Crankset advice.

[jimmypug]

Hi, not long back i bought an old peugeot competition 2000 just to try road cycling, i'm liking it
The problem was the gearing it has 52/42 chanrings and a 7 speed cassette which was a 12-24, i have since changed to 11-28 which has been a bit better on the hill's.
But now i want to upgrade i was thinking of fitting campagnolo veloce 10 speed.
My only issue is the more i read about campagnolo power and ultra torque the more problems i'm seeing.
My questions are-
Are they really riddled with that many problems and would it be ok to fit a shimano crank?
And would there be any compatability problems fitting said components to my bike?
Any advice welcome, i'm totally new to this
Thanks.
Jim.

 

[hamster]

Firstly you can easily swap the inner ring for a 39. I agree, in most places 42 is murderous. Shimano road is 38T minimum, so doesn't give any real benefit over swapping the inner ring on the existing chainset. 39/28 should get you over most hills provided you are reasonably fit.

Of the Campag stuff, Ultratorque is excellent, Power Torque less so. However you can also use Shimano, or indeed anyone else. Just don't mix Campag and Shimano square taper bottom brackets across brands as it's a recipe for trouble. Easiest is to buy a Spa Cycles chainset in 110pcd, which allows you to go as low as 33T on the inner.

 

[otherself]

Re:

A have a fulcrum carbon chainset that uses campys ultra torque technology and record cups. No problems, it's been mint.

 

[jimmypug]

Hi, I really did want to go for the veloce groupset, thanks to both of you for putting my mind to rest.
Right next question is that i was going for a compact chainset, when i look at cassette sizes i have noticed that the shimano seem to go bigger as in 11-32 teeth and the campagnolo's are round about 12-25-27 would the hill's be more of a struggle with this size cassette compared with a shimano?
My worry was i have an 11-28 on atm or is it the fact that my chainrings are 52-42 ?
Sorry if these are stupid questions.
I just dont want to spend a few hundred quid to find im no better off.
Thanks.

 

[hamster]

Not stupid questions at all.
The gearing depends on the ratio of front to back. So 42/21 is exactly the same as 38/19. Reducing the chainring size is the easiest way to drop gearing.

11-32 is really an MTB gear set - you should be able to get up most things with a 39/28. Campag also do a 13/29. Alternatively fit a triple at the front.

 

[Southwestslacker1]

Have a look at the bikecalc website, it will show you the relative differences in gear ratios with different chainrings and cassettes. The numbers are fairly arbitrary but it shows how different combinations stack up.

http://www.bikecalc.com/gear_speed?rim_ ... ph&form=no

Also if switching to Campagnolo you’d need new wheels as the cassette/freehub interface is different for Shimano and Campagnolo.

 

[jimmypug]

Re:

Thanks for info,Looking at the gearing i would like at least a 29.
I was all set to get the veloce parts but when looking for cassette's i noticed they are quite hard to get hold of and a lot of places dont have many options in stock. Could the situation get worse and could i have issues getting replacement parts ?
Is veloce nearly EOL ?

So i thought i would have a look at potenza 11 speed and there is not a massive difference in price, if i'm right with what i have read, you can use a shimano cassette with no issues and are much more readily available.

If i was to go with veloce i would have to swap my freehub to a campag. Luckily the new wheel's i bought have have a swapable freehub body, so i did have the option.

Now my problem is some parts are plain potenza and some are marked as potenza HO hydraulic optimized. My question is are there any compatibility issues between the two?
I have searched but cant find a definitive yes or no as yet.
So that's where i am atm.
Thanks.