Crankset Advice

[Johnny Alien]

So I am planning a winter build of a new road bike and am getting a list of what parts I want to put on it. I am stuck a bit on what I want to do with the crankset.  I know I want to go compact double but that's about it. I don't mind spending some cash but don't want to spend silly money either.  My ideal would have been the Sugino Alpina that VO used to sell in  48/34.  That seems to be gone and there are very few Sugino 48/34 offering and most are lower quality.  So if I give up on finding 48/34 my options open up a but with the 50/34 group.  The Alpina is available but only the Alpina 2 which I think is slightly lower quality.  There is also the IRD Defiant in that group that gets really good reviews but also has a very different look.  That crankset is actually available in a wide 46/30 range which sounds very useful but not sure how that would work for mostly road riding conditions.

Any advice on nice 48/34 square BB offerings?  What about the 50/34?  IRD, Sugino....other nice offerings.  I like the WI cranks but they get too expensive in the long run.  Anyone use that wide range 46/30?  Thanks!!

[Scott Henry]

I might recommend not being so focused on buying a complete crankset.
Just buy the cranks you like and then order the rings in whatever
size you prefer. I'm just building up a new bike and ended up going
with a guide/44/30 on an old SunTour triple crank I had around.

Once I gave up on trying to be fast, I have shifted all my big rings
down to either 44 or 46 teeth. I am fond of either Salsa or Surly
chainrings. Both are cheap and last a loooong time.

Also take a look at just about any cyclocross offering.
Cheers,
Scott

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[Philip Kim]

White industries VBC is nice, but expensive. Otherwise I would just get a standard Sugion crank, those last awhile.

[Steve Palincsar]

I'm confident you can set up the Rene Herse double with those ratios.

[Johnny Alien]

Those are beautiful cranks, can be gotten in many configurations and it super light to boot. It checks off every box but they are as pricey as the WI cranks.  I am going to give it a serious look though. Might be worth chocking down that cost.

[George Schick]

What about the 48/34 Grand Cru that Velo Orange sells?  I bought one of these a few months ago and am well pleased with it.  And, they've got a blue light special going on it - slashed the price from $190 to $140 (after I'd already bought one, of course).  Can't beat that.

[David Banzer]

+1 to what Scott said. Get a crank without rings if you know exactly what chainring configuration you want.
Here's a reasonably priced Sugino option: https://www.benscycle.com/p-914-sugino-xd-fixed-gear-crankset.aspx?
While technically a single ring crankset, it can be setup as a double (I've done this myself).
David
Chicago

[Ron Mc]

A lot of good recommendations on this thread.  

but about the IRD   

how can you not like the looks of a Strada-clone crankset?  

[Ryan Ray]

Can you point out some chainrings to use to turn that single into a wide double?

[David Banzer]

Self-promoting here, but I have a selection of Willow chainrings that would fit that. I've set it up as 46/34 and 49/34.
It's a 110 bcd crank, so any 110 bcd chainrings would work.
David
treetop.bigcartel.com

[Ron Mc]

110 bcd are not always easy to find, so having David as a source in addition to Rivendell (often out of stock) is a good thing.  

[Scott Henry]

110 BCD might be hard to find for triplizers, but any shop or online
merchant can get you 110 rings down to 34 teeth.
Origin8 are usually the cheapest ones. but there are many many out there.
Vuelta has rings on sale right now starting at $19. You can get them
cheaper if you look, but sometimes its easier to just spend the extra
$5 and be done with it.

http://www.vueltausa.com/components/chainrings/se-chain-ring-110mm-34-60t-972.html

Scott

[Garth]

 
    If you want a top quality Sugino look at the current model Mighty Tour , also called the 901D .  You can get just the arms or a complete crank with their premium chainrings, not like the cheaper ones of the XD . Considering the premium rings in your preferred choice(including 48/34 silver)  I'd say the $264 price is quite reasonable.

You can get the arms or the complete crank from Japan from this bike shop that delivers to the USA .
http://www.alexscycle.com/cranks/fixed-non-njs-1-2-3-4-5-6/sugino-mighty-tour-pcd110-crank.html?currency=USD
http://www.alexscycle.com/cranks/road-1-2-3-4-5-6/sugino-mighty-tour-crank-set.html

or the arms in the US from here : http://www.bikemania.biz/sugino-mighty-comp-crankarms.html

[Patrick Moore]

110 bcd rings (Sugino particularly) are available from any shop.

As for cranks: the venerable Sugino XD2 is well made, good looking, and modestly priced. FWIW, I run 38 and 24 rings in the middle and inner position, with a bash guard on the outside, as a "sub-compact" setup.

XD2s are often posted for sale on this list for cheap.

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[Matthew J]

Not cheap, but I am a big fan of the TA Carmina.  You can get with 110 bcd x 74 Spider if you want to go triple later.  

Not as pretty, but if you don't think you every want to go triple the TA Vortex is a top quality option as well.  Peter's site does not say, but he does sell without rings - or with different rings as long as he has in stock. 

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 8:48:24 AM UTC-6, Johnny Alien wrote:

[Joe Bernard]

I think 46-30 would be great for road riding. You'd be on the big ring most of the time, with the bailout 30 available for big hills. I'm planning to do this with my Bike Friday (smaller cassette cogs duplicate normal road gears). Right now I have a 51-42-30 triple, and have discovered that the top gear inches on the big ring are pointless for me. Keeping the granny and morphing the two bigger rings into one 46-tooth sounds ideal.

[Evan E.]

Wow. This Sugino crankset that David B. mentioned sounds like a good deal--especially because you can set it up as a double:

https://www.benscycle.com/p-914-sugino-xd-fixed-gear-crankset.aspx

[john]

I agree. I have a 46x30 setup. Veto Orange Grand Cru. Very nice I think. But to make it ideal for me, I actually want to go down to a 44 tooth "big" ring so that I seldom have to shift down to the 30 tooth ring. Maybe even 44x28 would be ideal. There's an interesting recent post on the Bike Quarterly site about gearing, BTW.

[Matthew J]

I like Ben's but in this case it appears they are marketing what is in fact a double crankset as SS / fixed likely because the look and price meet that market.  

Can't really think of any double that could not also be used in an SS / fixed application.  This does not mean they are not doubles.

On the other hand, there are many SS cranksets that are not designed to accommodate another chain ring - although I suppose where there is a will there is way.

[Kieran J]

I have the same 46/30 VO cranks on my road bike, and I swapped the 46t out for a 44t TA ring. I may also switch out the 30t for a 26t or so - it would bring regular road cassettes and short cage derailleurs back into the picture again.

KJ

[David Banzer]

Just to be clear, the Sugino crankset I linked to really is designed for a single chainring, but there is a slight shelf (? not sure of the term) on the inside of the spider for an inner chainring to sit. It doesn't come as far inboard as a regular double, but it is enough to keep the chainring in place. I can take photos this evening if anyone would like a close up look of this.
David
Chicago

[Patrick Moore]

+1 for the 44/30 combo. I've used this on a mountain bike with home-brew 9 speed cassette, and on a ram with a 14-23 7 speed. Pro 5 Vis in both cases.

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[Johnny Alien]

I am pretty sure that the IRD is the same as the VO cranks.  I actually have no problem with getting the cranks and chainrings seperately but it seems like that would make my decision harder as then I need to decide on what crank arms to get and what chainrings to pair them too, etc.  My brain is already overloaded.  I suppose I could get an Alpine 2 which is a nice crankset and just replace the large ring with a 48.  The Rene Herse looks great too (although expensive) but now you guys are making me thing that the IRD Defiant Wide might be the way to go.

[David Person]

I run a 44/28 Rene Herse crankset from Compass Bikes on my Sam. Chose it for the variety of chain rings available, the quality, low Q factor and the looks. Not inexpensive though.

Here is the link to an article I found very useful and info I had not read anywhere else.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/how-to-choose-your-chainrings/

[Garth]

  Johnny,

   If you choose a 48/34 the Sugino Mighty Tour is every bit and more than the Alpina ever was . Smooth anodising on both sides of course :)  And their best  chainrings to boot.
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/hasirin/imgs/9/f/9f1c5606.jpg
http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/hasirin/imgs/b/4/b4b42a96.jpg
http://www.cyclofiend.com/Images/rbw/pdf/original_twocranksblogcomp.pdf

As for the 48/34 vs. a 46/30 I'd say it depends on your cassette range and your personal prefernece .  I'm not a fan of riding smaller rings than a 34 for anything but steep hills, meaning not riding in them for a long time. I'd rather use a 36 with larger cogs the majority of hills.

   I ride 50/36 with 7sp. 13-32 FW and 48/36/24 with 6sp. 13-28 for my bikes and on flat terrain ride mostly in the 36 for both bikes and the between the middle and large ring for higher speeds. I pretty much use all 6 and 7 cogs per ride .  A 46/30 would not be real uselful for me , but again, this is personal preference and opinion as is everyone's input here. The bottom line , no one's opinion matters but your own, know your self and your style of riding.

[John]

Does the Sugino 901d come as a triple with holes on the inner crank/spider for a small bolt-on inner chainring? (I'm afraid I'm a bit immured in the past and not up on current matters. Currently, I have as triples on road bikes are a Stronglight 99 and a Campy Nuovo Record, though I will put a T-A. Cyclo Tourist/Pro Vis I have on a bike.)

Thank you in advance.

John Taglia

[Johnny Alien]

I got a silly great deal on an Sugino Alpina so I went that way. I may or may not swap the large ring. It was too good to pass up.  Thanks for all of the help and great info in here. I especially like that Rivendell article!

[Garth]

   John, The 901D(D for double) is designed as a double only. If you look at the links I posted below to Johnny you can see the photos of it on both sides. The Riv pdf shows it as a triple with the IRD Triplizer ring , which bikemania.biz apparently offers as the 801T(T for triple) in a 48/36/24 or 46/34/24.
http://www.bikemania.biz/sugino-mighty-tour-801t-triple-crankset.html

Odd though as I have seen this from Japanese websites as the 801T but with the triple attached directly to the arms .  Maybe they do still make it or they once did. I do not know , but here's the photo . http://page16.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/u84827566#enlargeimg

[Johnny Alien]

The crank in the Riv PDF is the original Alpina not the Mighty Tour correct?  It seems like at the time Sugino was tossing around using the Mighty Tour name but the PDF mentions it's called the Cospea in Japan and that was definitely what they called the original Alpina crank.  Maybe the new Might Tour is just the original Alpina now?  The Alpina 2 is not the same as the original Alpina.

[Garth]

    Johnny,   The crank in the riv pdf is indeed the 901D/Mighty Tour and not the Cospea/Alpina .
Here are 2 Cospea/Alpina images :
 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_C1XrRVl3W8k/SIYJnSfEG9I/AAAAAAAAFOE/J-DOXrw7I4o/s1600/Sugino%2BAlpina.jpg
http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/images3/cc286-3crank.jpg

Compare it closely to the Mighty Tour 901D and you will see the differences clearly.   The Riv pdf is from a number of years ago . The Mighty Tour is also made from 2000 series Al which has a higher fatigue life. I don't know what Al the Cospea is made from , but the Alpina 2 is 6061 Al.

The Alpina 2 appears to be the same mold as the Cospea/Alpina visually. Detailed pics of the backside of the Cospea I have not been able to find to know the differences in finish there . The Alpina 2 is like the XD in that the anodising is not complete on the backside and I don't know the finish on the Cospea backside to compare.

enlarge the pics here of the Alpina 2 to compare
 http://www.bikerecyclery.com/new-sugino-alpina-2-triple-crankset-9-10-speed-170mm-48-36-24t/