bike bits - advice required

[kieran]

my 'new' bike is still just a frame and I've been pondering the issue of the rest of the bits necessary to turn it into a working bike - I've been trying to decide between centaur and chorus equipment. I belive both are very good, Chorus better but dearer. Any opinions out there?
eg.

Centaur compact double crantset (2007) £90 828gm
Chorus compact double crankset (2007) £220 679gm

so for £130 increase in price I get a 149gm saving in weight, is it worth it?
Like weight on the wheels is weight on the crankset (which is revolving) worth more than static weight?

In other words I'm too indecisive and want someone else to tell me what to buy!

[Dominic]

My two penneth worth.

It would be better to lose weight from yourself with better performance gains. To my mind you are only talking about 100 odd grammes.

As for performance my opinion from what I have read is that there is not too much difference although one might last longer that the other.

I voted for other Campy bling. Why not mix and match from Veloce up depending on what deals you can get in the sales.

But to put all this into context I am currently riding a Ribble with Mirage and building up a TT bike with mainly Tiagra with a bit of 105, so what do I know

[kieran]

Hi Dominic, thanks for the reply, with regards to my weight I'm currently at around 63 kg (10 stone) so I don't really wish to go much lower as my off bike appearance will then seem too thin! But does put 150gms in context - 2.3% of my body weight.

Like your bike my current bike is a mix of campy and shimano bits. I have been looking at the 2007 campy stuff as my current levers are campy so would not need to buy new levers but now campy have changed their bottom bracket and crankset set up and I'm not sure if I want to buy pre 2007 bb and cranks if they quickly date and become unsaleable/hard to replace in the future (the new set up is also lighter). I assume old campy 9/10 speed levers will work with new crankset and front shifter (need new as old stuff is triple and bike takes double).

[Dr Frigo]

I thought your frame was meant to be built up ages ago kieran!

[kieran]

it was! but its currently hiding under the bed, so out of sight - out of mind, and had forgotten about it Hoping to now have it ready for April/May time.

[Paul H]

You can get a FSA Pro Elite Carbon Compact Chainset from GB Cycles on sale for £128 which weighs 530g

http://gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=pro ... T+CHAINSET

[Dr Frigo]

Those Campy weighs are including BB though.

[kieran]

those FSA cranks need isis drive BB which GBs don't seem to have, the isis drive t pro one is 225gm and can get at around £50 so then get:

530+225=755gm

those weights for the campy don't have BB weights - you need BB cups - sell for around £10 and weight 50gms. so get

Chorus total 729gm for around £230 26gms saved for £50 = £2/gm
FSA total 755gm for around £180 123gms saved for £80 = 65p/gram
centaur total 878gm for around £100

worth thinking about those FSAs then, thanks Paul, you going to Hillingdon tomorrow? heavy rain predicted. I had planned to but with rain and my lingering cold I think I'll go out Sunday for a spin instead.

[Jon H]

Tut, tut, tut, the correct abbreviation is Campag not Campy (unless you're a yank, but wtf do they know anyway).

Anyway, go for the weight saving on the BB/chainset first because it's the biggest item in the groupset. Try to get either the new Campag or other design with external bearings which are a marked improvement over the older style such as Isis and definitely better than the old square taper which should have become extinct along with the dodo.

If you want to save a few quid go for a lower spec front mech which weighs sod all anyway and doesn't do much.

[Paul H]

I bought a Truvati ISIS BB from Butlers just before Christmas for £30.00 for my FSA Crankset.

I'll be on the Club run tomorrow.

Cheers

[Andrew G]

Put Chorus on mine and it's luverly.

Centaur is damn fine as well, particularly as that also now has the carbon cranks, not sure if the levers are carbon though.

The Centaur price you have looks very cheap for carbon cranks, so maybe that's the big difference in the ones you've quoted.

[sid_day]

Having been a bike shop employee (recently) and a cyclist for many years opinion is thus:

1. Go with what your local bike shop (LBS) stocks, and is confident supporting.

2. Buy shimano (unless your LBS prefers Campag): it is better value for money for you the cyclist. In the words of an Ex-pro cyclist colleague: "it jus' work"!

3. Get hand built wheels for the follwing reasons:
a. You can repair these yourself in a pinch.
b. You won't have to wait over a month for a freehub body (as with Mavic).
c. You don't have to buy 10 spokes at a time at huge cost (as with Mavic).
d. If you damage your rims you don't have a huge rebuild cost.
e. They are reasonably priced to start with.

4. If you must have fancy wheels just use them for racing/sportives.

5. Places to save weight on off the peg bikes are usually:
a. Cassette.
b. Cranks/BB.
c. Wheels.

[Matthew Ives]

Hi Kieran,

Revolving weight is only really an issue if you have a large angular momentum: ie. if the diameter of the revolving object is large, like that of a wheel rim or a tyre.
With a crankset, that's not the case since the diameter of the chainset is small and all the weight of the chainset is in the BB and not the chainrings.

I would go for Centaur or Veloce even. But then I am tight and hate spending/wasting money

Probably the only advantage of going the Chorus route will be the psychological boost it will give you knowing that you've got a top-end Campag set up.

[Dr Frigo]

The FSA Paul mentioned were down to £90 I think in Butlers yesterday.

[Paul H]

Ribble are doing some good deals fir January

http://ribblecycles.co.uk/index.asp