FSA K-Force Light Carbon

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
Stowe VT

Summary:
if you own a nice race bike with a Campy groupo, but have this crank installed instead by the manufacturer, take it off and sell it on eBay and get a Campy Chorus or Record UT crankset instead.

Campy UT cranks are stiffer, lighter, and shift MUCH better than FSA (crap) KForce cranks.

FSA also has terrible customer service, and has been infested with quality control issues.

Strengths:
for the first few hundred miles, it'll be OK. Start doing hard sprints or hill climbs, and the crank starts to creak, flex, and if you are lucky, you won't crash when the left crank arm fails.

Weaknesses:
besides the above, the shifting SUCKS on Campy Record groupos.

Similar Products Used:
all the best stuff out there

Price Paid:  $375.00

Favorite Ride:
giant

Summary:
hi, i need some advise or help on deciding what crankset should i keep, i recently orde a fsa compact 50/34t but the company made a mistake and send me a 52/38t wich a local bike shop put it on for me, now i have the choice to keep it or send it back, but my problem is that a have to pay again to take off an then pay again to put the one that a originally ordered, by the time i am dome is going to cost me $75 bucks. i would like to know if it's worth to go through all that hassle.Also i did not mention that i have a 11-26 cassette, Please advise thanks

Strengths:
unknow

Weaknesses:
unknow

Similar Products Used:
shimano 105

Price Paid:  $350.00 at Internet

Favorite Ride:
Hilly ride with competetive friends

Bike Setup:
A 15.35 Waterford bike, with pedals and water bottle cages. Sram Red, KCNC brakes, FSA K-force light cranks. Carbon this and carbon that.

Summary:
I like the asthetics of the crank with its red bottom bracket. Easily installs. Spins well, but this was short lived ( described in weaknesses).

Strengths:
Light weight

Weaknesses:
After about 2500 mls, I noticed friction in the crank. Took it to a LBS. The left bearing was about to freeze, the right was very gritty. FSA has a 2 yr warranty, on this 11 month old crank set, but I didn't have the receipt. The cranks set hasn't been out in the market for 2 yrs. Any how, FSA wouldn't offer any help to the bike shop. The shop sent the bearing to FSA to be rebuilt, which I had to pay for.
3 wks ago the cranks started to make noise when standing and mashing hard. At home I noticed the spring wavy washer wasn't there any more on the left side. Called LBS, they found a bulletin on FSA website, stating these washers may split and then be gone. FSA stated that I could buy one from their website. WOW, what service and a F%&#@*g warranty.

Similar Products Used:
Many FSA cranksets, along with Shimano 105, Ultegra, and Durace

Price Paid:  $440.00 at BeyondBikes.com

Bike Setup:
'94 Lemond Ti, Campy Chorus shifters and derailleurs

Summary:
These are my initial impressions of the FSA K-Force Light Compact Crank. I recently bought two of these and installed one this past weekend.

- It's light - They claim 660 grams with the BB. My two weighed 668 and 675. It knocked exactly half a pound off the bike I installed it on.

- Installation was easy - However, if you don't own a torque wrench, buy or borrow one before installing the crank as the specified 36 ft/lbs is a lot more torque than you think. I was starting to get nervous about over-tightening it when the torque wrench finally clicked.

- The Q-factor is pretty narrow - I noticed the difference, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I'm sure it's not the narrowest crank on the market, but it's narrower than what I had before.

- It's very stiff - I'm really surprised how different the bike feels with the new crank. Apparently, the frame is stiffer than I thought and much of the flex I felt was in the old crank/bb combination.

- I like the compact gearing (34/50). The lower gear I gained will be quite useful. I did spin out on one downhill, but I was doing over 35 mph at the time. My other bike will have a 12-23 ten speed cassette instead of the 13-13 nine speed on this one, so I won't lose anything top end compared to what I had before (53/39 with a 13-23 cassette).

The ceramic bearings in the bb make a HUGE difference and I can ride at least two gears higher! ... Just kidding - ceramic bearings on bikes are a joke - but the bright red cups sure do look fast! ;-)

So far, I like it a lot. Time will tell as to how well it holds up.

Strengths:
Light weight
Easy intallation (if you have a torque wrench)
Very stiff
I like the compact gearing

Weaknesses:
None so far

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Price Paid:  $5.00 at LBS

Favorite Ride:
too many

Bike Setup:
Trek 03 5900

Summary:
Like the crankset very much, and thought the crank was perfect, then this week on an easy ride I thought my pedal was getting loose, turned out the metal pedal insert in the crank arm was loose. Checked the other and it was a little loose also. Have not switched or removed the DA 7800 pedals since the crank was installed, so no clue why the inserts came loose. Contacted FSA so we will see if they replace the crank under warrantee. I do like the crank very much

Strengths:
Light, strong, ceramic bearing BB

Weaknesses:
Non except crank arm pedal inserts, and maybe this was an early model that fsa has corrected????

Similar Products Used:
shimano, fsa