FSA

Gossamer Pro 386EVO ABS Adventure Crankset

For years, we've been jealous of the European cycling-scape. Cobblestones, Flemish hellingen, windy Dutch coastal roads—those are where cycling began. (Okay, maybe not the Dutch coastal wind.) The advent of gravel bikes has given us a different attitude, though, and FSA's Gossamer Pro 386EVO ABS Adventure Crankset tailors gearing to exploring the unique cycling gems on this side of the pond: dirt roads, graded gravel, and even light singletrack. Our local b-roads may not have the historical significance of the Carrefour de l'Arbre, but we don't care. Comparing cycling history (hell, any history) across the pond will always be a losing affair for we Yanks, so let the Euros have their tradition, their past, and their sepia photographs—we'll take the fun of gravel touring in the present moment any day.

The Gossamer's Adventure model is eager for those moments, too. FSA kits it with a 48/32t gear combination that's well-suited to the style of riding that gravel bikes and touring setups have inspired: the long haul across Kansas gravel, the slow grind through a PNW forest, the bike path that lets out onto a singletrack trail network.

Though its gearing recommends it for gravel riding, the crank has the same cold-forged 6061 alloy crankarms CNC-machined 7075 chainrings as its road-specific counterpart. The Gossamer Pro Compact has a 110mm bolt circle. The rings attach to the five-arm alloy spider via T-30 Torx internal wrenching alloy fasteners. Though more difficult to produce, the Torx interface ensures strip-free, proper torquing of the hardware. A tight fit and snug fasteners means less power-robbing flex and decreased chance for strange creaking noises to develop, so you'll spend more time enjoying the soft hum of a well-tuned drivetrain and the ambient sounds of whatever bucolic landscape you find yourself in.

As with most of FSA's cranksets, the Gossamer Pro is built to the 386EVO standard, whose modularity makes it every frame's best friend. It's got the dimensions to clear even massive BBright shells, but FSA manufactures a range of adapters to mate it to any common bottom bracket shell.