Miche Supertype Guarnitura Crankset

Miche have adopted the fashionable four-arm layout for their new top-of-the-line Supertype HSL Guarnitura cranks. Their typically classy Italian craftsmanship and looks certainly make them a contender to adorn your Sunday best bike.

Supertype is Miche's top range of kit sitting at the Campag Record, Dura Ace sort of pricing level with weight and performance to match.

Replacing the Shimano 105 5800 crank on my test bike with the Supertype cranks showed an instant improvement in stiffness; it's minimal but it's there especially when you're really pushing hard on the pedals.

The cranks are carbon fibre using a hollow construction therefore providing the stiffness while keeping the weight down to 673g, just slightly higher than the FSA K Force Light we've recently tested but at £499.99 the Miche is £100 cheaper.

You may only be able to see four chainring bolts but there are in fact six with one hidden behind the crank and the other sitting directly opposite. This gives the rings extra stiffness under the load of gear changes.

The bolt circle diameter allows for the use of either compact or standard size chainrings. The options are 34, 36, 38 or 39 teeth for the inner and 50, 52 and 53 teeth for the outer so you can do a bit of mix and matching.

The rings themselves are machined from 7075 alloy heat treated to T6 for hardness and anodised too. It's good to see they should be wear resistant as considering they are very exclusive to this one crankset and I can't imagine they are going to be cheap to replace.

Shifting is very precise thanks to the usual collection of ramps and shifting pins and even putting as much load through the cranks while shifting up or down between rings couldn't unsettle it. Although they're designed for 11-speed chains I had no issues running them on a 10-speed group too: the shifting was just a tiny bit less precise.

The matching Supertype Evo Max bottom bracket is also a nice bit of kit with smooth running bearings and easy fitting. The cups have seen a lot of rain and grit over the test period and there are no signs of grumbling or complaints from the bearings.

There are plenty of bottom bracket options to match the ever growing range of frame standards from the usual outboard screw in bearing type to various press fits for BB30 and BB86.

Overall I really like the Miche Supertype crankset for both its performance and definitely its looks. Add in the stiffness and really positive shifting and it's a winner, albeit an expensive one.

When it comes to the price though it's not excessive compared to other brands' top level cranksets and the weight is on par too, It may come down to whether you can get the same sort of discounts for the Miche that are available for the likes of the Shimano and Campagnolo cranks.

Verdict

Welcome alternative to the top three brands with performance to back up the price.