I am upgrading my tri bike including new cranks. I am looking at the size right now. They are FSA cranks. The bike is a 650c fuji Aloha. Is the 170 on the inside crank the mm length? Is a 55 42. This is what came stock on the bike. If I get a 172 or 175mm crank, how will that affect my gearing assuming its still a 55 42. Im pretty novice at bike parts. I live in TN, so I ride on lots of hills etc, so I need to be able to spin up hills etc.
Also, and forgive my ignorance, but what advantage do I get by going with ultegra for instance over FSA or something else. Basically…what is the best bang for the buck (im a teacher)
You will get no change in gearing at all. If you get a longer crank you will have more torque…slightly more. I know can go from 172.5 to 175 and not notice anything.
Bang for your buck? If I dont look down I cant tell a Record Carbon crankset from a one piece Hi tensile steel crank on a Huffy. You pay for light weight and bling factor. Oh, and ISIS BB’s have a nasty habit of sucking.
ISIS BB is a solution to the problem that no one had first off. The bearing races have much smaller and more balls - they have more drag and fail much more often than older style spindle cartridge BB’s such as the Record/Chorus and older style Shimano Ultegra/105 (DA sucked cause it was not sealed). Some people think that if a BB lasts 3-4 years they are lucky…well, I know guys on 15 year old Phil Woods that are better than most of the new stuff out there - and no where near their end of life. The BB is looked at by many like a headset…you just need a new one, and most dont even know the one they got is bad. It is shocking to me also the number of BB’s I have seen that grind like mad and the owner does not even know. It should be SMOOOOOTH with your fingers at the spindle - not smooth when you have a 175mm lever helping you turn it.
So going 105 makes really no difference except weight? Do I have to look for any kind of bottom bracket that is specific to my bike or does it not matter?
Yes, weight is about the only thing from 105 to Dura Ace…sure they say the new DA is “stiffer”…bit I dont ever recall anyone bitching their old crankset was so gosh darn flexy.
You will need to be sure that you get the same interface for the BB - just get them together and it is hard to go wrong. Unless you have an odd euro bike you need an English threaded BB.
I think I am definately going to go for a 39 for the small ring on the tri bike. Could help a little more with some of the hills in Wisconsin next year.
Now…Ill need a bottom bracket tool…right? Anything else?
Also…and this might be the last question. Will the “octalink” bottom bracket work on my steed. is this just a brand name.