[Gar_Richards]

I’m in the process of updating the groups on my wife’s bike. A very generous friend donated 6800 levers and derailleurs and I have been able to pick up the rest of the groups at good prices, bar the crankset. What cranksets work well with 6800 and come up cheaper? Particularly if they come in compact and work with hollowtech be.

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[kil0ran]

wellsprop wrote:

I’m using 105 5800 crankset with RS685 shifters, works just fine. Also currently using a 105 5800 cassette with 6800 drive train, no issues.

As far as I can work out, all the Shimano 11speed stuff is cross-compatible for the equivalent levels i.e. 5800, 6800, 9000. Not so sure about the new R8000 R9100 and 5801 stuff though.

Yep, all cross-compatible plus Tiagra 4700 10-speed levers and mechs also now have the same pull ratio as the 11-speed groups (which means you can use them with 5700 & 6700 if you wish).

[FatAndFurious]

The official Shimano

The official Shimano compatibility chart is downloadable as a pdf file from here:

http://productinfo.shimano.com/download/pdf/com/1.8/en

That’s not to say that other things won’t work as well, but at least it’s a definitive list of things that definitely will work.

[Canyon48]

I’m using 105 5800 crankset

I’m using 105 5800 crankset with RS685 shifters, works just fine. Also currently using a 105 5800 cassette with 6800 drive train, no issues.

As far as I can work out, all the Shimano 11speed stuff is cross-compatible for the equivalent levels i.e. 5800, 6800, 9000. Not so sure about the new R8000 R9100 and 5801 stuff though.

[CXR94Di2]

Now is the time to consider
Now is the time to consider the gearing. Is the gear ratios fine for her, does she struggle with hills? Have you thought about a MTB crankset

[Anonymous]

Anything works, you could get

Anything works, you could get a decent Stronglight Impact and choose the rings she wants, obvs you’d need the correct BB.

[kil0ran]

I ran a 5800 cassette and

I ran a 5800 cassette and crankset with 6800 (Di2 version), worked absolutely fine with just a small weight penalty. If the bike is going to see winter miles you’ll save money on chain/cassette/cranks going 5800.

Praxis & FSA have options too, but they’re more expensive than 5800. They both also sell super-compacts (46-30) designed for the gravel market.

If you really want to save pennies you can also go with Tiagra 4700 or 105 5700 – but both carry a bigger weight penalty.

Oh and there’s also the non-series Shimano RS500 cranks available in 46-36 which are non-hollowtech but will work with the BB just fine. Personally I prefer the looks of these to the 5800/4700 cranks, more traditional-looking.

So, plenty of choice – I’d go with 5800 and that’s what I run on both of my bikes with Tiagra 4700 levers/derailleurs. Shifting is great and easy to set up.

[Run BMC]

I used to run a 5800 chainset

I used to run a 5800 chainset with Ultegra shifters /mechs and other than a slight weight penalty, I didn’t really notice any dfference to a full Ultegra set up.

[Author]

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