I have a fulcrum crank on a bike that was otherwise all Sram Force. My hub seized up and the mechanic at the shop convinced me it was also time for a new cassette, chain and chain rings. I got a SRAM chain and a Shimano cassette 11-28 (10 speed). The mechanic then found out that Fulcrum chainrings were no longer available in the USA other than on line and the bolt sizing was incompatible with SRAM and Shimano. He told me to buy them on line but I could not find the 50-34 combo that I needed. A friend told me that Fulcrum and Campy were the same so I got Campy Record chainrings. I went to a different shop to install them after the new cassette became loose and the chain kept coming off the big chainring. (I took that to mean the work wasn't so good at the first shop) The new mechanic put the chain rings on and said I might need new cables if the shifting was rough. Well, shifting from small ring to big ring was only possible if I was in my two smallest cogs in the back. Otherwise the chain locked up essentially. So back to the shop I went. A different mechanic there put new cables in and then told me that SRAM chain rings would've worked just fine with a different bolt. (T?/F?) he said that my shifting would be better but I still had to be in the smaller 5 cassette gears to do it with ease. I haven't tried it yet but here are my questions: 1) could I have used Sram or Shimano chain rings? And 2) could the Shimano 105 cassette be the culprit in the shifting problems? As an aside, when I first had the hub go out I used my b.f.'s wheel with Ultegra 11-28 and the shifting was fine with the old cassette and chainrings. And 3) are Campy and Fulcrum chainrings somehow different enough to be the source of the shifting issues? the most recent mechanic also showed me that on SRAM chainrings there are tiny metal pieces that assist the chain up onto the big chain ring which he said would've made a big difference. But I didn't have sram chainrings before and I didn't have problems shifting. I think I should've left everything as it was. Help.
The compact chainring is 110bcd...but with one bolt hole set at 113bcd. So a SRAM/Shimano rings will not fit. I think the 2nd mechanic mentioned "a different bolt" is because Fulcrum has a bolt that threads into the back of the crank arm. The pieces on the back of the big chainring are the shift ramps and lift pins. They basically assist the chain onto the big ring. All big rings should have them. Not sure about the front shifting. The front shifting should have nothing to do with the cassette. Check cable tension, cable condition, High limit screw, and if there is possible binding of the cable. Chainrings should not be the issue. Me and my GF both run SRAM Red on our bikes. The front derailleur can be real finicky. Getting the cable tension juuust right is super important. If you don't have an inline cable tension adjuster for the front derailleur...I would suggest getting one. Maybe switch the old chainring back and see if the shifting improves? Lol...where are you taking your bike?
I have recently replaced a campy record crankset with a Fulcrum crankset. It goes on without issues so I am inclined to say that Campy and Fulcrum chainrings are comparable to each other. It's very likely the mechanic installed the bottom bracket wrong after he had taken it apart and your crankset is offset too much to the right ... and causing you to have trouble shifting to the big ring. Have them check that first. By the way, are you sure the campy crankset rings you bought are 10 speed? I had a hard time finding anything campy 10 speed nowadays. Everything is 11 now. You are mixing shimano, sram and campy components which in itself is a dangerous thing to do. Most mechanics don't have enough experience with campy to know what's compatible and not.
