Summary: Absolute worst crankset/BB I have used in 25+ years of racing & training. The BB come brand new with an ugly grinding sound - produced while spinning the crank without any load. Sure enough, the bearings seized within 1,500 miles. Thus, 2 BB sets within 3 months. This occurred in dry California conditions.
Front shifting lacked the crispness that comes with a Shimano or Campy crank.
What's worse, the design of the securing mechanism leads to failure. Non-drive crank loosens, and finally, when reinstalling crank for 3rd BB, non-drive crank stripped while applying spec load (measured w/Park torque wrench). Now sawing crank off to replace w/Dura Ace. Bottom line- AVOID!
Strengths: uh?
Weaknesses: See above. Who wants to change BB every month? Customer service has been challenging to work with.
Similar Products Used: Campy, Shimano
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Summary: This is a strong percise engineered stiff carbon crank. The item is straight and shifts quite well, with a nice modern strong carbon weave. The bearings are smooth the power transfer is great with a bit of a spring. This really is a great crank.
Strengths: Modern tight carbon weave with a great power transfer.
Weaknesses: Slightly heavier than Team Issue with ISIS Ti BB.
Similar Products Used: FSA K force, total junk.
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Bike Setup: FELT F1C, DA, FSA Plasma bars, Zipp 404's
Summary: I don't know what everyone is complaining about, but maybe I'm just lucky, like with every other badly-rated components I've bought. I would attribute it to the installation process, even if it was done "professionally." I've purchased a lot of FSA products - cranks/BB's/seatposts/Plasma handlebars (I actually live in the city of their world headquarters - Taipei!) and every single one has had its bolts stripped from just ever-so slightly over-tightening. All for the sake of saving a few grams of weight!?!?! Good thing that my trusty LBS never really tightens anything. Never came across this problem with any other brand where durability overweighs the sacrifices in weight. Weight-weenies don't actually ride/race their bikes I'm sure-wouldn't risk things snapping I'm sure!
In all fairness, I've used this crank - my 3rd SL-K (but first Mega-EXO) over two years and several thousand kms without any problems at all. I've bought 3 different FSA carbon cranks already and they're all fine. The crankarms themselves are fine, just not their FSA (ISIS) BB's. I chose this crank to replace another problematic SL-K (non-Mega-EXO) with a FSA Ti ISIS BB that was on this bike initially. I had replaced that pricy P.O.S. BB 3 times in 2 years! They kept developing a really annoying and noisy creaking/clicking sound after only ~1000 km. It was the same on 3 different bikes. Couldn't nail the problem for the longest time like exactly which part/bolt/washer/bearing was causing it. After that, I had enough and swapped to the then-new Mega-EXO and voila! Never any annoying sounds again. The crankarms themselves though are strong enough for me, but I'm only about Lance's weight - and I do thrash them and they've held up well.
Mine actually came with the better (?) K-Force chainrings but hands-down, the teeth-profiling is still not incomparable even to the mid to low-end from Shimano/Campy in terms of smoothness/shifting. They're definitely noisy in comparison. The BB is certainly not nearly as smooth as the the better brands, but like everything else, you get what you pay for!
Strengths: -price, price, price!
-performance-to-price ratio
-looks cool (matches this particular bike well)
Weaknesses: -a tad heavier than many others out there but for this price...
-FSA bolts are really soft; easy to strip the threading
-Noticably noisier than the big brands
-Make sure to use proper torque wrenches and follow always FSA's recm'd specs (any FSA bolts are really easy to snap/strip)
Similar Products Used: Shimano
Campagnolo
FSA SL-K (not Mega-EXO)
FSA Pro Team Issue (Ti ISIS BB)
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Summary: I wanted to do a quick review due to the number of really low scores this product received. This crank came on a demo bike I purchased from CC. Maybe I've just been lucky, or maybe I have correctly used a torque wrench and have not abused it, but I have had none of the problems others have had. I initially pulled it off and shelved it due to the bad press, but with a two year warranty figured I'd better ride it and have it fail if it was going to. Shifting is very good, it looks very attractive on my black carbon Look frame. Stiffness is also good. The mega Exo BB was a little stiff in the beginning but has loosened up nicely. (I used Shimano Spin Doctor grease on it for break in, which is lightweight, and then switched to Pedros Teflon grease for a clean an re-tighten recently).
Hopefully it will continue to hold up this well or will die before two years so I can warranty it. It is a very good deal for a carbon crank and can be found for about $175 (with coupon discounts) at places like Sierra Trading Post.
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