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Darby wrote:
dbarnet1,

Great looking bike!

I am interested in your opinion on the FSA crank and 11-30 cassette. How are the jumps between gears on the cassette? I will probably put a compact cassette on my next bike so I am interested in how easy it is to live with such a large jump between gears.

I have been looking at the FSA crank possibly on my next bike. The FSA crank can accept a wide array of chain rings. For example, you could put either a 50/34 or a 53/39 on the same crank using chain rings from TA Specialities. Campagnolo does not allow this on their cranks. They have an offset bolt pattern that will not accept other chain rings.

Bruce

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Bruce,

Thanks for your interest in my new ride. I actually built the 11-30 for use in the mountains where I will encounter long grades that at times that rise from 10 to 15%. for many miles at a time. The cluster consists of 11, 12, 13,14,17,19,21,24,27 and 30 cogs. The largest jump between gears is 21.4% between the 14 and 17 cog. Because I don?t shift much when making a long climb, it works very well. Right now I am using an 11-25 setup. The nice thing about the MCM cogs is that you can mix and match at will since there are no paired sprockets.

I was an early adopter when it came to the FSA K-force light crank. The part is very strong and stiff. At 190lbs I?m a Clydesdale, although I am loosing weight on a regular basis. When used with the Calfee frame there is absolutely no flex. As you stated there is a lot of flexibility using the TA Specialties chainrings. Tom Milton who makes the MCM cogs used a 52-33 in last years Paris Brest Paris ridding a Calfee Bamboo Bike.

The only thing I don?t like about FSA is there marketing department. This Crankset was advertised in the European magazines as weighing 620 grams. It was 630 grams in the US. My 172.5 Crankset weighs 678 grams. I talked to FSA at Interbike and they changed the weight on there website to 660 grams.

Dave

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