New Roadini day + request for a good looking crankset recommendation

[Ash]

Bought a Roadini frame in recent sale and put it together with various 'spare' parts I had.  The handlebar is borrowed from the Susie for now.  The wheels are from my other 'city bike' that used to be a road bike.

It move so easily sometimes it feels like there's hidden pedal-assist in this bike!   23lbs as shown. 

Question 1: what 10 speed, single/double crankset would look nice (and work/last well too) if I want to stay with the classic/silver looks?  

Q2: Do road chainrings and cog sets lend themselves to a reliable 1x10 setup?  i.e., if I'm pending 3 hours uphill to the top of Mt. Hamilton mostly in biggest and second biggest cogs, would it result in broken chainring/cog tooth or chain slippage (due to cross-chain)

Thanks!

Ash

PS: the tire on the Roadini is Babyshoe Pass.

[Ash]

Btw, if you missed out on the Roadini sale, don't worry.  The Charlie H Gallop is going to be better.  After looking at a prototype I paused for a minute  and contemplated if I should skip the Roadini and wait for CHG instead.  I'd have easily gone CHG route if the wait was not 6-ish months.

[Ash]

One key crankset requirement I missed- my large chainring is going to be smaller than the typical road setup.  44t if I decide on double and 36 or 39t if I go with 1x10.

[Collin A]

You can't go wrong with the Riv SILV3R crankset. Looks good, shifts 10 speed, affordable replacement rings, and standard everything. However, the times I have gone 1x i've used a dedicated 1x chainring (wolftooth) so I cannot comment on that.

You can get the 44/34/24 triple version and like a 30t 74 BCD (to setup as 44/30). That would set you back $260 BUT you'd have extra chainrings if you want to mess around with different gearing.

[Jingy]

The Velo Orange Grand Cru Drillium would look good. The chainrings wouldn't match what you want, but 110 bcd rings are readily available.

Jim in Mpls

[Mark Roland]

The Riv cranks are indeed very nice. They look especially good on the various Hillibikes and the tandem. On the roady Roadini, the chunky crank arms will look more like the XT you have on there now (which doesn't look bad, really, maybe scrub off that logo?). But if you want a classic look, you will probably be buying and swapping out rings. The VO knock off of the classic TA 50.4  comes with 46/30, which is not bad. The VO drillium will not accommodate a small ring below 34 (33 if you can find one.)

The cheapest route would be to haunt ebay for an old Sugino or Sakae triple and convert to double with chain guard. The issue there will be crank arm length, as most will be 175, a few 170. If you require a 165, you'll need to be patient and lucky.

Here's a decent one, running it as a 36/26 would get you close to a Silver wide low. But I see Riv has a few cranks called Clippers that could work, too, for $100 less than the Silvers. Trade off there is the hidden chainring bolt, only a pain every once in a great while.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Takagi-Tourney-XT-Vintage-Mountain-Road-Bike-Triple-Cranks-170-Crankset-w-Bolts/313216952261?hash=item48ed2f67c5:g:MzsAAOSw4slfXYA5

If you will be riding your Roadini frequently in varied topography, you might consider a triple. Very little downside, and such a nice range of gears. Nice when you remember Hey, I have a granny! Triplicious!

[lconley]

IRD has a silver 46/30 that looks good. I have it on a 650B Roadini with 165 crankarms.

Laing

Cocoa FL

[ted]

I'd suggest contacting Analog cycles and inquire about Middleburn crank options for the chainrings you want.

Tastes and fitness vary and you are not I, but I strongly suggest a subcompact double that is sort of a one by with bail out granny ring for bay area terrain.

I have 28/46 on my AHH (with 10sp 11-28 cassette) and 24/42 on my BMC RoadPlus (11sp 11-30 cassette). I can ride all day on the big ring on general paved terrain. For steep (e.g. my local open space ridge) or long (e.g. Hamilton or Diablo) climbing I really like having the extra small ring available.

A one by should work fine, but the granny allows very low climbing gears without resorting to large jumps between gears.

[The Snag]

I second the IRD, I'm curious why they're not more popular. Cold forged, low Q, and simple good looks. I have the 50/34 and the 46/30, I think they're great. 

[Eamon Nordquist]

The IRD triple is great too.

Eamon
Seattle

[Ash]

All, much appreciate all the recos.

Now I know what to hunt for (if I choose to go the classics route on eBay) or budget for (IRD/VO).  The Silver cranks are superb, but I feel that it better suites (in terms of aesthetics)  a country bike like Sam or Atlantis.  

In the past I have seen some bike pictures on this forum that had really cool looking minimal crank sets that I would have loved to put on the Roadini.  Wish I had asked the owners for details.  

I'd be interested to hear if anybody has experience running 1x with chainring that's not specifically designed for 1x.  In general I'm a fan of 2x setup.  I have Rivendell's Clipper wide low and XT 28/40t cranks.  They have worked perfectly for me on various Riv-fied hybrids/MTBs, Appaloosa, Atlantis and Susie.   After riding those bikes this Roadini doesn't even feel like it needs multiple gears!  For the speeds I ride, there's no need for a chainring bigger than 44t ever.  If I compromise the top speed a little more and go with single 40 or 42t chainring, I can probably manage most uphill roads around here with 34t cog, provided the setup can be reliable.

Again, thanks for the pointers!

[Evan E.]

Ash,

If you search “FS - Suntour XC, XT, Dura Ace, Tires, etc.” on the iBOB list, you’ll find a Sugino AT crankset, 170, offered from listmember David KW for $50.  The AT is a triple, but of course you could run it as a compact double.

If you search for “Spa Cycles XD-2 Touring Cranks“ you’ll find unbranded silver Sugino crank arms for 27 pounds sterling. Double or triple, with arms 160, 165, 170, 172.5, or 175.  I just saw a note on their site that because of COVID they are not shipping outside of the UK. But perhaps that will change? At any rate, the shipping costs about 20 pounds if I recall, but hey, the crank arms cost 27 pounds. They offer complete cranksets, too.

Just two more options to consider!

Evan

[lconley]

Before I put the IRD double on the Roadini, I had a Holdsworth (similar to an IRD single) single 1x10 setup:

I run an NOS Spidel double crank with a single Sugino drillium chainring (3/32 chain so it can be used on a derailleur bike also) on my Frank Jones, Sr.

Yes, both cranks a basically copies of the Campagnolo Nuovo Record.

I currently am building an NOS Stronglight 93 (similar to the Stronglight 105 below) into a semi compact double:

And of course there is always the 42/26 Rene Herse if you want to get really spendy:

Laing

Delray Beach FL

[Bones]

When I built my Roadini earlier this year the plan was to keep the gearing minimal. Then I got a pretty sweet deal on an IRD triple, so I put that on.

It is a very nice crank, but it was overkill for my purposes. I have since replaced it with a Sugino XD double and a Wolf Tooth Dropstop chainring.

The gearing is 1x10, 38/11-34. I am able to stick with one downtube shifter. The look is super clean and the functionality is perfect for me. I am currently trying the bike out as my work commuter, since I don't carry much more than my lunch anyway. Side note: the Banana Sax looks like it was designed for Albastache bars on a dirt drop stem... it fits perfectly on there and fits my lunch.

Good Luck!

Bones

[abraham nussbaum]

I run a da Vinci tandem triple crankset as a single speed. It's beautiful and unique. It's also flexible, as I have previously ridden it as a double.

So many great choices these days...

[Dorothy C]

That is a lovely setup, Bones. My Roadini has a dirt drop stem and Nitto noodles with the IRD stem mount shifter clamp and Silver shifters. Currently has the Silver wide low double and an 11-28 cassette.

[Ash]

Evan, 

Thanks a bunch for alerting me to David's FS post.  I have sent him a PM.  In a long run I want to have a bit more fancier one.  But Suntour XC will likely look fancy enough once I see it.  Besides, it comes with a 40t chainring, which is probably the only chainring I'll need for a while.

Spa Cycles crank is indeed a great deal!  If David's options does not pan out I'll try Spa.

Cheers,

Ash

[Ash]

Laing,

I have noted down those pictures and names this time!  Thanks for sharing the info.   Rene Herse 42/26 would've been ideal.  Oh boy the price is insane.  Way more than I'd like to spend.  IRD too is out of my budget at the moment.

Looks like some UK web shop is selling Holdsworth cranks.  It look gorgeous.  Hard to tell if they are good/authentic.  I'd have ordered them anyway, if I not for the iBob pointer Evan E shared.

Nice bikes!  Your single speed setup looks sweet!

[Dave Grossman]

I found a Dura Ace 7400 49/38 and I've been pretty happy with it.  Fits the aesthetic perfectly on my 61.

[Ash]

Bones,

You have an awesome color theme going with you Roadini.  'grilver', black and brown!    Those brown edges on bags blend quite nicely with rest of the brown accents.

I'm waiting on gray banana sax as well. Assuming the other bag you have is the XS saddle sack.  I'll probably add that too when they have the gray back in stock and that'll make a wonderful rando setup I think.

I dig your wolf tooth + Sugino crank.  I think that's the most power train this bike requires. Given that I shift less frequently than with the other Riv 'country' bikes I have had before, down tube shifter does seem like a fine option.  Since I have a spare 105 bar shifter sitting, for now probably I'll go with that.

Cheers,

Ash

[Ash]

Abraham, 

Thanks for sharing another option!  I'm looking at the picture on their website: http://www.davincitandems.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/cranks-b.jpg

Can't quite figure out why one of those crank arms as three peddle holes...

[Ash]

Dave,  

Thanks! 

Dura Ace 7400 does look quite decent.  Adding it to my personal crankset knowledge base :)

[Hetchins52]

The second iteration is particularly striking: Grilver, the two bags and the bar wrap and chain stay wrap. A gentleman's commute to work bike!

David Lipsky

Berkeley, CA

On Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 6:57:11 AM UTC-7, Bones wrote:

When I built my Roadini earlier this year the plan was to keep the gearing minimal. ....

[Bill Schairer]

Probably to accommodate growing children as stokers.

Bill S

[Bill Schairer]

Ooooh, but only one?

[abraham nussbaum]

Those pictures were straight from da Vinci's website. The three holes are to accommodate the growing legs of stokers. (BTW: da Vinci is great-- they repainted a vintage Serotta for me. I highly recommend them if you live in Denver and need repainting.)

Here are pix from my own setup. (Sorry, it's not a Riv.)

I am using the crankset as a single, but like that it can also work as a double or triple.

Happy riding, A

[Ash]

Da Vinci crank indeed looks like a very high quality product.

[abraham nussbaum]

It's sweet, but then there are so many sweet products. It's just fun to have a bike you love!

Abraham

www.abrahamnussbaum.com

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