For Allan: Bikefanclub.com

I promised a review of the FSA Mega Exo some time ago. Here it is, Gossamer (al) version.

The cranks on the bike go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.

Pretty much sums it up.

For me, these cranks are super, but definitely in a "might not make sense for you" kind of way because the difference for me is fit, and it is not a minor improvement.

I'm not into a Mr. Science mode right now so I haven't tried to pull out the old measuring tools and figure out why what I noticed is happening, but it is happening.

That something (imagine the 007 theme in the background) seems to have to do with Q, both the gadget king and the width thing. My old, bow legs love these cranks. I am able to move my speedplay cleats to a position in the middle of my foot which gives an extra boost to the adjustment made by the LeWedge shims I've started using. Visually, it looks like the Exo part of the crank moves the cranks out further from the BB housing. Perhaps the cranks have been slimed down to adjust. Perhaps the Al cranks can just be slimmer than the carbon counterparts. Who knows. Too much science. My head hurts.

I tried this with my old FSA carbon cranks and couldn't get the cleat that far over without having my shoes rub on the cranks. Now they don't. The overall fit seems better for my legs as well since I noticed far fewer knee pains which required foot in/out adjustments during these weekends rides.

(P.S., I've been using "Bicycling Medicine" as a guide to dealing with minor pains and it has been extremely useful. It gives a range of possible responses to each problem depending upon where it is occurring and has helpful diagrams to pin down just what area the text is talking about.)

I'm sold on these, but as I said, not necessarily because they are "better" cranks. They just allow me to get a much better fit. Certainly not something I expected at the start of the experiment.