im moving my ultegra crank to my cross frame (to be purchased). which means i "need" a new crank for my road bike.

everything is currently 9 speed and i dont really want to switch to 10speed at this point (too much $$).

my bottom bracket was just replaced with and ultegra a couple months ago...so no need for another one...

should i go for the FSA or the Dura Ace.
if DA, should i try to find an older 9speed, or get the new one?? if new, will it work with a 9speed chain??

if FSA, should i get the team issue, or the 'light' one?? i have seen the superlight version any disadvantage of the superlight??

oh yeah, this is going in a litespeed frame...im not sure how much i will notice a stiffer crank in a ti frame..?????


thanks :)

I have all three. The 9&10 speed DA cranks and a set of Superlights. Even if you're on 9 speed, I'd lean toward the 10 speed DAs.

I may be in the minority but I've been completely underwhelmed by the Superlights. Mine have maybe 1000 total miles on them (granted most are race miles) but they look beat. I also don't think they shift nearly as well as the DAs do.

The DAs have 5k plus miles on them and are fantastic. The front shifting with the new 10 speed rings is the best I've ever had.

I would go DA all the way. 9 or 10 is up to you. I have found the 9 to be speed plenty stiff enough for me and I have not had issues with the BB or cranks so I'm not changing.

The issues that I have always had with FSA cranks is that every now and then, I see a set that does not have identical Q factor form side to side, i.e. one crank sits further out than the other, no matter how many ways you try to fix it. I have seen this 3 times in about 15 bikes. Also, I don't see the advantage of carbon cranks over really good aluminum ones.

FWIW, I have two bikes that are identical with the exception of an SRM crankset. With one, I use the Shimano ready SRM crank with DA 9 rings and on the other I use the DA 9 cranks. Both bikes have Ultegra BB's and an otherwise full Record set up. There is no perceptible difference between shifting with DA 9 and Record 10 (but the Shimano set up is a little stiffer than Campy). Hope that helps a little.

ok...if i went with the new DA 10speed crankset...can i still use my 9speed chain & cassette??? i have a new cassette & sram chain sitting in the box for next year... i really really really dnt have the $$ to change all over to 10spd.

shimano says that the world will spontaniously combust if i try to run that setup...but im not so sure.

thanks...

so you can still use the new BB you mentioned. Lots of places have them on sale now or you can pick one up on ebay. If you go DA 10, you have to buy a new BB, so the total investment will be between $400-450.

Isnt the 10sp chain a tad more narrow?

ok...if i went with the new DA 10speed crankset...can i still use my 9speed chain & cassette??? i have a new cassette & sram chain sitting in the box for next year... i really really really dnt have the $$ to change all over to 10spd.

shimano says that the world will spontaniously combust if i try to run that setup...but im not so sure.

thanks...


NEver tried it but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It's kind of like using 3/32 track rings and using a 1/8 chain.

ok...if i went with the new DA 10speed crankset...can i still use my 9speed chain & cassette??? i have a new cassette & sram chain sitting in the box for next year... i really really really dnt have the $$ to change all over to 10spd.

shimano says that the world will spontaniously combust if i try to run that setup...but im not so sure.

thanks...

Shimano wants you to think it won't work but in the real world it works great.

I'm running full DA9 with the DA10 crank/rings/bb and it works perfect.

I've put a good 500 miles on a pair of Superlight 172.5cm cranks and i love em.
they're silent and really stiff. i was getting a lot of flex out of the Shimano's i had on the westhills in Portland. get em clean and don't abuse them and the finsih on the Superlights will last fine. i priced them both, DA and FSA, and FSA seemed a better deal with a weight reduction (included DA bb in setup) over DA 10spd. 225.00 on Ebay.
all in all, they're both good stiff cranks and will last you a lifetime if you keep up on maintenance. personally , i look for alternatives to Shimano as I think they're corporate product fees are getting out of hand and will be so as long as Lance keeps riding them and winning. all depends what you want to pay for i guess.

pssst... If you are relatively patient on e-bay you can pick up a lightly used set of DA9 cranks for about $60. I've purchased two pairs in the past two weeks for $60 and $56 respectively. Yeah, there's a little rub of the logos, but shoot, I don't see the point of spending an extra $100+ to rub the logos off myself.

There isn't much weight savings for moving from Ultegra, though (only 43 grams). The DA BB is another 50 grams lighter ...