Buying Compact Crank from Overseas?
Hi all,
I'm a long time EN lurker and recently took the plunge to full membership. So far I'm incredibly impressed with the depth of knowledge available on the Wiki and within the forums.
I'm registered for IMC this year and am considering my bike gearing. I know the bike gearing topic has already been beaten to death so I will try to make this short. When I purchased my P2 a couple of years ago I had no idea what I was buying and ended up with the DA model because that's what was on sale... I've only recently come to discover that I've got a standard 53/39 crankset. I've read the EN bike gearing Wiki and have followed a couple of the threads on the topic and although my initial thought was to simply swap out my 12-25 cassette for a 12-27 on race day, I'm begining to become convinced (primarily because Rich has never steered me wrong on anything yet) that moving to a 50/34 compact would likely be a smart move. From there I guess I can decide if I also need the 12-27 or can stick with my 12-25. I contacted my bike fitter doode and he told me that a Shimano R700 would be fully compatible with my P2 and that the LBS he's affiliated with has one for around $375. I checked on eBay and there appears to be a reputable seller out of Taiwan selling the same thing new for $140 including the BB, the only difference being that the cranks are 170mm vs the 172.5 ones at my LBS (for reference, I'm 5'7, 65kg and FTP of 217) . So, while I know it's impossible to know for sure, my question is whether any ENers have purchased their compact cranksets from overseas and whether I need to be concerned about these being the genuine article given the significant price discrepancy. Or is my LBS just putting the boots to me in terms of pricing?
Thanks.
Comments
Check out this site:
http://www.probikekit.com/display.p...p;LIMIT=18
Any of these will work fine on your bike. Hard to do wrong with Ultegra for 250 or Sram Force for less. Pro Bike Kit is extremely reputable and always has free shipping to the states. The only reason to buy components from a LBS is because you hate money.
Also, if you are 5'7" there is no way that you want 172.5's. I am 6' and have 170 mm cranks on my tri bike. If I were your height I might have 165's. Further, I do not think that Shimano has made that crank for a couple of years but could be wrong.
Awesome - thanks Chris! Based on what I've been reading online regarding crank length, your comments definitely reinforce what I was thinking in terms of going shorter - perhaps significantly so. And generally being a big fan of money , I'm more than happy to source my components from anyone other than the LBS who I think oversold me on the bike in the first place... live and learn.
This place rocks.
@Tyler-- ; I bought a set of D/A cranks for my P3 about a yr ago on eBay and if I remember correctly I spent ~$230 brand new. I have had a ton of luck buying new bike stuff on eBay with about 50 different purchases over the last yr and never once a bad experience. I do however try to only buy from people with more than 100 positive feedback, and generally for components and parts I buy from big distributors with >1,000+ positive feedback.
One thing to keep in mind (do your own research because I'm going off of a bad memory from a full yr ago) but I think I went with a D/A 7800 instead of the newest model (7900 or 7950) because I vaguely remember there "might" be compatibility issues since my bike was a couple of yrs old and the rest of my setup was all 7800 and I chose to be safe as opposed to sorry (and it happened to also be cheaper but that wasn't my deciding factor). Maybe it was the BB that had to be 7800, I dunno, but worth at least looking up.
If it's any consolation, I'm 6'-1" and I got a 170mm length.
Any 10 speed crank, shimano, sram, campy, fsa, rotor, whatever will all work fine with your kinda sorta DA group that came with your cervelo. Swapping a crankset is something that everyone should know how to do. It is very simple and requires minimal tools. If you do not have tools and do not wish to buy them, you should at least find a local buddy that does. Relying on the LBS for everything is a drag. Once you know how to do everything you may decide that you do not feel like it and wish to pay someone else to do it. That is fine but understanding how the stuff works is a good thing. It really is not rocket-surgery to work on bikes.
@ John: Thanks - good advice. I will definitely do a bit of digging to make sure I don't have a compatability issue before I pull the trigger on anything. Like you, I've really only had good experiences with my online purchases in the past but this bike component world is unfamiliar territory.
@ Rob: Appreciate the feedback. My big concern is being able to consistently maintain my wattage zones on the hills so I don't burn out before the run. Your experience sounds like a good one and is pushing me further toward the leap to a compact.
@ Chris & @ John: Point taken on the do-it-yourself approach. I'm more than happy to dig out my copy of Zinn & the Art of Triathlon Bikes and get my hands dirty on this. I figure that if I completely botch things I can always haul everything down to the evil LBS to fix it and I'll pretty much be in the same boat as if I went to them for the install in the first place. Also, you guys really have me thinking hard about this 165 mm crank thing which is funny since when I originally posted this morning I thought a step down to 170mm might be too radical. Now I'm thinking it might not be radical enough since you both have around 6 inches of height on me and are running 170s. I'm wondering if there are any other ENers out there that are around my size (5'7) that have gone down from 172.5s or whatever to 165s and can share some first hand experiences.
Thanks again, all.
Rob's fit comment is VERY important, but also pretty easy to remedy yourself by simply measuring the difference in length in the new crank arm and your old crank arm and moving your seat down by that same amount. I doubt it would even be noticeable between a 172.5 an a 170, but you would most likely notice it if you go down to the 165. Might actually be worth starting a whole new thread asking people what length crank arm they use and their height.
I currently roll with a 172.5mm on a 50/34, and am very interested in this as well, before I order a quarq that I'll use on both my bikes (road and tri).