Shimano Ultegra 10-Speed FC-6600 Double

Price Paid:  $175.00 at mail order

Bike Setup:
I use these on an otherwise Campagnolo drive train (shifters, derailleurs, cassettee). They work great.

Summary:
I'm a big rider (over 220lbs at the moment)and ride hard most of the time. And while I keep lusting after the light/bling carbon cranksets (esp. Campy UT), this Ultegra 6800 double just works too damn good and trouble-free to justify the upgrade (yet). Quite simply, I've never had any kind of problem with these things, over maybe 5,000 miles of riding. I did upgrade to Phil Woods bearings, installed by competitivecyclist.com, which I like, but the original bearings did not give me any real problems.

Strengths:
After reading so many horror stories about other external bearing cranksets (esp. FSA), TROUBLEFREE and stiff, shift well.

Weaknesses:
weight, but hey, I gotta lose some myself before I start whining . . .. No carbon "bling".

Similar Products Used:
older Campy record and chorus (non-UT)

Price Paid:  $0.00 at lbs

Favorite Ride:
rolling hills

Bike Setup:
cannondale cadd8 optimo mostly with ultegra

Summary:
Replacing my old octa link nine speed cranks with these was a revelation.
Not only where they significantly lighter
they also topped scoured on a stiffness test, when compared to all the major brands.
The external bearing design seems to do what they say it does extremely well, spinning smooth and strong thus far.
If you havent used the new ultegra the speed of the sifts both up and down th chain wheels may shock you when compared to the old ultegra its that good.

Strengths:
Reasonable weight.
Extremely stiff.
Shift speed light years a head of the old modle.

Weaknesses:
l can honestly say l cant think of one thing wrong with them.

Similar Products Used:
shimano 600, various mtb stuff, nine speed ultegra

Price Paid:  $180.00 at pinoybikes.com

Favorite Ride:
anywhere far from home

Bike Setup:
Trek 1500 Aluminum w/ carbon fork '06 and full Ultegra 2007 groupset. Shimano WH-R550 wheelset.

Summary:
Well, Ive only used this for awhile so far, but many of my friends tell me it's a great crankset. They have the older models too, and until now they haven't had any major problems with it.

The feel of the rotation of the crank is very smooth, but sometimes it can be slightly noisy, but it also could be the BB. It's also stiff, so the feel is great in sprinting and climbing. It shifts very quickly, but it works best with the Ultegra front derailleur. Although in pictures, the Dura-ace looks better than the Ultegra crankset, for me, it actually looks nicer than the Dura-ace crank in actual.

Strengths:
It's stiff, and it's beautiful. You wont be able to tell the difference of performance between an Ultegra and a Dura-ace, except Dura-ace has some stiffer shifting.

Weaknesses:
It makes some noise, but it's bearable, and it's possibly the gearing or BB.

Similar Products Used:
Dura-ace cranks.

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Colorado Cyclist

Favorite Ride:
Mont Vernon hill, NH

Bike Setup:
Titus Modena
Full Ultegra
Easton Circuit Wheels

Summary:
This crankset came installed on a new bike as part of a build kit. I currently only have about 40 miles on it, so these are first impressions.

The first thing you notice is the unusual appearance, which I find to be very nice. The outboard bearing cups fill in the gap between the crank arm and the BB shell. I'm not sure if that will make cleaning easier or harder...time will tell. These cups do require a special tool to remove or install. I'm not quite sure why the old style tools weren't good enough, so plan on buying another tool if you do your own maintenance. The anodizing on the chainrings is a nice blue-gray color, and the polish on the arms is flawless.

The chanirings are beautifully machined with numerous rectangular pins and cutouts for improved shifting. The shifting is excellent (with the Ultegra front deraileur and Shimano 10-speed chain). There is about 1 mm of runout in the chainrings, making it a little challenging to keep the front deraileur from rubbing.

The claims about additional stiffness are hard to confirm vs. the previous generation of Ultegra crank. They do seem adequately stiff for the climbing I do at my weight (about 175 lb).

The bottom bracket does not spin as freely as I would expect. This may be a break-in issue. I expect the seals to loosen up and the excess grease to be pushed out as I put on more miles.

The only real complaint I have is that the left side crank arm seems to have less ankle clearance than the previous Ultegra model. In addition, the edges around the BB attachment on that arm are less rounded. The result is a bloody ankle if you happen to make contact. I may be able to fix this with a little cleat adjustment, but I still feel this is a detail that Shimano overlooked.

Strengths:
Beautiful, light, highly functional

Weaknesses:
Left side ankle clearance could be better.

Similar Products Used:
Ultegra 6500 crank