SteveDave

I'm looking for a new crank to replace my FSA Gossamer Compact that is currently on my Fuji ACR 2.0 Roubaix. I was wondering what would be an upgrade that I would notice in both performance and weight. The bike comes equipped with 105 across the board, except the crank, which I thought was weird. Would that be due to the fact that the bike comes with a BB30? I had thoughts of just grabbing a 105 crank but then noticed that the Ultegra crank is pretty affordable. I had looked at SRAM but since everything else is basically Shimano, I figured I'd stick with that lineage of parts. This is my first road bike so this might be all assumption on my part.

Oh I've heard stories about the FSA Gossamer having failure issues as well, is this true?

Blackdays

Look at FSA or SRAM cranks. You won't have luck with Shimano for BB30.

M_FactorX19

SRAM Force. thats what i went with and it was a major improvement in weight and performance. with BB30 you dont have as many options. you can use an adapter and use normal cranks but you will add weight. BB30 cranks are lighter than standard cranks of the same model so it doesnt make sense to go that way if you ask me unless you already have a crank.

cannondale hollowgram BB30 cranks are legendary and ive heard good things about zipps crank as well if you have them money to spend on them.

whats wrong with not having the whole group be the same brand? i see nothing wrong with that where it makes sense.

Elvo

Internets tell me that the gossamer crankset + bb weigh 900g. Ultegra weighs ~830g, 105 weighs 900g I think, and SRAM Force is 780g. Then you have the Zipp cranks, FSA Kforce light, kcnc cranks, etc which all weigh 600-700g but will cost you $400+. You're willing to shell out $300+ for a high end crank to save 100 grams?

M_FactorX19

to answer you question about the failure issues. yes there was a recall anyways of that crank on your bike. so you might want to check into that if you dont get a new crank.

M_FactorX19

BB30 sram force should weigh around 650g

SteveDave

Any issues with running SRAM force crank and a 105 derailuer and shimano cassette?

climber7

only some cranks, though. my bike has an fsa gossamer pro BB30 and it wasn't included in the recall (i checked the serial number).

if you have $ and want to upgrade, go for it, but i haven't had any problems with mine.

EKCooper

I've never had good luck with cheaper FSA cranks with a Shimano group. The shifting is just never as good as all Shimano.

SteveDave

I've had issue with shifting from the large to small chainring several times. Also I get an occasional slip several times for no apparent reason, almost like I'm missing teeth. Everything looks ok to the eye, nothing bent from what I can tell.


Is that recall info handy any place? FSA's website maybe?

Drew Eckhardt 

You're not going to notice the weight unless you hang your bike from a scale.

Figure out how much you and your bike weigh in kilograms. For example, a 140 pound rider + 20 pounds of bike/pedal/shoe weighs 72.6 kg at 2.2 pounds/kg. Subtract .1kg from that. Divide the resulting quantity by your old total as in 72.5/72.6 = .9986. IOW, saving 100 grams would make you .14% faster if you were climbing straight up a ladder dragging your bike behind you, saving 5 seconds an hour. On the road where aerodynamics are significant the effects will be less. If you weigh more the effects will be less.

Shimano and Campagnolo (I don't know about SRAM) do a better job at pinning and ramping their chain rings for faster up shifts than FSA, although it's not enough that I'd replace an FSA crank before I wore out the chain rings unless I wanted to change ratios (a decent crankset with nice rings isn't necessarily appreciably more expensive than a set of nice rings by themselves). Bad front derailleur adjustment (maybe it's too high) may have more to do with your shifting problems than the chain rings.

Obviously carbon fiber cranks have a sexier modern look than most contemporary aluminum cranks (especially the Shimano cranks which look like dead octopuses). A C-record crank in polished silver is even more aesthetic, but inappropriate for a modern bike with too many black parts. If you want a guy jewelry upgrade, Campagnolo carbon cranks are the prettiest of affordable cranks since the drive side crank arm doesn't leave between spider arms and they have a nice mottled pattern. BB30 bearing cups are available. SRAM force looks nice too. You'll probably want to order from the UK (ribble cycles, shiny bikes, etc) even if you buy SRAM/Shimano since their retail prices are lower than US wholesale. I admit to having a set of FSA Carbon Pro compact cranks (first of the affordable carbon fiber cranks) on an American classic ISIS bottom bracket for a total 682g weight - they look good apart from the black chain rings that get chewed up on the non-drive side.

Some of the more exotic cranks have a nice shape and visible carbon weave that can look even better, but with baubles like Lightning cranksets running $650 without rings they're too spendy for me.

Palomar01

If you want better, smoother shifting with your 105 group, get a 105 Crank. You won't loose any weight but it will be smoother shifting. The FSA Gossamer was chosen to lower the cost of your bike. I had that on my old Roubaix ACR 3.0 and although it shifted flawlessly every time, it was never what I would call smooth. It just got the job done. Never had any issues with it either. I test road a Fuji SST 3.0 with full 5700 105 and the front derailleur and crank shifted beautifully smooth and fast and just as good as an Ultegra.

If you want bling, no doubt about it: FSA SLK-Lite because it just looks cool.

climber7

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=fsa+gossamer+recall

sclim

Did you eventually swap out the FSA Gossamer Crankset? If so do you still have it and want to sell it? (Sorry if this was so long ago that it's ancient history -- also I'm unaware of any forum etiquette breach in requesting item for possible purchase -- if so I apologize).

sclim

To Brian Out There:
(I got your request, but I was unable to send a private reply due to a restriction in the posting rules that I don't quite understand -- apparently I need to send 50 posts before I can send a private reply. So this reply is directed specifically at you, but it also addresses any other forum reader who reads my July 14 post regarding the FSA Gossamer Crankset that I wanted then.)


Thanks for your reply. My reason was a kind of odd one. I am short statured, and I had experimented with a pair of clamp on crank shortener devices and found that I could pedal more efficiently with a crank length of 140mm. I found short cranks very hard to find. I was going to do brutal surgery on my own and re-drill a standard length "normal" crankset. By trial and error and searching I found the Gossamer to be the most suitable for such a procedure or so I thought, being not hollow forged and having, I hoped, only a trivial fluting groove on the inside facing surface to interfere with sufficient depth of metal for a new drilled pedal eye-hole.


My search fizzled out -- I wasn't going to experiment with a new one -- but I found an outfit BikeSmith in Minneapolis who does this kind of modification all the time for customers. As it turns out, he says the Gossamer crank shaping isn't as good as the SRAM Apex crankset which can be safely drilled and shortened to 140mm. I got him to modify an Apex Crankset which I bought from him, and he drilled and shortened it to 140mm and sent it to me. It works great.


So, I won't be requiring the Gossamer, after all; thanks for your effort, and sorry to inconvenience you.


Cheers,


sclim

99Klein 

I got a 105 (5700) from Nashbar on sale for $140.00 and free shipping. Wheels manufacturing bb30 kit for$15 and HUGE performance in shifting over the Gossamer Pro.

Smokehouse

I swapped the chainring from the FSA stock to a Praxis...that made a huge difference. I'm pretty darn happy with the setup now...