Newbie here, been over on MTBR for a long time. just crossing over to the skiiny side of things and have a question in regards to my new road biek.

I have a full dura ace 10 sp kit and I'm thinking that I want to run it with compact gearing, lots of mtns out here and no desire for racing, just a few centuries. I think I'd rather have a bit lower gearing and still have the nice tight jumps between gears. My question is, I really would rather not put the shimano compact crank on the bike as it's a bit heavier and not wuite the DA quality, FSA doesn't do it for me especially after reading about issues folks have had w/ loosening etc..., the new Chorus compact cranks have the right weight, look awesome and are compact. any issues with running the Chorus CT UT cranks w/ my otherwise all Shimano DA bike, shifting etc...?? What about the Sram Force compacts???

Thaks for the input

no problem at all. just make sure you change the rest of the bike over to campy too...:rolleyes:

I don't have any direct experience, but the common wisdom says it will work fine. The fact that the 3rd party makes don't sell separate versions supports that notion.

This assumes we're talking 10 speed. There can be a few nuances with 9 speed, since the Shimano crank is 10-speed only, though spacers can fix the problem. I know that's not the direction you're headed, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

run a 2006 Record Compact on my Cervelo which is otherwise 100% DA and it works fine so I don't see why not. Setting up the DA FD is a bit "finicky" but once sets up the shifting is just fine. As has been said plenty of 3rd party chainsets out there, in fact its an area lots of bike manufacturers save a little on build costs.

What about the Sram Force compacts???

Definitely go with the Chorus. It will work just fine: cranks are cranks are cranks (with rare exceptions, of which this is not one). I would avoid the Sram cranks. I've put a few together, and they're in my opinion just not very nice. The new Campy gear is grrreat.

The same goes for a chain too. You can run a campy UN chain on a shimano 10 drivetrain. The biggest problem you are going to face with the cranks is the fact the cranks wont talk to the rest of your parts. The Italiians can be real snobs sometimes. :D

If it's a 2006 model Chorus compact you'll need a Campy compatible 102mm square taper BB. Don't use a Shimano square taper BB, the taper is different. If it's the 2007 model it uses the new Ultra Torque BB. Either way you need a Campy compatible BB. I'd also recommend a Chorus compact compatible FD. They really do work better with Campy compact cranks.

I think the best bang for the buck Campy 10spd chain is the Veloce. Combine it with a Connex link and you've got a nice setup.