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I've taken on trying to nurse my husband's bike back to life.

It is a 2012 Specialize Venge with Dura-Ace Di2 (very old version); Specialized pro FACT carbon chain rings, Ultegra 10-speed cassette.

It was "repaired" by someone who changed the front chainrings to something that, with a little reading, is incompatible and incorrectly fitted and hasn't worked well since. It also has new Ultegra cassette. I've decided to change chainrings to the Praxis Works Buzz, I now have a couple of questions

  1. Will the Ultegra cassette work with the Praxis chainrings?
  2. If yes, will an Ultegra chain be okay or should I use the Dura ace?
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  • What crankset is on the bike now? In my experience, all the "special" cranksets aren't as stiff nor do they shift as well as something like a basic Shimano 105-level crankset. A decent used 105 compact FC-5750 off eBay for $40-50 or so would probably be better if what's on the bike now isn't an Ultegra or DuraAce crankset. The Ultegra cassette should be fine. And I'd recommend something like a 10-speed KMC chain instead of a 10-speed Shimano, especially over 10-speed Ultegra and DuraAce chains since those Shimano chains use pins and lack a quick-connect link, and chains don't matter much. May 21, 2019 at 15:20
  • @AndrewHenle other than the first sentence, that's more of an answer. Its hard to avoid an oblique product rec specially when the question is about specific compatibility.
    – Criggie
    May 21, 2019 at 19:44
  • While a Shimano 10 speed chain comes with a pin rather than a quick-link, you can still also fit it with an aftermarket quick-link. May 22, 2019 at 13:13

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Will the Ultegra cassette work with the Praxis chainrings?

This is not quite the right question. The rings have to be compatible with a 10 speed chain that you'll be using on a 10 speed drivetrain. The Praxis web page for Buzz chainrings is unhelpful but other pages I found said that they are compatible with 11 and 10 speed systems.

Presumably you are putting these on a Dura Ace 7900 series or Specialized FACT 10 speed crank which will ensure the ring spacing is correct.

As long as the Ultegra chain is a 10 speed then it's compatible with the rest of the drivetrain. A Dura-Ace chain will be slightly better (and more expensive), as will a high end KMC or SRAM chain. Wear the Ultegra one out then make a decision about whether to upgrade.

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  • This old review shows the Venge may very well have come with the Specialized FACT crankset - and given the "is incompatible and incorrectly fitted and hasn't worked well since" statement in the question, I suspect crankset replacement may be in order. May 21, 2019 at 16:37
  • @AndrewHenle OP stated *chainrings were incompatible and incorrectly fitted, so I assume the crank is OK. Made an edit as you are correct the cranks may be Specialized rather than DA May 21, 2019 at 16:44

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