Miche are known predominantly for their good value, track-specific kit. Their Primato chainset adorns plenty of track and street fixed-wheel bikes, but Miche also make a great range of high-end wheelsets and components for road bikes under the Supertype moniker.
This chainset is a two-piece integrated design, similar to Shimano’s Hollowtech and FSA’s Mega Exo. The rings are made of hard, grey anodised 7075 aluminium, while the arms and spider of the chainset – constructed in a clamshell shape – are hollow carbon injected with a structural foam. This apparently reduces flexing and twisting by seven per cent over standard hollow cranks.
The outer finish is in a great looking 3k carbon fibre weave and the resin is protected against UVA rays. The finish overall is superb, with gold anodised bolts, inserts and graphics all adding to the look.
Using it in place of some aluminium two-piece cranks on one of our test rigs, the Supertype felt noticeably more rigid. It’s also lighter – the Supertype’s all-in weight of 840g (including the bottom bracket) is about the same as Campagnolo’s Record and about 100g more than Shimano’s Dura-Ace 7800c.
On previous cranks, putting in a lot of power while standing up meant the chain would rub on the front mech, but the Supertype makes that a thing of the past. The profile of the crank arms is on the svelte side, providing more heel clearance and helping to keep the Supertype looking fresh after hundreds of miles. Our test set has been in service through the worst of this winter’s weather, through rain, sleet and extreme cold, and it’s still as smooth as when it was first fitted.
This could also be partly down to the patented bushes that sit between the outer edges of the bearings and crank arms. These plastic inserts help with alignment when fitting – being slightly malleable, they ‘give’ to allow for slight bottom bracket shell misalignment – and provide a physical barrier between the bearings and the weather.
Price-wise the Supertype is expensive – about £80 more than Campag's new Super Record (Super Record is 11-speed only, though), but cheaper than Dura-Ace 7800c by £40. It’s a great upgrade, performing as well as it looks, and worth a punt if you’re after something a bit different to the gear all the usual names offer.