So I'm hearing good things about compact cranks and was wondering what would I need to convert my current Campy triple setup. I've got all Veloce 10-speed brifters, FD, and RD (long), and 12-25 cassette. The crank however is a Bontrager Race Lite triple (52/42/30) and Truativ GXP BB. Thanks! -d42

New crank, FD, minimum.

A new RD would make shifting a bit quicker.

As you may know, there is no "benefit" going to a compact setup from a triple as far as low gears are concerned as you'll lose your 30 granny ring.
Moving from a standard double to a compact setup makes more sense if looking for just a bit more of that low end.......and a triple, even more...:)

Bottom Bracket, FD, Cranks.

I just did the same conversion.
I was starting with a Record Triple Crankset, a Chorus Triple FD, a Chorus Medium Cage RD, a Chorus Triple BB, and Centaur Shifters, all 10 speed. My cassette was a 13-26 Chorus.
I wanted less redundency (duplicate ratios) and a simpler system as triples are often touchy when going from medium to small ring if you do it too fast. Yet I wanted to keep my lowest gears for climbing and protecting my knees (I am 2 months shy of 49).
My new system has a FSA SL-K Compact Crankset with MegaExo BB (integrated/outboard). I first planned on 2 cassettes, one for regular use (11-23) and one for hilly rides (13-29). I ended up removing the 13 cog from the 13-29 and replacing it with an 11 cog. That way my low-end gears are exactly the same as with the Triple but I have 1 high-end gear that is faster for downhills (I always felt my previous 53-13 high-end was not enough). So my cassette is 11-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-26-29.
After 2 rides I really like the combo.
To finalize; I only had to replaced the Crankset and the Bottom Bracket, the cassette was optional. I also had to lower my FD by about 5mm and to adjust its low and high ranges. That's it. Both FD and RD work perfectly and very smoothly and the chain has the same length.

Same experience, didn't need a new FD or RD.

That is one strange cassette....

I would take out the 16 and the 11 and have a 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26-29

If you have to have the 11 than ditch the 14

The FD should work. You need the crankset and a bottom bracket for it. That should be it.

Well, my reasoning is that the smallest cog is for extremes (downhills) and I won't use it much. The rest is like a standard 13-29 cassette minus the 13. Except for the 11 to 14 jump that represents a 27% change, the difference between the other cogs is about 7% in the low range and 10% in the mid range and 12% in the high range.
If I take out the 16 I will have a 13% change right in the middle of the most used cogs.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=123238

think about an 11-23 cog set first....IMHO...

I'm in the process of switching from triple to compact. I'm also going from 9-speed to 10-speed. So everything is getting swapped out. I'm going to replace the double on my wife's bike with the triple. I'll use an 11-23 cassette.