Set it up right and you rarely have to fiddle with it again. Light and reasonably priced

I have one in their Red/Black combo and the black coating will wear revealing silver underneath.

The SRAM Red compact crankset came with the Colnago when I bought it. Never having used SRAM before. I was a die hard Dura Ace rider, but I am converted. While some folks have commented on flex problems, I cannot duplicate them. I live in the mountains at 7,000' and have to do a lot of hard out of saddle hill climbing. This crank / chainring does not flex for me (5'11", 179lbs). I like the fact I can swap chainring when climbing out of saddle without fear the chain will skate on the ring switch. The Dura Ace tripe I had on my Litespeed would, frequently and painfully skate and it most defiantly flexed.

I liked the combo so much, I swapped out all the Dura Ace on my Litespeed Ti bike to SRAM red. Luckily, people still go for the Dura Ace's bike jewelry status and I sold it all on ebay from a small profit on the swap. Now I enjoy the Red compact crank on both bikes. Beats the fiddly aspects of a triple setup any day.

I did pick up a spare regular SRAM Red Crank for the days when I come down from the lofty mountains to the flats to pick up the higher gearing. Its a bit chilly here in the winter, so unless I want to live in the basement on rollers, I drop down to the coast and ride a weekend or two a month. The swap only takes about 15 minutes to change the crank, move the derailleur and time it.

I have one crankset on the SRAM Red GXP bottom bracket and the other on an Optimus ceramic GXP bottom bracket. Frankly, I cannot tell the difference in performance, but the Optimus was about half the price of the SRAM and came in gold, so it matched the bike (Litespeed) better.

Similar Products Used:

Dura Ace

Light weight looks good. i like how you can see through the bottom bracket.

Flexes big time. i'm a cat 2 linebacker built sprinter and I can flex these cranks no problem. Never had an issue before with Dura Ace. i made a mistake making the leap to save a few grams.

I first climbed aboard and stood on it and heard the chain rub the front der. So I got and adjusted it and no matter how much I adjusted it, it would still flex enough to rub. I am not happy wth this crankset. The Dura Ace crankset is still the best.

Similar Products Used:

Dura Ace, Campy, ultegra.

+ light
+ stiff (cranks)
+ good looks
+ resists/hides scuff marks well

+ flexy outer chainring

I've used both the RED compact and regular crankset, with the ceramic BB. The ceramic BB has a ton of drag, much more than my cheaper shimano ultegra. I just replaced the BB with a Chris king, but that's another story.

Crankset is good, except for major flex under power in the big ring. As most people have posted, the outer ring is defective in the older models, and you really need to get an updated one to be safe. I had somebody watch me on the rollers, and they noted that the top part of the chainring seems to get twisted like a potato chip away from the frame when under strong pedaling pressure - almost like the chain pulling against the back wheel pulls the chainring sideways.

the saddest part of this is that SRAM's tech got very rude with me when I called in for help on this, and tried to blame the frame (cervelo r3 is pretty stiff tho), and when I asked to speak to a supervisor there, nobody has called me back.

So much for customer service. My advice, get the crank, but factor in the price of a dura-ace or ultegra chainring, because SRAM will likely be less than helpful.

Similar Products Used:

+ duraace
+ record
+ ultegra
+ FSA

I picked up the Red crankset on sale at Performance because I was unhappy with the compact FSA Gossamer crankset that was OEM on my bike. The compact Sram Red totally cured all the problems I was having with balky, slow shifts and dropped chains. Finally, the front is shifting as smoothly and reliably as the rear--total satisfaction on that count. No problems with playing happily with Shimano shifters and derailleurs, either. It does its job and looks nice, and saved some weight. Based on my experience with this one component, I would seriously consider a Sram Red/Force group for my next bike. That is about the best compliment I can give.

I can't comment on the flex complaints, probably because I'm not powerful enough to notice this problem. Ditto with the non-ceramic GXP bottom bracket, which has been fine for me so far. Some day I would like to test a ceramic and steel bearing BB in a blind comparison test.

the rest of red groubpo is good.

very flexy in big ring.

very very flex in the big ring.when I use big ring and smallest cassette it rub the Front derailleur.I try to make more clearance but it make the chain get over the big ring.so I don't happy with it.

Similar Products Used:

Dura-ace 7900 groubpo.

Weight, rear shifting

front shifting, big chainring

I had major problems with the front end of the RED drivetrain (chain would pop off under pressure, many bruises on thighs for it). Problems were entirely solved by swapping the big chainring out for the Shimano Ultegra compact. The bike rides like new. Major shortcoming and weakness of of the grouppo is the flexy chainring. I read good things about their service, but they half-assed it with me when I called them. Said they were not aware of any problem and that this year's ring is the same as last year (hmmm...I keep reading about an SPR version for pros?). anyhoo...

Good Price weight Ratio, comes with ceramic BB,

it is not the best compact crank out there, stiffness is average, could expect more from RED Gruppo,

This is a review for the 50/34 compact version, I read previous reviews and was concerned about the flex reported and some other troubles with shifting. I have ridden the crank for about 300 miles and have not experienced any troubles so far. I swapped out my old Rival compact crank and had to raise the Front Der. by 1mm and adjust the trim for outer and inner limit (which is pain in the A**). One thing i have noticed while torquing the left arm that it needs way more torque than my previous Rival crank and you might mistake flex for some play if not appropriately set up (i guess a torque tool would be most useful here). I am able to flex most wheels while sprinting but so far the big ring does not show more flex than other crank sets i had. Shifting is very smooth although i don't feel a difference between the Rival crank. I got the Black Box BB and would say the drag is comparable to my old Ultegra BB, nothing magic but a huge improvement to the standard SRAM GXP BB that is simply crap. Value is a true 5, overall it is a 4, the new DA 7900 compact seems to be the new benchmark but it comes in almost at twice the price.

Similar Products Used:

FSA, Truvativ, SRAM,

Looks Really Cool. Spins nicely with the Ceramic Bottom Bracket bearings.

Might as well use a Potato Chip! Oh, BTW, I paid over $500 Bucks a few months ago and now the price is dropping like a rock. I've seen the set new on EBAY for as low as $250 and multiple $350 listings.

SRAM Red Compact Crankset, 34-50.
I cannot see how anyone that has used this product could be happy with it. I read a few reviews stating that the Red Groupo made noise with the chain and the cassette but the noise is actually coming from the FLEX in the Big Ring. I was getting a lot of noise under load while riding in my small ring on the 4 upper cogs of the cassette. So much so that on quiet climbs, guys behind me would comment. The noise seemed to be coming from the front however. Thinking that it could be flex of the big ring, I backed out the stops on the front derailleur this way while riding, I could look down and try to "Trim" the Der. under load. I am not a monster in size being 6' and about 170 but the large ring FLEXED so much that it would still rub even while riding in the small ring. I had other problems with it as well with burring on the teeth. I replaced it with a Shimano Ultegra ring and it is beautiful. The small ring seems to be OK, perhaps the diameter is not big enough to flex too much. There is a point where weight savings comprimises function and safety and I think that this is a prime example.

Similar Products Used:

Ritchey WCS 9 Speed Compact Crankset.
Campy Chorus Carbon Compact Set.
Shimano Standard Cranksets for years.

Weight, stiffness, shifting and looks.

The chain is a tad bit noisier than the DA set.

I swapped a DA crankset for this one and couldn't be happier. The crank arms and rings are just as stiff as DA. I know some hate the looks but I really dig the way they look. The shifts are also much smoother.

Similar Products Used:

Dura Ace, Ultegra, 105

Look cool! I like flashy...
For a while I was the only one with them.

Very flexible chainrings. You can see them flex as you climb or sprint!

Well...where do I start.
To begin I think I have to give credit to my LBS (Bicycle Express and in particular Ben) and Kristjan from SRAM, for all the assistance they have given me.

As one of the first non-pro's to get a RED groupset I was very keen to give it everything and threw it straight into an Elite Teams Criterium race for it's first hard ride. Maybe not the best idea in hindsight...

It was during the first race that I first hit problems... On the jump to lead out our team sprinter, coming around a 90% bend in the 53x13, I put all my force into the cranks and "CRUNCH!". The chain popped off the outside of the big chainring and wrapped itself around the crank arms and fed itself back through the chainrings!!!
The cranks locked up and I rolled to the side of the road. It took a mechanic 10 minutes and removing the cranks to get the chain loose.
Luckily I was on the outside of the bunch and didn't bring down the entire field!

Anyway, long story short, a few months later after a change of cranks and 2 new sets of chainrings - and the National Manager of SRAM telling me that it must have been my "flexy frame" that was the problem (note, I ride a '08 Colnago Extreme Power) - I was given a pair of "Black-box prototype" chainrings that the pro's were using in the TDU.
I must say that this has fixed the problem.
They look just like FSA's and are a muh heavier grade.

So, I guess the cranks may be stiff, but the chainrings aren't suitable for larger/stronger riders.
If you are over 80kgs or an A grade rider or a sprinter make sure you buy a set of Record or FSA chainrings to go with them.
If you're a 60kg climber then you can keep the cool D/A knock off ones.

I'm not knocking SRAM - I love the rest of the group and have Force on my training bike now - but the chainrings are a 'known' problem.

Similar Products Used:

Campy Record, Shimano Dura Ace, FSA K-Force