Questions about Sugino Alpina 2 triple crankset

[Cheng-Hong Li]

Hello!

I've ordered a Roadini frame and am very excited to become a new riv bike owner. I'm considering the Sugino Alpina 2 triple crankset, but I'm not sure the right BB that it should be paired with on a Roadini frame. 

Sugino's website says the crankram interface is their Might taper. I found reports that it fits the JIS taper spindle but will have increased chainline. Some others reported it's closer to ISO than to JIS. 

Has anyone also used Sugino's crankset, and which BB spindle length do you recommend? Thank you!

[Jim M.]

Maybe use the recommended Sugino bb?

jim m

walnut creek ca

[Cheng-Hong Li]

Thanks, Jim! I wonder if I can just use the Shimano JIS BB that the bike frame comes with, instead of buying a new BB.

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[Joe Bernard]

You can try it and see how it looks. Unless I have math backwards that crank won't slide very far up the spindle tapers, that's a "ride at your own risk" situation.*

*I'd buy the matching 110mm Mighty BB

[Mike Rossi]

I have two Sugino XD2’s on different bikes that Sugino also says have the Mighty Taper and say to use the CBBAL bottom bracket. I’ve been riding one on a Shimano UN300 and the other on a Tange cup and cone… for a couple of years with no issues. Maybe I’m wrong for it, but it’s worked for me.

Mike

On Oct 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM, Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com> wrote:

You can try it and see how it looks. Unless I have math backwards that crank won't slide very far up the spindle tapers, that's a "ride at your own risk" situation.*

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9e445c74-6445-448b-b06a-d8acc9d5e637n%40googlegroups.com.

[Jim M.]

On Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 11:43:55 AM UTC-7 chengh...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks, Jim! I wonder if I can just use the Shimano JIS BB that the bike frame comes with, instead of buying a new BB.

Ah, I didn't realize Roadini came with a bb. Well, in my mind, if the fit isn't just right, the less expensive steel bb is going to put more wear on the expensive aluminum crank. I'd rather start with the correct bb.

[Shannon Menkveld]

I'd bet at least a sixer that the vast majority of Sugino XD crankarms ever installed in North America were attached to JIS-tapered spindles. That's what Tange used, and since Tange made Shimano's cartridge bottom brackets as well as their own, almost all of those spindles are Tanges.

And the XD arms have been around for like 25 years now. If it was any kind of problem at all, it'd be a well known problem.

Depending on the length of the BB that's already in the frame, I'd just run with it. As far as length, I've seen both 110 and 113 recommended. With a friction front, the difference is unlikely to matter.

FWIW, I just installed a 48/39/26 XD2 on my 1981 Probable Peugeot PKN-10, replacing the mismatched Sugino VT / SR Custom triple-with-2-rings kit-bash that the guy I bought it from had bodged onto the bike. I didn't bother measuring the BB, just slapped that sucker on there. The narrow, and crappy, Campy 980 front derailleur needed some adjusting, but it works as well as it did before. Which ain't great, but it's a 980 and they suck.

TL;DR - It's not going to break anything, and will almost certainly Just Work.

--Shannon

[Joe Bernard]

Indeed, I'd never even heard of XD cranks having a proprietary taper. Riv has been putting them on JIS spindles for 31 years, I've done it almost that long including on my current 3 bikes. 

[Jim M.]

Sugino introduced proprietary taper in 2015. Riv stopped listing Sugino cranks for sale by 2020, instead having Silver and Clipper cranks, but I never heard it being related to the taper. Still, given that the crank is $250 and a Sugino bb is $40, I'd get the the correct taper bb.

[Joe Bernard]

Clipper cranks use the same mold as Sugino XD, I have both, they fit indentically on JIS spindles. Which of course is wandering far off topic, the Alpina is a different crank I've never even seen in person. 

[Mike Rossi]

The Alpina and current XD’s are both forged aluminum with Sugino’s “mighty taper”. The XD’s I mentioned on a couple of my bikes have the mighty taper. If you decide to go with “normal” JIS, just stick with it. It’s if, after having done that, you decide to one day get a Sugino cbbal-1xx that I’m guessing you might run into an issue. If you think you might lose sleep over it, get the Sugino BB. Blue Lug’s Alpina comes with a 113 and Alex’s Cycles comes with a 110.

Mike

On Oct 5, 2025, at 11:45 PM, Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com> wrote:

Clipper cranks use the same mold as Sugino XD, I have both, they fit indentically on JIS spindles. Which of course is wandering far off topic, the Alpina is a different crank I've never even seen in person. 

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