I am pondering buying a 180mm Stronglight Z'light compact crank.....Nicest crank I have ever seen. The only thing I don't like is the price $254.

I can't figure out why these compact cranks aren't more popular? I mean I can run 50-34 or I can throw on "regular sized rings" like 53-38 or 52-36.

Why not make all cranks compact. What's the advantage of 130 BCD anyway?....stronger spider?....less flex in the rings? Hmmmmm......

No body had a comment on this......Hmmmmmm

They're not popular because they're not made by Shimano. And when bikes are built up with either Shimano or Campy, usually they get whatever crank those component manufacturers supply so the exposure most people have to cranks is to those. Many people are under the assumption that you have to run Shimano cranks with Shimano drivetrains and the same goes for popular misconceptions about Campy. Let's face it, Shimano has a very strong marketting dept. It's like the world of computers, most people run Microsoft Windows and then in far second is MacOS. In the grand scheme of things, only a small percentage even considers running some form of alternative OS such as Linux or BSD. There are of course a few people who are "in-the-know" who recognise the quality of other component manufacturers such as Stronglight.

STI (Shimano Total Integration) is Shimano's way of eliminating other competitors like they did to Suntour.

Interestingly enough I helped a Buddy of mine put together a Shimano Bike with a ISIS-Crank. I'll be honest with you I think ISIS is better than Octalink. The cranks "fits" better with 10-slpine IMHO.....it also runs perfect with the Shimano drivetrain. That's why I decided to abandon octalink for my next project bike. My triple project will probably be octalink.....just because I got a good deal on a Shimano triple crank.

P.S. The Stronglight Z'light Compact is the most beautiful crank I have ever seen...LOL ( I think I beat that to death in other posts)

My cranks are OctaLink as is of course the D-A BB it's attached to. However. at the time I was having my bike built up, the FSA Carbon Pro cranks I wanted were only available in OctaLink. My next crank will probably be ISIS based and I'm looking at the Stronglight Pulsions.

A compact crank gives you more or less the same ratio as a triple crank.

But !! You will experience a lot of shifting. 50t can be slightly big, and jumping all the way down to 34 is a long way.

Now i keep changing the cassettes an chainrings. A 130BCD can be fitted whith 38t, and 38/27 is light enough for most mountains.

I’ll might go for a compact my selves, we do have a few mountains in Norway, but I don’t think it would be the one I would use for racing standard courses.

The problem is not the 50t (50/11 is heavier than 53/12), but the lack of 42(39).

And why use 130BCD and 135BCD. You had the answers. Looks better to.

You could buy the Ritchey compact and use or swap out the rings for 53/42 or 39. Mine came with 53/38. I swapped the 38 for a 42 while living in flat land midwest and have put the 38 back on now in Utah. I will get some 50/34s from Quality Bike Products.

You can get a 38 and 53 in a matched set from FSA (and other manufacturers). I'm sure 110 BCD is easily available in 42 as well.