How does chainset quality affect ride

[latusaki]

I am trying to find how the quality of chainsets can differ, and what performance gains you can get.
Correct me if I am wrong, by chainset I refer to the cranks that hold the pedals, and the big gears connected to the cranks. It feels like this is a quite simple structure, so how does it affect performance?

And for a hard example: My bike, fuji tread 1.1 has the following chainset 'Oval Concepts 520, forged 6066 arms' ( couldnt find specification anywhere). How could my ride benefit if I upgraded to shimano tiagra(which matches the rest of components)

 

[Drago]

What do you mean by 'quality'? In consumer terms it means fitness for the intended purpose.

 

[simon.r]

Tiagra will probably weigh a bit less, be slightly stiffer and shifts will be a bit smoother, but in practical terms I doubt you'd notice any significant difference.

Looks are subjective.

Check BB compatibility before buying anything.

 

[latusaki]

I am not looking to buy anything, I just wasn't sure what separates a good crankset from a bad one (other than price), and how this affects performance. Is it only weight? Also, slightly stiffer (for the cranks) means you got slightly more effective energy transition?

 

[latusaki]

What do you mean by 'quality'? In consumer terms it means fitness for the intended purpose.

It appears there are categories. I am asking what separates a Claris crankset from a Tiagra/Ultegra. Is it only weight?

 

[Citius]

Other than weight differences, there is no performance difference between different cranksets. They all do the same job, in the same way.

Some claim benefits from oval rings, but that's more a matter of personal preference.

 

[jack smith]

I assume you mean better performing, generally they get stiffer as the price increases this lets you shift under load abit easier and also transfers your power more efficently to the bike, useless if you have a good crankset and rubbish flexy frame though, i was going to directly compare sram rival and sram red cranks thisweek as i was interested but ill be getting rid of the bike mow before i can test it

 

[jack smith]

Other than weight differences, there is no performance difference between different cranksets.

Nah the chainset on my mtb was horrid you had to stop peddaling to shift the chainrings flexed so much

 

[HarryTheDog]

Looks like fuji are using the same cranksets on a 105/ultegra equipped bikes. So maybe your upgrade to tiagra might be a downgrade?http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/road-bikes/fuji-roubaix-1-1

 

[Citius]

Nah the chainset on my mtb was horrid you had to stop peddaling to shift the chainrings flexed so much

How would stopping pedalling in order to shift gears work on a bike with derailleurs?

 

[simon.r]

Some years ago I had Middleburn cranks on a singlespeed MTB and found them too stiff for my liking. I'm sure they were more efficient at transferring power, but I didn't like the 'feel' of them.

 

[jack smith]

You had to stop pedalling flick the shifter then gently turn your feet to get it to shift, swapping it to a standard shimano crank instead of the suntour one sorted it

 

[gbb]

One thing I noticed instantly with my then new Campag Veloce crankset with MPS ( microshift precision shifting) chainrings was how slick the changes are...one shift, snick, straight onto the selected ring.
I always noticed on previous bikes when id fitted aftermarket chainrings (such as Dural rings)..the slight loss of clean shifting. Its a balance between cost effective rings that sacrifice efficiency and rings that have had a reasonable amount of development...but the cost reflects that. And thats just with modest quality chainsets.

 

[gbb]

We often talk about possible performance gains, be it wheels, cranksets, etc etc but sometimes you can't (or shouldn't) try to measure the benefit in speed gains, but rather appreciate the feel of better quality...whether that feel is through stiffer wheels, lighter wheels, stiffer cranksets, cleaner shiftng chain rings etc etc etc.
I got semi serious on a cro-mo framed bike, heavy, basic, strong. 20 years later im riding a carbon bike with much better wheels, components etc etc. Does any of that make me faster, not really.....but the ride quality and pleasure of ownership of the bike or its components is immesurably better. Thats sometimes what youre paying for.

 

[simon.r]

We often talk about possible performance gains, be it wheels, cranksets, etc etc but sometimes you can't (or shouldn't) try to measure the benefit in speed gains, but rather appreciate the feel of better quality...whether that feel is through stiffer wheels, lighter wheels, stiffer cranksets, cleaner shiftng chain rings etc etc etc.
I got semi serious on a cro-mo framed bike, heavy, basic, strong. 20 years later im riding a carbon bike with much better wheels, components etc etc. Does any of that make me faster, not really.....but the ride quality and pleasure of ownership of the bike or its components is immesurably better. Thats sometimes what youre paying for.

I agree entirely. My titanium framed, carbon forked, Ultegra kitted out 'best' bike is worthy of a much better rider than me, but it really is a joy to ride. Even minor servicing like tweaking the gears or adjusting the brakes is a pleasure because of the quality of the components.