tinybiker

the love of my life is my 48cm Bridgestone XO-1, which i'm currently in the process of giving a major overhaul. i'm interested in riding a compact crankset, but am having trouble deciding which one i should buy. obviously, the new Shimano R700 is a work of beauty, but it costs near $300. and with everything else i'll be upgrading on my bike, that's just outside my price range.

so: are there any thoughts out there for compact cranksets that are mid-level quality and are under $200? i'm not racing, but i do ride every day, with longer (maybe 50-80 mi) rides on weekends. the other caveat is that i'm a mere 5' tall and am hoping to find something with 165 crank arms. this is not the dealbreaker for me, though, since it seems to majorly limit my options.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

GuitarWizard

FSA Gossamer is probably up your alley.

I recently put an FSA compact on, and I absolutely love it. The 50T chainring is a perfect size for me, and I spend MUCH more time in it than I ever did with a 53T ring. The 34T is nice for climbing as well.

merlinextraligh

fsa gossamer mega exo compact. $149 at Performance, although smallest is 170 mm at least through Performance.

gpelpel

I recently installed an FSA SL-K Compact on my bike after having used a Triple for the last 2 years. I love it.

iansir

Id spend $30 more than the FSA and look at this:
https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5122
I had the Forte carbon crank on my last ride and it was a great crank, no complaints.

cydewaze

My wife owns a bike with a triple, and recently she rode a bike with a compact double. She liked it much, MUCH better than the triple. She always seemed to be able to get to the proper gear without bouncing around on the front chainring as much, and as such her climbing improved greatly.

roadfix

If your XO-1 comes with a 110BCD stock crankset, you're already halfway there. All you need to do is swap chainrings to a smaller set. What kind of cranks do you have on the bike now?

Vinokurtov

You'd be spending more than $30, you'd need an Isis bottom bracket to go with.

tinybiker

i built the bike up from spare parts, so right now i have a super old 165 road crankset on it (stolen off a friend's raleigh). i'm pretty sure it has a 130 BCD, tho, so unfortunately i can't just replace the chainrings. ...but it was a good thought nonetheless.

thanks for everyone else's comments. sounds like FSA is a winner. ... am i going to have an issue, though, because the bike was originally built for 26" wheels? i'm worried about finding a BB that will allow enough clearance between the chainrings and BB spindle.

WorldWind

On my road bike I run a 39-53 crankset and a 11-20 straight-block in the back. Even so comming down Highway 9 from Skyline I find my self compleetly spun out some of the time. Their is no way I would ever loose that big ring. (LOL, for thoes of you that know that decent.)

superdex

Google is our friend: ("compact crankset 165")

https://www.xxcycle.com/php/boutique/...5&FROM=froogle

tinybiker

i googled the same terms and also came across that Stronglight crankset. it was my leading option up until posting on here b/c of the price and fact that it comes in 165mm. however, i'm hesitant to order from a distributor all the way in France (mondo shipping costs? will i have to wait a million years before it gets here? this is all if they even have it in stock).

does anyone know about this crankset? or any thoughts about Stronglight cranksets in general? i've heard that the chainrings wear out fast but the cranks themselves are good.

roadfix

Well, some of us, including myself, have a hard time pushing a 53 ring even on descents....

fogrider

with an 11 cog, I like a compact with a 48 ring...this way I can stay in the 48 ring most of the time and shift the rear.

ggg300

agree....

ggg300

[QUOTE=ggg300]agreeQUOTE]

ggg300

good cranks.... try qbike

zacster

I'm putting a compact on my new build. It just seems like the perfect compromise between hill climbing (or lack of ability) and high gears (which I never use). Why do I need a 53/11? I can barely push it going downhill.

ggg300

good cranks.... try qbike

Vinokurtov

53-11 has purchased from them (xxx cycles in France) and had no issues.

fogrider

I've been thinking of getting something from them, their shipping prices seem very reasonable.

ravenmore

I've actually been thinking of ditching my compact that came with the bike - too limited on the high end.

ekimyel

I agree with the FSA Gossamer suggestion. I just replaced my triple with the compact FSA Gossamer and love it. Got it at my LBS for $128.00 (https://www.bigbangbikes.com/)

uga8589

Help me out. What is the advantage to using a compact crank? Sorry for the stupid comment

bbattle

+1 FSA Gossamer

50-34 with 12-25 gives me more high gears than I can use and almost as much as a triple. Big ring for the flats; small ring for the climbs. No complaints. Actually little difference between 53-12 and 50-12(34.5mph vs. 32.6mph or 1.9mph); if you can spin either at 100 rpm, hats off to you.

On the low end, 39-25 vs. 34-25 is 1.6mph at 100rpm for 700 x 23 tires. [12.2 mph vs. 10.6mph]

It's about 1.5gears lower on the low end and a gear lower on the high end. Since I can't spin out the top gear except maybe on some descents where I'm just trying to stay alive, I don't miss anything. And since I'm an old newbie, the extra 1.5 gears on the low end is greatly appreciated.

The Shimano compact is a narrower 50-36; you can also get compact gearing in a 48-34 or 48-36. A straight block with these would give you very fine gearing changes.

Or if you spend your time always on the flats, get a 53-43 double with an 11-23 cassette.