Which Groupset?

Surely an upgrade on a Athena power-torque carbon crankset anyway?

If it give you the illusion of a performance boost, then why not?

I don't know. Probably not.
Honestly, the only cranks I've ever noticed to be any less/more stiff than anything else I've used are Miche track cranks - which bent all over the shop when I sprinted in races, so I've replaced with them with DA ones.

You won't have to buy campag rings. That's something.

We could be discussing Phil Wood fixed hubs circa 2008. "they spin forever" etc.

Where do cranksets by individual makers like Rotor fit into all this groupset nonsense?

I think the word you're looking for is "boutique".

From reading the Fairwheels shoot out and other internets. Some are lighter. Some are stiffer. None shift better*.

• unless you've paid for them and teamed with some praxis works chainrings. I which case they will be superior.
  

I've got praxis rings. They are alright. Seem to kill chains a bit quicker though.

The thing some of the botique cranksets have got right is being able to switch between compact and double.

That was one of the things that sold me on the 6850 cranks was that adjustability. #crankforlife

Like the new Ultegra / DA ones..

Plus Praxis make 110bcd 53/39 ring if I remember correctly.

Yes. But that's only recently. Also don't Rotars and 'dale use a spider that then take regular chainrings, rather than expensive propriety ones?

Christ, Dan, you are far too young to be such a freaking luddite.

Are boutique rings going to give shifting better than shimano though? They use computers and everything...
:)

I think a market exists for boutique chainsets because there will always be pro teams without groupset sponsorship, and those who associate this mix n match with the pro-aesthetic (rather than having your bike look OTP).

I can't believe I used 'pro-aesthetic' without irony.

Christ, Dan, you are far too young to be such a freaking luddite.

And you are too old for Internet forums :-p

Keeping the group set cranks and brakes is certainly easier- there will be no compatibility 'gotcha' moments to worry about.

However there are some usage cases when using one of the modular cranksets is an advantage- wishing to swap between BCD's, wishing to fit a powermeter, wishing to lose some weight etc.

It's also more involving, as it requires a bit of research, and I think the fun aspect of specifying your bike shouldn't be overlooked.

I prefer riding bikes to fiddling with them - the latter always eats into the time I have for the former so..

Yeah, but…
http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ciamillo-carbon-fiber-gravitas-crankset.jpg

I prefer riding bikes to fiddling with them - the latter always eats into the time I have for the former so..

Heh. The complete opposite of amey...

The other thing to mention is that Cannondale and Specialized (there are probably others?) have in-house cranks that are designed to work with their frames, Cannondale with their SiSl2 crank and Specialized with their Lightning variant.

The new (6800 and 9000) Shimano groups have managed to eliminate the compact/standard issue by producing a crank with a whole new bolt pattern that can have 50/34, 52/36 and 53/39 on it, but the only powermeter option is Stages as the spider is not removable.

For this reason I have a Stages on order.

Heh. The complete opposite of amey...

#sickburn

6800 and 9000 may have eliminated the compact/standard issue but they are a proprietary chain ring and although I haven't seen any Shimano chainrings advertised for sale for these cranks, I would point out that 7900 outer rings had a list price of £200 and the inners £50 ...

Stronglight already have an aftermarket fitment for 6800/9000 (and 6700/7900), 80Euro from xxcycle.com for the outers in CT2 style, so about 50% premium over flat plate rings of the same quality

Heh. The complete opposite of amey...

Amey doesn't even fiddle with his bikes himself. Just agonises about the build and then pays someone to build them...

Amey doesn't even fiddle with his bikes himself. Just agonises about the build and then pays someone to build them...

Although this time I am putting it together; its quite fun tbh, don't know why I never did it in past. Made a couple of errors but a great learning experience. I might just do this instead of riding :P

And I should say this again from putting bike together POV; Shimano is fucking ace!

How do you know if you've never built a bike with anything else?

*disclaimer, the only groupset I've ever set up is SRAM.

Wasnt a comparison