There is nothing in this world like a shift on a Shimano front setup. Even their old mechanical stuff worked like butter, but the Di2 setup is nuts. Shifts every time, quiet, smooth, can do it one-handed, it's the best.
The crankarms themselves I have no issues with, even with the recall going around. The rings are where the magic happens, and it's worth it to me to not think twice about a front shift, or grinding it out a bit more in the big ring just to avoid that dreaded potential drop from other setups.
Great crankset. Catch a sale and treat your bike.
New frame needed a T47 internal BB. I was debating about doing a run of the mill, or splurging on the King. Glad I did. I don't have enough miles on this yet to say it's lasted 60,000 miles and has been trouble free, but I have others in other bikes going strong.
One thing to note. Ceramic bearings in our field of use aren't exactly all they're cracked up to be in terms of "making you faster". But, what I can tell you, is ceramic bearings last longer because from what I've found, they pulverize grit. My cross BB is going strong through 2 seasons of, well, cross weather. And I'm not delicate with the hose either, I blast the dirt out and call it a day.
So, I can say ceramic has a place for not getting so chunky and such like steel, but it's of course costly.
Regarding maintenance, it's not too bad, pop the seal ring out, flush with cleaner, new grease, pop seal back in, done. I do wish there was a cap or something over the seal itself like most BB's have, just for some added protection and a spot to put more grease, but it's not a big thing.
Threaded into the frame by hand too, and then I got the torque wrench to finish the job. No goofy threads.
Great shifters with good looks. What I like are the crisp shifting and easy braking. This is what one expects from this tier in SRAM. I do wish better graphics were on the shifters to standout, but that is just esthetic and not necessary in the grand scheme. What I hated with these and it is not a performance issue, but just something stupid by SRAM.....the fact a shifter/brake set come charged with DOT fluid!!!!! You have to bleed the darn things to install or at least for internal routed frames like my Cannondale SSE. Then you have to add it again and pressurize the system! Come on SRAM! Ship these dry! Ok.....off my soapbox. The D2 system is great!
Replaced the BB on my 4 year-old / 19,000 mile Specialized Roubaix. I opted for the Park 59.3 BB tool rather than using an adapter. I replaced my crank at the same time because a full crank on sale wasn't much more expensive than the regular price of the big chain ring that I needed to replace.
I hadn't done a repair like this on this "generation" of Shimano drivetrain technology. It was surprisingly easy to do. If you have moderate wrenching skills and access to YouTube, this is definitely something you can do at home.
