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anyone running 11-spd Campagnolo front mech on a SRAM Red chainset

by hill_climb
Sun, Jan 10, 2016 15:39
9

Hi all,

I've been experimenting with shorter crank lengths on my everyday road bike for some time and have really got used to 165mm now. It feels like a slightly smaller rotation circle (which it is of course) compared to previous 172.5mm, although I did try out 170mm on the way to running 165mm. I was able to use a relatively inexpensive track chainset to experiment. The pedal action really is a lot smoother and I really like it.

Problem comes along now with changing the good road bike. Its running Campy and they don't make a crank length shorter than 170mm from what I can see. The options seem to be Rotor, FSA and Sram. Starting with Rotor, despite trying to contact them they could not tell me what the predal / axle offset is compared to Campy Chorus (I have measured the Chorus cranks at 12mm by using a straight edge guide and a steel ruler). The Rotor cranks look almost stright to me and while I do not have a major problem with ankle clearance, I do not want to go back to old-school straight alloy cranks. This is a pity since I could swap the Campy chainrings on the the Rotor cranks (or can I, not totally sure).

FSA, I just don't care for the look of the current range of chainsets from them, so this leaves Sram. Everything about the Sram Red chanset looks ideal actually. Just not sure how the tooth geometry of the chainrings will work with the Campy Chorus front derailleur (I am running a KMC 11-speed chain).

 

So to get to the original question, is anyone currently running this setup and could pass along some comments?

 

thanks,

Bill

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9 comments

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Jack Osbourne snr | 8 years ago
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It should be fine. All the places Ive seen it are reputable.
Chicken Cycles carry it on their website... and given that they're one of the main cycling industry distributors in the UK, I think you'd be safe enough.

I'm with you on sticking to 10 speed. I've just completed a Record triple gruppo after 9 years. Been riding most of it since 2007, but spotted a pair of new Record ergos (I had Chorus) at a bargain price and the deed was done. The Chorus levers are going to elevate my 1988 Bianchi from 9 speed to 10... I just need to swap in a 10 speed cassette.

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hill_climb | 8 years ago
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It does seem as though the price varies if you shop around on the internet. The way I look at the price here is that if I was to go with the Sram Red, by the time that the price of new BB30 cups and bearings are factored in, as well as having the cups installed at the LBS, there really is not much price difference at all. Plus, I can swap the chainrings off the Chorus and sell the new rings.  I don't plan on swapping this transmission for a long time. I believe it really is true what people say, Campy doesn't wear-out, it wears-in over the miles.

One thing that does concern me a bit though is that there seems to be no mention of the chainset on Campy's website.  At least not that I can see. Going to need to look into this first before ordering.

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700c | 8 years ago
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yeah a bit of googling shows that whilst they do exist, they're quite rare and therefore £££

I've never paid full price for Campag/ fulcrum cranksets when I've bought them - but then I'm still running  10 speed as all my legacy stuff like wheelsets/ chains/ casettes are only 10s compatible. 

not looking forward to 'upgrading' to 11 and hope it will be a long time away yet

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Jack Osbourne snr | 8 years ago
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If you were using a SRAM yaw FD on a non-SRAM chainset and chain it might make a little bit of difference as it is a radically different design, but we're talking VERY marginal.

That's not what you're proposing, so you'll almost certainly be able to adjust your setup to shift almost perfectly over a non-Campag chainset.

However, a mere £395.99 gets you the chainset suggested by 700c... and you therefore get the perfect shifting you desire...as interpreted by Campag AND assuming you set it up right :p

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Campagnolo-_81304.htm?sku=267352&utm_source=Goog...

I ride Campag too BTW... Been a while since I bought a chainset though. I forgot they were quite pricey!

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hill_climb | 8 years ago
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700c, that's interesting, I was not aware of this. Having now gone off and done some further internet searching I do indeed see that Campy make a 165mm ultra-torque compact chainset. Its called Speed or something to that effect, not part of the main groupsets. A few online retailers stock it, but I don't see a menion of it on Campagnolo's webs site. Strange. Is it actually from Campagnolo ?

Jack, I take you point. Since I do run the KMC chain you mentioned, then perhaps everything will work fine.

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Jack Osbourne snr | 8 years ago
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Hill_climb, front derailleurs don't interact directly with chainrings. They interact with chains.

Tooth geometry has almost nothing to do with front mech compatibility.

So long as your shifters and FD are compatible, you will be able to adjust the mech to shift perfectly acceptably. A front mech is literally a blunt instrument performing the most agricultural task within the drivetrain.

If perfectly acceptably doesn't cut it for you then you will need to have all your drivetrain components from the same series by the same manufacturer.

You could try mixing it up with a kmc chain...

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700c | 8 years ago
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Campag do standalone cranksets in 165mm for 11s ultra torque

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hill_climb | 8 years ago
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Jack, I understand about setting the position of the mechanism relative to the rings and also with the limiting adjustment screws and I am sure they would all 'work', but I was thinking more about the shifting speed. I know that the manufacturers spend a lot of time designing quite subtle tooth profiles to accomodate their own front deraileur mechanisms. I'm thinking about Sram's yaw mechanism here compared to the other manufacturers. I am really impressed with just how well fron deraileurs work today and how positive and quick the ring changes are, I would not want to have that compromised if mixing groupsets was a problem.

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Jack Osbourne snr | 8 years ago
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Almost any mechanical front mech will work with any standard or compact chainset.
You may have to do a bit of limit adjustment, and possibly change the height and angle of the derailleur cage but it should work fine.

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