Advice on Crankset for Roadini Preorder

[Bones]

I could use some input on what type of crank would work best for me here. I will be using the bike as a sporty, zip around the river bike. No club rides or racing or anything like that. I live in south Jersey, so no hills to speak of, just wind. The wide/lows on my Appaloosa and Clem are perfect, and I don't spend much time on the big ring on my Sam's triple. I'd like to keep the gearing minimal but functional, and of course it has to look handsome on the Roadini. I have an extra RD2 crank from a single speed lying around, maybe I can do something with that? I'm not opposed to getting something new...

[Garth]

   If you want to spend a lot other people will show you those.  Myself I found that there are many nice crank arms for not a whole lot.  I ride a set of these Origin8 cranks, they are 110 BCD doubles, though often sold as SS. They can take two rings, just like any other double crank. Shiny silver or black, both look nice.  If you can fit your gears into a 110 double platform you will like them, which without much for hills should be just fine. My road bike that I use this crank on has a 13-32 7sp FW with 36/46 rings and I live amidst some very steep hills and all is well.  There's so many ways to play with ring combos too. I like doubles and triples, whether the rings are spaced out or close together, you can always get a good chainline. I have 24/36/44 rings on my other bike with 14-32 7 cogs and I love the 44t big ring it's very ride-able across a broad range.  I had not planned on using the 44t ring, but I had one lying around unused, so thought I'd try it and it's awesome. I'd use a 44t big ring on my other bike too when/if the 46 needs replaced.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AO7O8M/ref=twister_B00R6R3ZPM?th=1&psc=1

[lambbo]

I put the IRD double on my Roadini, and it's 1, handsome as heck, and 2, very functional. 

https://www.interlocracing.com/shop/product/ird-crankset-defiant-compact-double-2801?search=crank

Highly recommended. 

On Friday, March 20, 2020 at 1:20:51 AM UTC-4, Bones wrote:

[Bones]

Thanks for the input. Makes me wonder if I should try to use the Sugino crank after all. The limiting factor is that it’s 130bcd, and as far as I can tell that limits me to a 38t inner. Maybe that’s good enough. Then the question is what to use for a big ring. Is 46t too close? 50t seems maybe too big for me, but maybe not. And I’ve seen those IRD cranks before, they are beautiful indeed. And if I end up looking at a new crank I will strongly consider those. I’m a sucker for aesthetics.

Thanks again,

Bones

[Bill Lindsay]

It's becoming more and more commonplace to run a 1x drivetrain.  Your existing XD2 with a nice narrow-wide ring, intelligently chosen, could be a really smart setup.  I've had very good success with a 42T ring, and an 11-28 or 11-32 cassette, but I have hills to speak of.  With really no hills to speak of, you could go even smaller in the cassette, like 11-26.  If you are never pedalling over 40MPH then you likely don't need higher than a 42x11.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Bones]

Ya that’s a good idea too. Oddly enough the crank already has a standard Sugino 42t ring on it. Would that be sufficient? I’ve only ever used it with a single freewheel. I’ve read things in the past about chains jumping on 1x setups... is that even a concern with a road bike though?

[Garth]

You could use as small a big ring as low a 42 if you want with a 38, 4 teeth differences are about half gears. Sometimes having overlapping gears is favored, sometimes many distinct ones. The ways are endless !  Gear charts are helpful too if it matters to you.

[ted]

Well it’d be cheep and easy to give it a try and see if it works well for you. If your concerned abut chain dropping you could use an fd as a chain guide.

[Bill Lindsay]

If you have a 42 already, there is little harm in trying it out.  I think chain dropping is a real thing, and a wide-narrow ring is one of several mitigations to reduce its likelihood.  Wolf tooth makes a 130BCD 42 tooth wide narrow ring and I'm sure others do as well.  https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/130-bcd-cyclocross-chainrings?variant=14782015209507

BL in EC

[Eric G@rs]

I’ve gone without a front derailleur or chain keeper for years without ever having a chain drop using a standard crankset that isn’t optimized with fancy 1x chainrings. I only do road riding, though. Bill, when you say you think chain drop is a real thing, do you mean that you’ve experienced in using a 1x with standard chainrings?

[Bones]

Ok thanks all, I have a place to start now. I suppose I’ll just slap my Sugino on there when it comes and feel it out from there.

[Bill Lindsay]

Eric G@rs

No, when I have ridden road bikes with a 1x drivetrain and a standard chainring, I have not experienced a frequency of chain drops that I considered problematic.  Generally I think the bumpier one's riding the more likely the chain will drop.  Generally I think the wider the rear cassette and the shorter the chainstays the more likely the chain will drop.  

My general recommendation is use what you have or use what you like.  If the frequency of chain drops is a problem for you and you want to fix it, then add a mitigation.  For your case, you used what you wanted to use, and you currently don't have a problem, so don't fix it.  For the OP, who already has a 42T ring, I recommended that he give it a shot, and I repeat: give it a shot.  If there are no problems, don't fix them.  The mitigations that I've seen and heard of people using include:

narrow wide rings

a dummy FD

a chain guide

clutch rear der

high chain tension (short chain)

stronger RD spring tension

sandwich of chainguards on either side (the old school cyclocross fix)

I think it would be wasteful to throw all those mitigations at a build before you even know whether you have a problem.  My most recent 1x road build needed a new ring, and so I went ahead and used a narrow-wide ring.  I can't prove I needed to use it.  My most recent 1x cyclocross build was from the ground up, and I elected to use a clutch RD and a narrow wide ring.  Whether I could have gotten away without either of those is unknown

BL in EC

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[j.schwartz]

Bill

In your experience a 42 single ring up front and an 11-32, say 10-speed, cassette in the back is appropriate for a more roadish bike with moderate to sometimes intense hills?

I will be building up a similar bike and have some Sram Apex 10-speed drivetrain bits including cassette, derailleur and brifters, but no crankset yet.

On Friday, March 20, 2020 at 9:42:32 AM UTC-4, Bill Lindsay wrote:

[Joe Bernard]

I'll answer for us "not strong like Bill" folks: Nope. I'd use a 42 x 32 low for flattish-to-rolling terrain, but I'm going to need at least a 36t rear for intense hills and preferably a 42t.

[Bill Lindsay]

I've had two bikes set up with 42 in front and 11-32 in back.  My Sam Hillborne, which I use as an all-purpose road bike, and have done several 200k brevets and one 300k on it in moderately hilly California.  My Legolas is also set up 42x11-32.  

I converted my Hillborne back to a 3x9 to prepare it for loaded touring.  

I use 2x10 drivetrains more often.  My traditional brevet bike has a 42/26 and an 11-28 cassette.  My Roadeo is 46/30 and a 12-27 cassette.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[j.schwartz]

Thanks Bill

good food for thought

[Wyatt]

I’m always surprised when I hear people say they have no problem running 1x setups without a narrow wide chainring. I had a drive train set up that way for a week (I was trying to get a 1x11 done super cheap) and every ride I went on I dropped the chain at least once. Maybe if you only ride on airplane tarmac smooth roads? Every bump I hit was a potential chain drop. I suppose there could have been other ok solutions, but I switched out for a cheapo narrow wide ring and that drive train hasn’t dropped a chain since.

[Evan E.]

Bones,

If you're willing to buy a vintage crank, you could might consider Igor's Specialized "flag" crankset here on this list:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rbw-owners-bunch/oY1zjwPD2KY

Or a vintage Sugino AT. Either one is a classic. And either can be run as a triple, a double, or a single with chainguard.

Or you could buy a new crank from Rivendell?

[Nick Payne]

On Saturday, 21 March 2020 15:00:57 UTC+11, Wyatt wrote:

I’m always surprised when I hear people say they have no problem running 1x setups without a narrow wide chainring. I had a drive train set up that way for a week (I was trying to get a 1x11 done super cheap) and every ride I went on I dropped the chain at least once. Maybe if you only ride on airplane tarmac smooth roads? Every bump I hit was a potential chain drop. I suppose there could have been other ok solutions, but I switched out for a cheapo narrow wide ring and that drive train hasn’t dropped a chain since.

Ditto here - my touring bike, which has vertical dropouts, has for the past couple of decades been running a Rohloff hub with a chain tensioner. Even though the chainline is always perfect, when I initially set it up, without a chain keeper, the chainring would jump off often enough - once a week or so - that I eventually fitted a derailleur with the stops screwed down as a chain keeper. No chain drops since then. At the time I fitted it, narrow-wide chainrings didn't exist. I suppose I could try a narrow-wide chainring when the present one wears out:

 

Nick

[Fullylugged]

I think one of the prettiest cranksets around is the Sugino Mighty Tour in polished silver. (https://www.suginoltd.co.jp/us/products/touring/mighty.html). For less money, there are nice offerings by Velo Orange and IRD. I would do a gear inch chart and see what different ring and cog combos give you before settling on which ones you opt for. Even without big hills to climb, allow for days when you just are outta gas or facing a PITA headwind on the way back home.

[Bones]

Another option I've considered is moving around my current cranks. My Hillborne has largely become my work commuter, and with a 7.5mi round trip commute, the silver triple it came with is surely overkill. Maybe I should put that on the Roadini, move the Sugino wide low from my Appaloosa to the Hillborne and order a new Silver wide/low for the Appaloosa (which I've always kind of wanted for it anyway) when they are back in stock.

[Joe Bernard]

That's what I would do, Bones. The trick is to start with parts you have to see what gearing works on your new frame, spend money later. You're onto something!