# Specialized Crux Build



## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

*Specialized Crux Cannondale CAAD10 Comprehensive build!*

Hello all welcome to my running blog! hope you all enjoy and have a good time. If along the way in our journey you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask! Well lets get started.


I just bought a 2012 Specialized crux and will be building it up. 

I'm going to do a few things on this thread.

One will be a comprehensive double build.


Since its the end of my road season I have torn apart my Cannondale CAAD10, cleaned it, inspected it for damage, and will be reassembling it.

I will also be assembling my Specialized Crux as the same time.

Two will be a review on each item that I put on my bikes.


Heres a rough outline of my bike builds

Cannondale CAAD10 56cm
Sram Red drivetrain
TRP R960 Brakes
3T cockpit
Thomson Seatpost
Look Keo Carbon Pedals
Velocity A23 Wheels w/ gp4000's

Specialized Crux
Sram Force drivetrain
specialized crank
avid shorty ultimate brakes
3T cockpit
EC70 seatpost
Shimano XT pedals
Velocity A23 Wheels w/ Challenge Griffo's

Stay tuned for some great bike geek-ness!!!


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

*The Great Debate!*

Now one of the many debates of all time is the difference of the SRAM Force shiters (or "brifters" as it contains both a brake lever and a shifter) and the SRAM Red shifters

Yes the RED is lighter, but by how much. Well the claimed weight on SRAM's website says that the Red shifters are 280g. Whilst the Force shifters are 302g. A difference of (a sprint losing, dropped off the back of alpe d huez, calf cramping, maybe I shouldn't have eaten that pizza last night) 22 grams!!!! Ok I'm over exaggerating a bit. But just a bit.

And if someone asks you, "Why red? and not force?" are you really going to say, "Well, I really wanted that 22 gram edge on my opponents." And! Do you even know where the weight savings is? If you do that is fine. If you don't, well here's some information I found researching the two.

A brief look at both shifters side by side offer little resolve.










The shifters look almost identical! The shifter paddles are noticeably different. The Force offers a magnesium lever while the Red is carbon.

But under a little more examination you can uncover the differences.

Here is a close up of both (red right) with the hoods off










The casings are almost identical. But the Sram Red casing is made from a slightly different material. It has a different feel and shade of black than the force. I found this on the Road Bike Action Magazine website "While the Force lever perch was molded from fiberglass-reinforced nylon, Red is made with a lighter-weight (and reportedly far more expensive) carbon-reinforced nylon matrix."

Also the linkage inside the shifter differ from Red to Force as shown in these two pictures.

RED










FORCE










Presumably the Red shifters have a titanium linkage and the force are aluminum.

So the reasons why Red is lighter than Force

Carbon Shifter vs Magnesium Shifter
Titanium insides vs Aluminum insides
Carbon-reinforced nylon matrix body. vs Fiberglass-reinforced nylon

Now does this all come down to performance? I'm no machinist and never will be. I don't know if titanium can be more precisely cut than aluminum. So for me I'll let the hours in the saddle tell that story.

The Sram Force is going on my Specialized and the Sram Red will be on my Cannondale


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## Guymk (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks for the great information! I am looking forward to the rest of the build.


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## JeffS (Oct 3, 2006)

I thought everyone was buying Red for zero-loss, not weight.

Personally, I buy Red and Rival. I've never even considered force shifters. I guess now Apex has taken the value spot.


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

JeffS said:


> I thought everyone was buying Red for zero-loss, not weight.
> 
> Personally, I buy Red and Rival. I've never even considered force shifters. I guess now Apex has taken the value spot.


I thought everything had zero-loss now: Zero Loss | SRAM


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

It is. All the Sram products offer zero loss technology.

A follow up:

Buddy talked to a SRAM rep the other day and he informed us that all the Sram levers have the same insides. Its just the material they are made out of to make them lighter. They all function in the same way.


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## JeffS (Oct 3, 2006)

werne1nm said:


> It is. All the Sram products offer zero loss technology.
> 
> A follow up:
> 
> Buddy talked to a SRAM rep the other day and he informed us that all the Sram levers have the same insides. Its just the material they are made out of to make them lighter. They all function in the same way.


Unless SRAM just made a change to all their sub-Red shifters, the SRAM rep is wrong.

Red has traditionally been the only shifter with zero-loss on the rear shifter. This was definitely the case through the 2010 model year.


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

Zero Loss | SRAM

Products That Use This Technology
DoubleTap® 10 Flat-Bar Road Shifters
DoubleTap® 9 Flat-Bar Road Shifters
SRAM Apex DoubleTap® Controls
SRAM Apex Front Derailleur
SRAM Force DoubleTap® Controls
SRAM Red DoubleTap® Controls
SRAM Rival DoubleTap® Controls
SRAM X0 9-Speed Trigger
SRAM X9 9-Speed Trigger
X7 9-Speed Trigger


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## Guymk (Mar 27, 2009)

Yes but if you click on the links for the rival, force, and apex shifters and look under the specs you will see that they say "zero loss on the front".


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

I stand corrected and educated. Thank you! I wonder what piece put in there to make it "zero loss". Does anyone know?


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

*The Frame*

Sorry for the long delay. I was waiting to borrow a scale from a friend and just finally bit the bullet and bought my own. SO! shall we?


Specialized Crux Frame 56cm

weighed with no water bottle bolts, hanger, and seat post clamp.

was weighed with the bottom bracket bearings. BUT what I did was take an average of the two other bottom bracket bearing sets I have. Each bearing weighs 25 grams each. So Subtract 50 grams from the weigh shown here.










the fork

weighed with the race and star nut in










the fork mounted brake stop










derail hanger










Seat clamp 










head set with 30mm of spacers










brakes



















Honestly these brakes look BAD ASS. I had trp carbon euro x and hated them. mainly b/c i didn't have the toe in option and they were just to wide. I hit my knees and calfs on them.

the bars

3t pro eurgosum 44cm










and the stem

3t arx pro 110mm










so here it is built up so far










coming on the next post will be my comparison of the 3t arx pro and 3t arx team. and my rival vs force Front Derailuer.


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## Guymk (Mar 27, 2009)

I am going to make a prediction on the rival vs. force Front Derailleur: There will be no difference. If you go on sram's website the listed weight for both is the same.


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

My rival is two grams lighter!!!


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## quickfeet18 (Mar 2, 2007)

I have ridden all of the Sram shifters quite a bit and there is a very real difference between the different tiers. My groups all have Red shifters and force everything else. The red shifters are awesome.


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## Guymk (Mar 27, 2009)

How is the build coming?


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## brmike22 (Sep 12, 2011)

great shots. i'm thinking about a very similar build. looking fwd to your review and pics once it's complete.


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

Bike is done! I'll post pictures soon. Weighs in at 18 pounds. W/ my velocity a23's and challenge griffo's


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## helios (Jul 22, 2010)

Were you able to use the Gore sealed cables on the CruX? I was going to use them but they were too thick to fit in entries to my CruX.


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

i bought the low friction sealed derailuer cables and they didn't work (ended up putting those on my caad10). 

Apparently since they have that extra liner on them they are 5 or 6mm and the holes in the crux frame are 4 or 5 respectively. 

I used the Gore Low Friction derailuer cables. not the SEALED ones and they worked fine. They are the standard 5 or 4mm i can't remember right now.

they are not sealed but i used a ferrule with a little liner on it and used that rubber accordion style thing on it before i routed it through my derailuers

built up my bike weighs just around 18 8 oz.

right now i think its the tube in the front wheel and my griffo pro. instead of my griffo open tubular... (i had it warrentied the tred was coming unglued.

i'm kind of disapointed its not lighter....BUT! thats ok. the velocity a23 comp build isn't the lightest wheelset either.

without wheels the bike weighs 11 pounds 2oz. so that gives you an idea of weight. minus the wheelset.

pics up soon. i've been busy with school starting again and all


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

there she is!

had my first race yesterday and the bike performed awesome. I needed some work, but thats another story!


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## goneskiian (Jan 13, 2005)

Nice build!

What chainrings are those?


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

goneskiian said:


> Nice build!
> 
> What chainrings are those?


Sorry to interject... we had an extra road double crankset and bought the Specialized compact spider. I got FSA 36-46 rings for it. I think my knees appreciate the 172.5mm cranks over the 170s I had as well! (No toe overlap on my 52).

(Kinda bad pic)

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V4zDtBZmFfG9zuFcBvVCsA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bCAbQEH00Ts/TnPG4kn105I/AAAAAAAAIxc/fzAGAgXa39g/s640/IMAGE_1000001038.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a>


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## helios (Jul 22, 2010)

The other rings look like the SRAM Red Black cx rings. 
I had a compact spider and sold it to buy a standard but now I kind of wish I still had the compact :-(


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

allison said:


> Sorry to interject... we had an extra road double crankset and bought the Specialized compact spider. I got FSA 36-46 rings for it. I think my knees appreciate the 172.5mm cranks over the 170s I had as well! (No toe overlap on my 52).
> 
> (Kinda bad pic)
> 
> <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V4zDtBZmFfG9zuFcBvVCsA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bCAbQEH00Ts/TnPG4kn105I/AAAAAAAAIxc/fzAGAgXa39g/s640/IMAGE_1000001038.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a>


Are those Vuelta Corsa tubular wheels on that bike? If so, any races on them yet? What do you think of 'em?


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

they are just sram chainrings force? i think. i don't know if they are red. it was a head ache trying to find them.

Also i have those rings on standard 130bcd spider.

I had to take a grinder to the pin that lines up with the crank arms because of clearance issue

i was lucky enough to get a specialized crank with both spiders for both options if i ever needed it.

They are red KCNC chain ring bolts too.


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## BeerDrinkingDad (Oct 19, 2008)

allison said:


> I think my knees appreciate the 172.5mm cranks over the 170s I had as well!


Que?


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

llama31 said:


> Are those Vuelta Corsa tubular wheels on that bike? If so, any races on them yet? What do you think of 'em?


Awesome so far! Hubby did his first glue job on them with Trigger's. I raced Cross Vegas and DTLA locally on Sunday. Hoping to make the tires last all season, but we'll be doing 15-20 races 



BeerDrinkingDad said:


> Que?


I dunno but I was having all kinds of knee issues prior to switching out the cranks. Granted, I was also doing 3-6hr rides with climbing, but they were fun :thumbsup:


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## goneskiian (Jan 13, 2005)

Sounds like you're back on the bike Allison?

I haven't checked in at MTBR lately but it sounds like you've recovered from you sesamoid issues? 

Great to see some racing pictures of you again!

Wife and I are going to be down in your area in a couple weeks. Any races I should check out? 

Cheers!
-Ian 
(the big dude from Washington you were kind enough to take on a night ride last December)

Sorry for the threadjack! I'll stop now. kthnxbye!


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

My crux is for sale. 2000 plus shipping let me know!


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

Both of these bikes featured in this thread are for sale. pm me for details.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

werne1nm said:


> Both of these bikes featured in this thread are for sale. pm me for details.


So I guess you didn't end up liking them?


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## werne1nm (Jan 20, 2011)

Loved them. problem is i do not want multiple loan payments when i graduate in a year. i have to start paying off my private school loans.

the specialized is a brand new bike

the caad10 i bought this past spring to race, i was just putting it back together in this fourm

ended up settling for my caad3 to race next summer,

i'm also unloading some of this stuff because i plan on moving out of the country when i graduate next year. i can live with racing my caad3 next summer.

i plan to teach english in korea for two years.

i don't want my bikes just sitting here! collecting dust!
plus when i get back to the states, i'll buy the NEW stuff thats out there.

both of these bikes are great. i love them. just money, and moving are the reasons i'm selling them.


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## tipstall (Jan 14, 2012)

werne1nm said:


> Loved them. problem is i do not want multiple loan payments when i graduate in a year. i have to start paying off my private school loans.
> 
> the specialized is a brand new bike
> 
> ...


Still for sale?


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