# S-Works carbon arms/ team chainrings Vs. DA 9000



## gus300 (Nov 26, 2012)

so i recently bought the new 2015 S-works tarmac and im building, i am gonna go with DA components but i dont know which crank to get.

DA 9000 with quarq ELSA RS power meter

or 

S-works carbon arms with Team chainrings and quarq power meter for specialized

i have heard that i should go with the specialized parts rather than the DA due to the OSBB, even tho most people say that the DA crank is much better. 
now i am not sure and i have tried to do many searches online about it without finding any results. i have found about praxisworks and other adapters but i want to know the best of the best for the bike.

any thought would be greatly appreciated


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## Dunbar (Aug 8, 2010)

Praxis is a good option, not very expensive compared to your overall budget for the bike. I would imagine the S-Works crank is lighter with the carbon arms. If the bike came with the S-Works crank I would just keep it. If you are building the frame up with your own parts I'd lean towards the DA 9000 crank for better shifting. That assumes the crank + Quarq is about the same price for both cranks. If the DA 9000 is significantly more expensive I'd lean towards the S-Works crank. Another option for the S-Works crank is the Power2Max power meter at around $1k.


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## gus300 (Nov 26, 2012)

Yes i looked into the p2m power meter but need to do more research about it. 

I'm building the bike from ground up, price for both are around the same not to much difference.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

The advantage of the S-Works set up is that it is lighter.... but keep in mind, eventually the bearings in the OSBB will come loose and they'll start making noise. I'm sure someone will chime in here and they'll tell you that if the OSBB is done right, yada yada yada, it will be fine.... but it won't take you long to search on here and find out that nearly everyone complains about this happening at some point. 

IMO, this makes going DA with a Praxis bottom bracket conversion, the perfect solution. The Praxis bottom bracket screws together and basically clamps itself into the frame. I've yet to see anyone complaining about this coming loose or creaking. In addition to this, you also have the added freedom of being able to select any chainring combo to go with the crankset.... not to mention the fact that DA is simply rock solid.


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## MrHaematocrit (Jan 24, 2015)

The DA setup with quarq is problematic, I used to run one.
Use sworks cranks IMHO.
Im now using SRM and Garmin Vectors for power.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

MrHaematocrit said:


> The DA setup with quarq is problematic, I used to run one.
> Use sworks cranks IMHO.
> Im now using SRM and Garmin Vectors for power.


Ok. I'll bite. In what way is the DA setup with quarq "problematic"?


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## MrHaematocrit (Jan 24, 2015)

I suffered creaking from the BB with DA with quarq. using sworks (lightening) cranks I did not.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

Don't blame the gun, blame the shooter...........

In other words, its the install procedure and the BB, not the cranks that cause this.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

MrHaematocrit said:


> I suffered creaking from the BB with DA with quarq. using sworks (lightening) cranks I did not.


You're full of ****.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

OP: Get whatever one you want.
Praxis Works makes a perfect bottom bracket for the Dura-Ace or you can suffer through whatever Specialized has going on by itself.

I promise you the Dura-Ace/Praxis setup is flawless and will never creak if installed correctly.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

MrHaematocrit said:


> I suffered creaking from the BB with DA with quarq.


what BB conversion where you using?



MrHaematocrit said:


> using sworks (lightening) cranks I did not.


give it a little more time and/or miles.


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## gus300 (Nov 26, 2012)

Thanks for the input guys. 

I don't doubt my dura-ace components one bit

I've looked into the praxis ceramic bearing it's just a lot of money :mad2: lol


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

gus300 said:


> Thanks for the input guys.
> 
> I don't doubt my dura-ace components one bit
> 
> I've looked into the praxis ceramic bearing it's just a lot of money :mad2: lol


Ceramic? Ceramic is for suckers.

Just get the normal one with Enduro bearings. The price is quite reasonable.


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## NealH (May 2, 2004)

25K miles on my Tarmac with S-Works crank and its just as flawless today as the day it was built. 

Get the S-Works.


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## tyrich88 (Jul 12, 2013)

MMsRepBike said:


> You're full of ****.
> 
> You have no idea what you're talking about.
> 
> ...


Those are big words, sir. 
As i recall, he never said what BB he was using. He just said with one he had creaks and with the other he didn't. I've never had creaks with my sworks cranks either.


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## 1Butcher (Mar 15, 2011)

They are big words, just as big as blaming the cranks for the cause of the noises [where most likely it was the BB]. 

If someone did not say he's full of it, some people might take it as a slam on the S-Works crank and not buy one. Obviously there are fans around here that like them and have no issues with them.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

I call it like it is.

That noob has no idea what he's talking about. Just typing garbage trying to look cool.
Which of course is not cool.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

Wow! At first I missed the weight weenies forum.......but now this is taking up the slack nicely!


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## 1Butcher (Mar 15, 2011)

Keep that up and youll get all of us banned here too.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

Been there, done that....


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## 1Butcher (Mar 15, 2011)

Goodbannedr? Kind of catchy.


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## barters (Nov 4, 2012)

I have just bought the '15 S Works Tarmac Dura ace which comes with the S works chains. I haven't ridden the bike yet but have read that the front shifting is quite poor when compared to a DA 9000 chainset. Can anyone comment from experience on this?

The reason I want to know so badly is because I want to know what to do for a power meter. If I stay with the S works set up that comes with the bike I will go for a power2max s however if the shifting is a disaster I will buy a DA 9000 chainset & go with stages.


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## NealH (May 2, 2004)

I think you are referring to the crankset, not the "chain set". 

Keep the S-works and get the Quarq spider meter. You're good for the long haul and you won't need to spit and ***** about something not working properly. 

Is the Dura Ace crankset better? Well technically yes, there is no crank on the market at its level. But you're past the law of diminishing returns. The S-works functions beautifully and you don't need a special bracket or adapters, etc.


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## barters (Nov 4, 2012)

Actually it's the chainset I am referring to as per the 2015 Tarmac I have bought Specialized Bicycle Components

The cranks are by all accounts amazing in terms of stiffness to weight ratio. However, I have read that the shifting quality of the chainrings supplied are vastly inferior to Shimano.


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## NealH (May 2, 2004)

The early (2009/10) rings did not function as well as DA. Spec resolved this and the current rings perform great. I have 25K miles on my 2010 S-Works Tarmac and shifting has always been great. 

Are the rings the equal of DA rings....well if you're picking straws the DA rings will be the best of the best. Whether its the crank, the rings, spider, even wheels, DA is the top of the heap. But you've gone past the law of diminishing returns (imho). Remember, a lot of pro riders (Tour) are on S-Works cranksets. Its easy to say they are paid to ride their sponsor bikes, but I can tell you if the drive train isn't up to snuff it will get changed. In fact a couple Tour teams just announced they were dropping Sram drive trains and paying for Shimano, even though Shimano is not their sponsor.


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## barters (Nov 4, 2012)

Actually I couldn't think of a single Pro Tour team riding the S Works rings:

1. OPQS--SRAM last year & FSA this year.
2. Astana--Campag
3. Tinkoff--SRAM last year & FSA this year.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

NealH said:


> The early (2009/10) rings did not function as well as DA. Spec resolved this and the current rings perform great. I have 25K miles on my 2010 S-Works Tarmac and shifting has always been great.
> 
> Are the rings the equal of DA rings....well if you're picking straws the DA rings will be the best of the best. Whether its the crank, the rings, spider, even wheels, DA is the top of the heap. But you've gone past the law of diminishing returns (imho). Remember, a lot of pro riders (Tour) are on S-Works cranksets. Its easy to say they are paid to ride their sponsor bikes, but I can tell you if the drive train isn't up to snuff it will get changed. In fact a couple Tour teams just announced they were dropping Sram drive trains and paying for Shimano, even though Shimano is not their sponsor.


Dont ng get it twisted, the pro tour teams that dropped SRAM only did so because it was a better deal to ride something else. It has nothing to do with what is better. The funny thing is... The teams you're saying paid for Shimano aren't even using the Shimano chainrings, they're using FSA. I'm not trying to defend SRAM or Shimano or SWorks, I just think it's funny when people use the pro teams to defend arguments about gear... The pro teams use what they're paid to use... Simple as that.


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## 1Butcher (Mar 15, 2011)

Hard to argue facts.


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## tyrich88 (Jul 12, 2013)

If you look into those teams and the rumors flying around, they are using shimano only temporarily. FSA is apparently coming out with an Electronic drivetrain that they are rumored to begin using when it's ready. 
And for the record, the only teams to use sworks cranks have not used the sworks rings because they are shimano specific. Specialized also sells SRAM rings, which were used by quickstep and tinkoff last year. Both of which have new sponsors for these components this year. Astana uses the crank arms, but campy chainrings.


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## compositepro (Aug 13, 2007)

barters said:


> I have just bought the '15 S Works Tarmac Dura ace which comes with the S works chains. I haven't ridden the bike yet but have read that the front shifting is quite poor when compared to a DA 9000 chainset. Can anyone comment from experience on this?
> 
> The reason I want to know so badly is because I want to know what to do for a power meter. If I stay with the S works set up that comes with the bike I will go for a power2max s however if the shifting is a disaster I will buy a DA 9000 chainset & go with stages.


I machined a spider for the crank to take Dura Ace rings (benefit of owning a CNC machine) Im surprised no one has made a spider to do this previously .because the shifting is worth it


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## TmB123 (Feb 8, 2013)

Agreed, nothing beats the shifting of the current generation Shimano rings. I change my S-Works from S-Works cranks and rings (with a DA9000 FD) to DA9000 cranks and rings and there was a noticeable improvement in front shifting


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

I have a 2011 era S-works crank in my SL4 S-works Tarmac. Over time, I've replaced the BB with C-bear aluminum cups and bearings to get rid of creaking, then upgraded the rings to Praxis because the S-works SL chainrings were too flexy. Shifts like butter now with my Red Yaw FD.


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