I need a crank for my 2nd bike. I run Campy speed. Campy stuff is great, but I don’t have such an affinity to it that I won’t put other brands on.
What cranks are perfect substitutes (I’m OK w/ getting a different BB)?
Some people have good success with the ShimaNO cranks. I use FSA.
Used cranks would work fine, too…
Miche makes nice cranks. So does Deda. Both sync very well with Campy 10.
I use ShimaNO DA10s cranks. works very well. you can use either a Campy 9/10s or a ShimaNO 10s front derailleur.
FSAs might be another option. however, their carbon Megaexo cranksets (K-Force and SLK) have been coming in very overweight. they initially claimed the K-Forces were 660g, but now the website says they’re 740g - same as DA, just more expensive. this parallels what happened to their first run of carbon cranksets - only marginally lighter than DA 9s. the Superlight cranksets were a big improvement, though.
I would highly recommend staying with Campy. We have had several bikes in my shop with “mixed” drivetrains i.e. an FSA crankset on an otherwise Shimano or Campy setup. They never shift as well. Once FSA even made a special chainring for us on a Shimano Ultegra 10 system with an FSA compact. They recommended using that special-made ring with a Wipperman Connex chain (supposed to be more flexible) and a Campy compact derailleur. It still wasn’t as smooth as an all-shimano setup. We ended up going back to the Shimano chain and non-compact derailleur. Better, but still not up to snuff. FSA will be coming out with their own front derailleur to be used with their stuff within the year.
And a personal experience- I tried using an FSA time trial ring on my Campy 10-speed crank- it shifted like crap. It would grind and not shift… then overshift… I wrestled with it for a good 40 minutes before switching back to the Chorus ring that was on. It shifted 100x better with the Chorus ring back on.
So like I said- keep it pure. Your drivetrain, that is.
Wow, interesting. I’ve always been suspicious of how a different brand could perform better. I hadn’t heard any stories, positive or negative before.
And as I look around, I see the Campy stuff is actually the cheapest!
I have a 175mm aluminum 10-speed Campagnolo Record crankset with about 1000 miles on it for sale if you’re interested. Going to be posting it on eBay this weekend. I upgraded to a 177.5 mm crankset and have had this old one sitting around basically unused.
-Marc
I’m too impatient for eBay. But thanks though. Then again, if you put a “buy it now” option on it, let me know when you list it. If I haven’t bought another by then, I’ll check it out.