Looking for 2X crank for my gravel bike
 

Right now I have a Shimano Ultegra 8000 crank with Absolute Black 48-32 oval chainrings. I hate them! The drivetrain is noisy except in the middle cogs. I've had three of the best mechanics in town dialing in the front derailleur without much success. All three mechanics hate oval rings. So now I'm looking at the Easton EC90SL (46-30), Shimano GRX 810 (48-31), and Praxis Zayante M30 Carbon 48-32. My bike is a 2019 Giant Revolt Advanced 0 with Ultegra drivetrain. The crank/chainrings need to play nice with Shimano Ultegra front derailleur.

im not an expert ,, but i usually just run a compact double sram gxp , i have a fsa crank in a hollowtech 2 BB. i assume your going from a triple oval ( interesting ) to a compact double ?

maybe your front mech is damaged or took a hit if its making noises it should not ??
maybe you could just try an ultegra crank or 105 ???


if you are doing gravel , i think it would be wise to focus on the crank more than the rings because then you can just get a bunch a rings to match your terrain and you will never be miss-geared on your rides , assuming you look at the route or do minor research into the terrain , elevation and such ...

I can't help with the new crank selection but I can offer what I found through trial and error, that the front derailleur can't be angled with oval rings. The cage has to be parallel with the rings but even so, there will be some rub especially with larger range cassettes used for gravel. It isn't perfect on my bike but I am running an 11/42 MTB cassette.

Oval rings feel great to pedal but I'm having a bit of knee pain after switching to the oval rings. I've also resumed trail running so it is not possible to say which is causing the pain. Either way, I'm interested in the GRX 810 because of the higher geared 48 ring vs the 46 Absolute Black ring on my bike now. Going from stock Ultegra 50/34 to Absolute Black 46/30 has been great for bikepacking with a heavy load but I'm definitely slower on shorter, unloaded rides. The 48/31 should split the difference and give me back some speed and rub less.

GRX changes the chainline, no? Does anyone know if this requires the GRX front derailleur to be used or if an Ultegra FD will work?

I've seen the Praxis on a Trail Donkey 3.0 but can't offer any advice.

Please let us know what you decide on and how it works out. I'm interested in your experience and how it pans out.


-Tim-

I went from XT 1x to Zayante Carbons.
Praxis was around the same price as XTR and I wanted a Q closer to road.
I also think they were the second lightest cranks I looked at (XTR, Dura Ace). I think Force1 was a bit lighter. Not a SRAM guy.
From what I read, Praxis had an excellent reputation for shifting. This was a factor in case I was going back to a 2x.
I also liked the 'modular' thing with the spider and rings, and the availability of third party rings.

Installation was easy; BSA, just follow the instructions and watch the size of the dust covers.
Cranks and BB come with everything, including some crank arm protectors (which I just found in the box!).
I got maybe 50 miles on them and so far no issues.
In the end I went with a 34t Blackspire DM ring.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...85e3a92094.jpg

Probably going to change my road bike over to Zayante carbons too.
Hope this helped.

I'm thinking about getting the FSA Energy modular crank Seems like a decent alternative. FSA also makes some other 46/30 cranks

Shimano recommend that the GRX crank is used only with the GRX FD.

Are you running the RX clutched rear derailleur? If so, could that be the culprit? I ask because I'm running Ultegra 6800 with the Absolute Black oval rings (11-34/48/32) and recently my drivetrain began to get noisy too. Initially thought it was my bb or chain, but I traced it down to the clutch in the RX derailleur. I've had the AB rings for about a year now and while they don't shift as nice as the OE Ultegra rings, I do feel the benefit of the oval and the gearing really improve my riding to justify the slower shifting. If you decide to sell your set up, let me know.

Ultegra 6800 with AB rings and couldn't be happier.

When the GRX cranks become readily available, it's going to be difficult to consider anything else. Shimano cranks just work, IMO.

I use a Zayante crank on one of my road bikes, the aluminum model.

Assuming the carbon model works the same(safe bet), the rings are excellent and shifting is smooth and fast.

I rode nothing but Shimano cranks for 13 years . . . until recently. I went to an FSA Modular Adventure (46/30) crankset and I have been very happy with the results. The gearing is what I want but, to my surprise, the shifting (and lack of noise) is perfect. No real difference (shifting wise) between the FSA and the Shimano cranksets on my other bikes.

To go to the Shimano gravel crank requires not just the purchase of the crank, but also the purchase of a new front derailleur. That makes it an expensive upgrade. And I doubt it will be available as a separate component to the public until 2020. (I hope I'm wrong, but history has a way of repeating itself. Shimano tends to "introduce" things nine months to a year before they are generally available to the public.) As it is, I'm perfectly happy with the FSA. I won't be changing.

If you go from your current Shimano cranks to the Easton EC90SL crank, I believe you will have to change your bottom bracket out to accommodate the larger spindle of the Easton cranks. Maybe someone else here can confirm.

2x on a gravel bike?

https://media.giphy.com/media/X7IoVUJXtO3wk/giphy.gif

I've been happy with Ultegra 6800 cranks with Shimano 46-34 rings.

I've been using an R8000 FD with the Praxis Alba 48/32 and very happy. No noise, no shifting issues. It was also fine on the R7000 FD before I swapped.

I do have the Ultegra clutch rear derailleur. Regardless, if you're interested, my price is $150 shipped via PayPal to lower 48 US states. Let me know if you need any pics.

It's half as good as 4x, but twice as good as 1x.

Shimano says you'll need the new FD, so that's the official answer. Real world answer will have to wait until someone tries the new crank with their existing FD. If there is enough adjustment available on your outer limit screw to move the derailleur out 2.5mm, I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work just fine.

For all of us running SRAM shifters made for Yaw type FDs, thus having no trim steps in the shift pattern, I sure hope it will work.

one of the 46-30 doubles? several out there..

I have successfully used both the Easton EC90 SL 47/32 and FSA SL-K Modular 46/30 on my gravel bike. Both shifted fine with minimal noise on my Shimano r8000 series Di2 FD. I have kept the Easton crankset on my gravel bike, but that's due to power meter selection not something wrong with the FSA crank.

I just ordered the Easton EC90 SL crank with their 46-30 chainrings. Looking forward to headache free rides.

Just be sure to pay attention to that torque spec. 50Nm is what their manual says. Nothing holding that crankarm on other than that torque. My FSA SL-K 46/30 is similar in that regard and has given 10K miles of faithful service (another user on BF had theirs come off, check that torque)

Cinch-system chainrings are cute and easy to replace, but the tool to work on the lockrings are order-only items.

Will do. Thanks!

Another reliable crank is the Shimano CX50 Cyclocross crankset. It has 46 & 36 chainrings. A wide range of 110bcd 34t chainrings will fit the inner position. A 33 chainring from TA also fits, as seen below. Ten speed cranksets are forward compatible with eleven speed chains.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...CABEgJTsvD_BwE

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...:1,prmr:1,cs:1

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9d0c6f709.jpeg

Also changed the 50-34 rings on the Ultegra to Absolute oval 46-30. Setting the FD was big pain in the ass!!! It took me hours to get it somewhat right, so that the derailleur has no rub in the smallest and biggest ring. Problem is that the Absolute chainrings are closer to the frame, so i couldn't move the FD all the way closer to the frame to avoid chain rub. When i managed to get it set i worked without any problems, but there is like a millimeter or lees space between the chain and FD.