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I have a Canondale SuperSix EVO SE gravel bike (2023), which features Cannondale Asymmetric Integration (Ai) technology.

The drivetrain is SRAM Rival eTap AXS and the crankset appears to be compatible with this drop-in power meter, except that SRAM's product page says it is compatible with all DUB bottom brackets "except Ai."

I understood Ai was just about the dishing of the rear wheel... can somebody help me understand why this would affect the compatibility of a BB or crankset power meter?

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The thing with the Asymmetric Integration (AI) standard is that the entire drivetrain is offset 6mm to the right. Their stated rationale is that this improved tire clearance without needing to lengthen the chainstays. The downside is that you need a longer crank spindle. If you Google, I believe you should see Cannondale stock replacement AI-specific spindles for its own cranks, and you should see that SRAM makes AI-specific cranks and BBs. I believe SRAM's cranksets aren't modular, so you can't just replace the spindle (and you'd also need to have an offset chainring, I believe). Here is one SRAM document that lists AI and non-AI spacer requirements.

This Reddit post confirms that standard SRAM cranks aren't compatible with AI frames. This YouTube video corroborates that on MTBs, you can't swap in a different crank type.

Cannondale has kicked off a bunch of innovation in the bike world with its alternative standards. However, with AI, you needed specific cranks and BBs. Replacement wheels had to be dished left. I don't know how many riders and mechanics would say that this really was worth the tradeoffs. Cannondale seems to be moving away from this.

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  • I wonder why the crank spindle necessarily needs to be longer. Do AI bikes have longer BB shells (why?)?
    – MaplePanda
    Commented Jun 26 at 18:00
  • @MaplePanda if I understand correctly, shifting the entire drive-train to the right by 6mm would indeed require that the bb and crank spindle be 6mm wider.
    – chiashurb
    Commented Jun 27 at 15:49
  • I have also been wondering why. I am guessing it might have to do with maintaining a symmetric pedal position.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Jun 27 at 16:42
  • @chiashurb Oh yeah that makes sense. In my mind I thought Cannondale just moved the rear only and left the cranks where they normally are, but I realized that would give you a horrible chain line on the smallest cogs.
    – MaplePanda
    Commented Jun 27 at 18:31
  • @MaplePanda yeah that had been my thinking too, until I read the answer above.
    – chiashurb
    Commented Jun 28 at 20:16

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