Germany_chris

While this doesn't fit into the C&V mold I really don't want to start a war in general and told to buy "pick a high end" group in road so I'm going to ask here.

I ride Surly's <---Look left love them or hate them they're well built steel bikes and my component choices reflect small tube steel.

I recently picked up a silver 11 speed silver Campagnolo Centaur group set so here's the question...

The group came with the very industrial Paul like crankset, if it was your bike would your replace the reasonably svelte square taper WI VBC cranks the fatter armed industrial Centaur cranks?

52telecaster

Square taper. I love how stiff the modern cranks feel but they never seem to spin as nice. Plus of course square taper almost always looks better.

beicster 

I prefer the White Industries cranks. I don't like the looks of the current generation cranks. It just doesn't work for me.

BTinNYC 

1 vote for Centaur and modern BB. (I checked it wasn't Power Torque before voting.)

RB1-luvr

that Campagnolo crank is nice.

merziac

I would posit that the White is the industrial looking one, a good thing and the Centaur is just plain fugly so....

Maybe find an earlier Centaur 5 arm, see if it will work and try both?

shoota 

I'd match the group if it were me.

CMAW 

Building a Surly as well and I wish I'd had the budget for that WInd. crankset, love the looks of it. Will most certainly look the part on your Cross Check, better than the Centaur imo. The option to mix'n match and go sub compact is interesting enough in itself.

jamesdak 

Hmmm, mixed feelings myself. I'm just not that big a fan of the newer, clunkier looking cranks. I you can justify the cost I'd chase after a nicer aftermarket square taper also also, White, Sugino, Velo Orange, etc.

GullyFoylesbike

I vote the WI - the big cranks look better on the chunkier BBs/downtubes that you see in modern carbon, but for traditional-sized steel tubing a more svelte crank is better. I just moved off an old WI crankset to a Sugino touring one because even those cranks just didn't look quite right on the vintage frame to my eye.

Germany_chris

That's what it looks like with the WI cranks minus the Fenders, racks, and bags.

I'll take a picture of it with the Centaur tomorrow after I get the correct BB

Trakhak

I agree that the Brutalist aesthetic of the White Industries crank would match the Surly better. I'd save that stunning Centaur crank, with its Museum of Modern Art-worthy Italian styling, for a more modern-looking bike.

cudak888 

WI crank.

I cannot get over the fact that the Centaur crank and all others like it tend to look like a Wal-Mart swedged crank with hidden rivets holding the rings at first glance. They just do.

-Kurt

BTinNYC 

After seeing the Surly with it's 1 1/8 fork and modern stem, I'm sure.
I think different headset spacers could tie it all together.

C9H13N 

IMO that White Industries crank is hideous, even more so than the 4 arm Centaur.

Second the recommendation for an older Centaur crank. I have a square taper Centaur CT from the mid 2000s, takes standard 110 bcd rings, no weird 5th bolt hole. Beautiful.

Classtime 

Neither. Get a T.A. Carmina for the square taper and interchangeable spiders. Nice CC. (While you wait for the Carmina, use anything but that ugly Centaur.)

Germany_chris

I have two Carmina's

mstateglfr 

The Carmina look cool.


What is a DD groupset?...this is a talk of Campy or WI for a crank.
...I am getting old and can't keep up with abbreviations.

Germany_chris

Daily Driver (DD)

Trakhak

The fact that you can buy convincing knockoffs of Oyster Perpetual watches doesn't affect the aesthetics of the real thing.

That Centaur crank is the handsomest design I've seen in over 50 years of riding high-end racing bikes. If my testosterone level were still as high as it was 20-odd years ago, I'd be driven to make it my winter project to buy a Centaur group and a worthy modern frame and build it up.

Trakhak

TFC (thanks for clarifying).

Whenever someone uses a PA (private acronym) in a forum thread, I remember a guy who used a PA in a guitar forum post and was called out on it because no one had any idea what he meant. Turned out he'd used the first letters of the three syllables of a word that he hadn't realized he didn't know how to spell correctly.

BTinNYC 

I'm thinking the same and full groupset in silver is under $500. The house is absolutely over-full with college kids (2 of mine and 3 visitors), maybe I could sell one and nobody would notice.

seypat

This.

seypat

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Centaur crank is hideous to my eyes. The only thing it has going for it is it's shiny. Not feeling it on a small round tubed frame. The 2 cranks look to have different chainring sizes. Is that important to the OP? If so, put on the one that will meet the riding requirements.

TugaDude

Welcome to C&V and if you keep riding your current bikes they will someday qualify! And being quality steel, you probably will.

To me it is more a question of the vibe you get from the cranks. They couldn't be more different. Polar opposites really. Which one looks "better" to me? The WI crank, not even close. But I also agree that you might want to keep consistency in your group, if that is something which matters to you.

I have two sets of rules which I follow. The first set favors keeping everything either original or at least period correct and then I make decisions from there. But the other set of rules pertains to bikes I'm going to ride a lot and for those I frequently stray from the first set of rules in favor of practicality and comfort.

By the way, I've always admired Surly and although I don't currently own one I do have a Big Block track bike from Surly's sister QBP company All City. It is a magnificent frame.