What is the benifit of Carbon Chainset over Alloy?
Squillinossett
Posts: 1,678
I have been thinking, I got a replacement carbon chainset for my bike, but im wondering if the money will be better spent on other parts?
Bike comes with SRAM S350 chainset, I have bought an FSA SLK Carbon, mainly as I picked it up cheaply, but are there better things to spend the money on? - they weight the same so that cant be the reason to buy them?
I have already ordered the EA90 SL's as I understand the wheels were the biggest letdown on the bike, would you upgrade anything over the chainset? (thinking the Zipp combo from PX?)
Bike comes with SRAM S350 chainset, I have bought an FSA SLK Carbon, mainly as I picked it up cheaply, but are there better things to spend the money on? - they weight the same so that cant be the reason to buy them?
I have already ordered the EA90 SL's as I understand the wheels were the biggest letdown on the bike, would you upgrade anything over the chainset? (thinking the Zipp combo from PX?)
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Chicks dig carbon.
In some cases carbon cranks will actually be lighter, at least for a given stiffness - it all depends on the designs you're comparing. Most people have them for the bling factor.
Matthew0 -
Bling.0
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Would you choose the zipp bar/stem over a carbon chainset?0
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Squillinossett wrote:Would you choose the zipp bar/stem over a carbon chainset?
Both are just bling!
But yes...0 -
ordered zipp stuff.
I will send the chainset back until I can afford a lighter one, rather than just a bling one, I will be saving weight with the bar/stem combo so makes sense.
cheers, as always0 -
Squillinossett wrote:ordered zipp stuff.
I will send the chainset back until I can afford a lighter one, rather than just a bling one, I will be saving weight with the bar/stem combo so makes sense.
cheers, as always
What groupset is it?
You'd be better off saving up and buying a whole group rather than just getting a chainset...0 -
Its the boardman Team Carbon, so it comes with Rival, apart from the s350 chainset, the groupset is already as lighter than Ultegra from my understanding, so not going to shave much weight there.0
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Squillinossett wrote:Its the boardman Team Carbon, so it comes with Rival, apart from the s350 chainset, the groupset is already as lighter than Ultegra from my understanding, so not going to shave much weight there.
Sounds like you need to buy my Sram Red Compact chainset!0 -
You shouldnt be tempting me!0
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I'd go for carbon cranks over carbon bars any day.
Cranks are more likely to with stand a fall or crash than bars are.0 -
Ive got a Dura Ace compact chainset, can I get any lighter or better?0
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Wappygixer wrote:I'd go for carbon cranks over carbon bars any day.
Cranks are more likely to with stand a fall or crash than bars are.
I have just thought that as well....
Shall have to avoid crashing0 -
Squillinossett wrote:Wappygixer wrote:I'd go for carbon cranks over carbon bars any day.
Cranks are more likely to with stand a fall or crash than bars are.
I have just thought that as well....
Shall have to avoid crashing
Yeah, you should buy my Red chainset!0 -
NapoleonD wrote:Squillinossett wrote:Wappygixer wrote:I'd go for carbon cranks over carbon bars any day.
Cranks are more likely to with stand a fall or crash than bars are.
I have just thought that as well....
Shall have to avoid crashing
Yeah, you should buy my Red chainset!
Methinks you have a Sram Red compact chainset for sale? Just a feeling I'm getting....0 -
Pokerface wrote:NapoleonD wrote:Squillinossett wrote:Wappygixer wrote:I'd go for carbon cranks over carbon bars any day.
Cranks are more likely to with stand a fall or crash than bars are.
I have just thought that as well....
Shall have to avoid crashing
Yeah, you should buy my Red chainset!
Methinks you have a Sram Red compact chainset for sale? Just a feeling I'm getting....
You want it?0 -
Tell me to climb back in my hole 'cos I know nothing, but wouldn't a carbon chainset be stiffer? I mean my alloy chainsets seem just as stiff - what with me being a mere mortal an' all, but just because I can't tell, doesn't mean its not?
VIews?
(I'd still take the carbon bars and stem before a carbon chainset of the same weight as my alloy one) 0 -
Tell me to climb back in my hole 'cos I know nothing, but wouldn't a carbon chainset be stiffer? I mean my alloy chainsets seem just as stiff - what with me being a mere mortal an' all, but just because I can't tell, doesn't mean its not?
Not necessarily, the Campag Veloce chainset was rated 9/10 in terms of stiffness in the last Bikeradar test it faced and I'm pretty sure you'd have to go up to something like Campag Record/FSA K-Force to notice any diffference whatsoever.
As for carbon bars and stem, why not just go for Deda Sfida bars and Ultracarbon stem? All the BLING of carbon without the hefty price tag. Can't be bad
If you want to dial in more stiffness to your bike setup, think about wheel specs, deeper rims will be stiffer AND more aerodynamic, and some spokes are more aero than others too.0 -
Shimano know a thing or two about cranks - AFAIK they've binned their DA chainset - so I'd be happy to go with alloy for a chainset.
And dunno if its just me being careless but all of my cranks have been clunked on the kerb at one time or other - not a prob for alloy - but carbon ? Prob not ideal.0 -
Sod it, I hate you all.
I have ordered K-Force Crank & the stem/bars today as I couldnt decide between them both...
grrrrrr..0 -
cougie wrote:Shimano know a thing or two about cranks - AFAIK they've binned their DA chainset - so I'd be happy to go with alloy for a chainset.
And dunno if its just me being careless but all of my cranks have been clunked on the kerb at one time or other - not a prob for alloy - but carbon ? Prob not ideal.
I'm with you. I actually think alloy parts have more to offer than carbon parts. I would challenge anyone to name one USEFUL advantage a top line carbon crank has over a top line alloy one.0 -
From my own use a Campag Record Carbon crank feels much stiffer than a Centaur alloy one, and is lighter; for a much better rider than me this would be an important advantage in hill climbing or sprinting.0
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I think lighter cranks would give you the best increase in power transfer for your money. I took my alloy cranks off the other day and struggled to believe how heavy they were! Just think of how many times you're spinning them round every ride. If I spent a bit of cash, I could decrease my crank weight by ~450%.
Of course, if you take the chain off to take away the drivetrain resistance (which you would not be changing) and spin the things round, there's not much force involved, but over many kilometers, the difference would probably add up to something more significant than most gimmicky weight upgrades...
If I suddenly became one of those nutters, who spend a grand on a stem or whatever, I think cranks would be the first thing i'd upgrade.0 -
JamesBwmb wrote:From my own use a Campag Record Carbon crank feels much stiffer than a Centaur alloy one, and is lighter; for a much better rider than me this would be an important advantage in hill climbing or sprinting.
You're comparing lower end gear with top line stuff. I'm betting that DA cranks exhibit no more or less stiffness than Record. At least as far as anything USEFUL goes.0 -
Bhima wrote:I think lighter cranks would give you the best increase in power transfer for your money. I took my alloy cranks off the other day and struggled to believe how heavy they were! Just think of how many times you're spinning them round every ride. If I spent a bit of cash, I could decrease my crank weight by ~450%.
Of course, if you take the chain off to take away the drivetrain resistance (which you would not be changing) and spin the things round, there's not much force involved, but over many kilometers, the difference would probably add up to something more significant than most gimmicky weight upgrades...
I think your comment about taking the chain off and spinning the cranks pretty well sums the whole thing up. It takes basically zero effort to turn a crank set that has good bearings, is adjusted correctly, and is well lubed. Turning the cranks gets many, many, orders of magnitude harder once that chain is on and you're sitting on the saddle.0 -
Bhima wrote:I think lighter cranks would give you the best increase in power transfer for your money. I took my alloy cranks off the other day and struggled to believe how heavy they were! Just think of how many times you're spinning them round every ride. If I spent a bit of cash, I could decrease my crank weight by ~450%..
450%?! I'm hoping that's a typo, otherwise what are your cranks made of? Antimatter? I hope they never come into contact with another crankset... Bike lover and part-time cyclist.0 -
Shimano alloy cranks are leaps above the campag ones IMO.
One of the problems with carbon cranks is you need to get the pedal thread into them, so they do this by using metal bonded into the carbon arm, which is a source of weakness. Far better to just forge them from aluminium which is I think how Shimano make theirs.0
