Crankset quality question: advice needed.

Hi,

Could anyone tell me if the Truvativ Elita GigaPipe crankset with external
bearings is any good? I bought a bike that was advertised on the Internet
with a FSA ISIS drive crankset, but it came with a Truvativ crankset.
How is the quality of the Truvativ compared to the FSA? Will it last some
time? In other words: do I have to demand the FSA crankset or shouldn't I
complain about it?

I have a new Ultegra Octalink crankset here. Should I sell the Truvativ and
install the Ultegra or just use the installed crankset and when it fails
install the Shimano?

Thank you for your help.

Greetings, Derk

Derk wrote:
Hi,

Could anyone tell me if the Truvativ Elita GigaPipe crankset with external
bearings is any good? I bought a bike that was advertised on the Internet
with a FSA ISIS drive crankset, but it came with a Truvativ crankset.
How is the quality of the Truvativ compared to the FSA? Will it last some
time? In other words: do I have to demand the FSA crankset or shouldn't I
complain about it?

ISIS BBs are very prone to short, short lives due to the teeny
bearings. Outbard BB cups were an answer to this and Octalink, which is
rapidly going away. The cranks themselves, Truvativ and FSA are both
good cranks with so-so rings.

I would keep the Truvativ and sell the shimano one.

I have a new Ultegra Octalink crankset here. Should I sell the Truvativ and
install the Ultegra or just use the installed crankset and when it fails
install the Shimano?

Thank you for your help.

Greetings, Derk

Derk wrote:
Hi,

Could anyone tell me if the Truvativ Elita GigaPipe crankset with external
bearings is any good? I bought a bike that was advertised on the Internet
with a FSA ISIS drive crankset, but it came with a Truvativ crankset.
How is the quality of the Truvativ compared to the FSA? Will it last some
time? In other words: do I have to demand the FSA crankset or shouldn't I
complain about it?

I have a new Ultegra Octalink crankset here. Should I sell the Truvativ and
install the Ultegra or just use the installed crankset and when it fails
install the Shimano?

I have Shimano cranks on my road bike, but the best crankset I have ever tried
are my MTB Truvativ Firex
Wanted Truvativ for my road bike but couldn't find italian ISIS BB.
Those new external bearings should resolve some durability issues that splined
BBs had (both ISIS and octalink).
I think that integrated crank/BB are not that important but bigger external
bearings are great idea.

Hi Peter,

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

ISIS BBs are very prone to short, short lives due to the teeny
bearings.
So I should be glad I got the Truvativ GPX with exterior bearings instead of
the FSA Isis drive if I understand you well.

The cranks themselves, Truvativ and FSA are both good cranks with so-so
rings.
Are there any aftermarket rings? Will T.A. rings fit for example?

How much do these exterior bearings cost when I have to replace them btw?

Thanks for your answer!

Greetings, Derk

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 15:33:46 +0100, Derk wrote:

How much do these exterior bearings cost when I have to replace them btw?

Assuming they're compatible with Shimano (and the noises I've heard are
that they're mostly all interchangeable, since really the interface
consists of a tube of a certain diameter, which is easy to match), 26.50
euro for an Ultegra at Rose versand. 105 BBs are so far not available
separately, I believe.


Jasper

Jasper Janssen wrote:
On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 15:33:46 +0100, Derk
wrote:

How much do these exterior bearings cost when I have to replace them
btw?

Assuming they're compatible with Shimano (and the noises I've heard
are that they're mostly all interchangeable, since really the
interface consists of a tube of a certain diameter, which is easy to
match), 26.50 euro for an Ultegra at Rose versand. 105 BBs are so far
not available separately, I believe.

A coworker of mine replaced the OEM BB with an XTR BB on his external BB FSA
Gossamer crankset. He loves it and will probably go with the same BB next
time, also because it's cheaper.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Jasper Janssen wrote:

Assuming they're compatible with Shimano (and the noises I've heard are
that they're mostly all interchangeable, since really the interface
consists of a tube of a certain diameter, which is easy to match)
That would be VERY good news Jasper. I hope the rumors you heard are right!

Greets, Derk

smokva wrote:

I think that integrated crank/BB are not that important but bigger
external bearings are great idea.
I hope they're better than the ISIS bearings. My fear was that I got a very
cheap crankset on my bike, that I have to replace very soon, but according
to what I hear on this group, I'm lucky I got the new model with these
external bearings.

Grettings, Derk

smokva wrote:
Derk wrote:
Hi,

Could anyone tell me if the Truvativ Elita GigaPipe crankset with
external bearings is any good? I bought a bike that was advertised
on the Internet with a FSA ISIS drive crankset, but it came with a
Truvativ crankset.
How is the quality of the Truvativ compared to the FSA? Will it last
some time? In other words: do I have to demand the FSA crankset or
shouldn't I complain about it?

I have a new Ultegra Octalink crankset here. Should I sell the
Truvativ and install the Ultegra or just use the installed crankset
and when it fails install the Shimano?

I have Shimano cranks on my road bike, but the best crankset I have
ever tried are my MTB Truvativ Firex
Wanted Truvativ for my road bike but couldn't find italian ISIS BB.

Really? They're out there and widely available.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 08:30:28 +0100, Derk wrote:

smokva wrote:

I think that integrated crank/BB are not that important but bigger
external bearings are great idea.
I hope they're better than the ISIS bearings. My fear was that I got a very
cheap crankset on my bike, that I have to replace very soon, but according
to what I hear on this group, I'm lucky I got the new model with these
external bearings.

Well, I'd generally recommend that you apply a bit of compression to the signals
you get from any marketers, magazines or the nutty fringe types on the internet.
98% of the time nothing is as bad as the guy who screams "it suXXX" says it is
and it's never as great as the ad copy claims.

We're nuts, cranks, geeks and obsessives. We take "marginally better" and turn
it into "best ever." Even if it is best ever, it ain't by much.

There truly are bad, crappy, sucky components out there. Not many anymore and
again, not by much. Even the cheap stuff is nowhere near as bad as cheap stuff
used to be. There's a broad middle range of price point manufacture in this
industry that does a great job of giving you something pretty damn good for what
you paid. The exceptions are at the very highest and lowest price ranges.

Ron