Thanks, I love it too. I actually got the frame NOS from a shop, and only paid about 2/3 the retail on it with fork and headset--a great deal!!

hmai18

With your bike, I think the crank would have looked better in all black. I never really acquired a taste for silver crankarms with black rings. All silver I can handle, and silver rings with black/carbon arms I can do, but black rings and silver arms just don't turn my crank (bad pun intended)

Gustav

Glad it's working out well for you, Jeff. I've had mine for a month now (on a red Gunnar too, incidentally!) and my experience is much the same. I find that I can't cross chain without noise as much as I used to be able to with the standard cranks, but that's not a problem. I shouldn't have been in those gears anyway. I didn't get a compact-specific derailleur either, I'm using my 105 FD with no problems. I really like this set up!

vpascal

Opposite of what he said. I've got the same cranks as you. I think they're beautiful.

Pascal

Gustav

Jeff, I'm curious. Did you go with the same crankarm length as your original setup, or did you go longer with the compact?

53-11_alltheway

Derailleur looks really high. Other than slowing down the shifting (due to height) if it works great.

I like the silver cranks. Black rings with it look sweet.

Serpico

I think the black rings/silver cranks looks cool.

fsor

Another vote for the silver crank arms...I like the contrast. Beautiful bike. I also found a standard f.d. worked fine with compact cranks and STI. nice bike

cydewaze

I'm liking the idea of compacts on my spare bike more and more.

martin: in that one pic of your whole bike, the shadows make it look like you have an eerie 3rd handlebar.

cryogenic

I have the same cranks but mine came in black with black & silver rings... I've found the exact same thing as everyone else here.. I use more of my cassette than most people with a 39/53 do and cross-chaining makes quite a bit of noise. I love the gearing, though. I actually run an 11-23 out back instead of the 12-25.

martin_j001

hmai18--I'm still undecided as to what would really look "better", but I think it looks great the way it is (and I didn't want to have to wait a few days to see if the black would look better ). At first, I didn't know what to think about the silver/black combo as I always thought it looked a little "cheap", but then after seeing it on the bike I liked it quite a bit--now I'm pretty darn happy with it, and think it looks great.

Gustav--is yours all black? If so, you should post pics so we can compare the look of the polished/black combo on mine with the all black on yours I decided to stay with the same crank arm length. Before purchasing anything, the goal was to be able to increase cadence on all hills that I go over, and it was sounding like going with a longer crank would be more detrimental to that then helpful. Also after consulting with my LBS' fit geeks, they think that the 172.5 is just fine. No need to fix something that isn't broken either....

vpascal, fsor, Ziggurat--I'm really happy with how it looks too. Very nice stuff....

53-11--the derailleur may look high, but I think some of that is due to the pics and the angle the bike is leaned against the wall at--its really not that far. I didn't notice any lag in shifts or anything with it there--it really seems to work perfectly.

cydewaze--ha, I just noticed that too.

cryo--I figure if I ever go somewhere flat, or if I ever manage to lose some weight, or if I ever get any stronger, then I'll look for that 11/23. Until then, it won't matter too much if I don't have that 120in gear to crank going downhill. Hell, I don't even have to pedal going downhill and I still end up going faster than you 130lb guys (benefit of being fat, I guess)

cryogenic

amusingly, I very seldom ever use the 50/11 gear... but the 34/23 is just fine to get me up almost any hill I can find around here.

martin_j001

Damn 130lb'er....

Gomez308

Martin,

Which LBS do you use?

cryogenic

Yeah... but I'm saying "damn 200 lb'er" or whatever weigh when it comes to the downside of the hill... I decend like I'm towing a parachute!

btw, if you ever decide to make it up this way, let me know

martin_j001

Gomez308--I've taken to using Atlanta Pro Bikes these days (www.atlantaprobicycle.com). I find them to be helpful and truthful when it comes to equipment questions and advice. Also, while they don't stock a whole lot, they are able to order just about anything at all and have it within 3-4 days, and they don't feel the need to raise their prices to get you what you want in a reasonable amount of time. They deal mostly with Moots, Independant Fabrications, and a little with Orbea lately--even though they don't stock too many of these at any given time. Its a great shop to deal with, IMO.

Cryo--I'll definitely let you know if I'm ever up that way...I can get you to tow me up the hills, and I'll drag you down the other side!! LOL

hmai18

Yeah, I didn't really want to say they looked cheap, so I waited for you to say it first
I had the same quandry when I bought my R700. The Cannondale website/catalogue shows my bike with an Elita double with black rings and polished arms. I couldn't stand it, so I called the LBS and pestered them to make sure I was getting a full polished crankset. If your shop gets the full black FSAs in and you haven't scuffed up your silver ones, you can always swap out crankarms to see what they look like.

cryogenic

sounds like a plan... a rolling yo-yo since our entire area is nothing but rolling hills... we basically don't have anything around here that's "flat" for any period of time. It's both good and bad, I suppose. Needless to say, I absolutely love my compact cranks and almost wonder why more people don't run them. Sounds like you're glad you made the switch, too. It's great because it gives you a small enough gear to climb the hills and a big enough gear to fly down the other side... all without the weight and "complexity" of a triple (not to mention the nasty looks from the snobs).