I have a Surly Disc Trucker with all Surly Vaya components (due to bike fit w/Vaya frame). My goal is to get a triple crank with the following rings: 46-36-26.
Current drivetrain is 10 speed, mostly Shimano 105:
Crankset Shimano 563 with 50-39-30 rings Front derailleur Shimano 5703 (total capacity 20t, min difference between top and middle 11t) Rear derailleur: Shimano 105 5701 (Can't find Shimano SI for the 5701, so the following is from the 5700A GS) Total capacity 39t Max large cassette 30t Front chainwheel tooth dif. 22t or less. Cassette Shimano 12-30
I would really like to try the Sugino Alpina 2 with 46-36-26 rings esp for the 26t granny. It almost fits within the FD derailleur spec. Does anyone have experience using this crankset with 10 speed index brifters?
Is there another crankset that would work, that has the same chainring tooth count.
I don't foresee any reason the shifter won't work with the crankset, or vice versa. The rub (pun intended) may be the front derailleur. Give it a try with your current derailleur, but since its designed for bigger chainrings it may or may-not work well. You might have to go to your LBS and ask if they have an old front derailleur from an early 90's mountain bike grouppo which were designed around rings roughly that size.
Thanks FTT, I asked this question directly to Sugino and got this response: With STI shifters, it won't work property. You will need friction shifters. ALPINA2 Triple works with shimano index bar end shifters. It can be installed to your bike, but we cannot guarantee the performance.
From the Peter White Cycling website (on his Stronglight page) I found this comment regarding Sugino triples: Sugino makes a unique middle chainring which flares to the inside, pushing the chain further to the inside when you downshift from the middle chainring to the inner chainring. I don't know why Sugino does this, but it shifts just fine with most front shifters. I've never tried it with Shimano's STI. But I suspect it won't work.
So Peter White corroborates what Sugino told me.
My 5701 rear derailleur specifies a max tooth of 30 with a triple or 32 with a double, so first maybe I'll just try a 32 with my triple and see how it works. If it does I'll call Peter White Cycles, maybe he can assemble a suitable crankset from Stronglight cranks and rings.
Who knew that you have to be a gearhead to get your bike into the perfect spot?
Have you considered buying the bare cranks and picking up chainrings of your choice separately? Personally, I'd go for smaller rings for gravel riding anyway. I have some older Sugino cranks that came with similarly sized rings and swapped them for 24/34/46 which was a really good all-round set-up (except too high for loaded touring).
FWIW, I have been using bar-end friction shifters on my touring bike for exactly 20 years and find them fantastic.
I'll probably go that route - build up a crank with rings of my choice. Another alternative is to replace the left shifter with a bar-end. I thinkI'm going to end up witha Frankenbike - but I like that. This bike is used mainly for touring on gravel.
I would say if you're doing loaded touring you want lower gearing, but that probably depends on where you are touring. My rule of thumb is to have a low gear equivalent to a 22t chainring and 34t chainring. That is what I rode when I was young, fit, light and strong, and I always had all the gears I needed. That said, I'm a bit of a spinner. Anyway, with 10s drivetrain, that's probably a 24t up front and 36t in back.
For myself, I managed to find a NOS 8-speed XT triple crankset with a 22/34/44 (I think) chainring set. 22x36 low gear is great for going up steep, rough climbs with 2.2" tires. The derailleurs are meant for 9s, chain and cassette are 10s, but with the bar-end shifters it all works together flawlessly.
I set up my Vaya (which came with 5700 105, 52-39-30, also 12-30 10 speed cassette) with an Ultegra 6600 triple crank with 50-39-24. No problems. The older Shimano cranks have the tiny 74mm BCD granny, the later ones have 94mm (?) BCD that can’t go smaller than 30. I also changed to a 9-speed XT SGS rear derailleur (non-shadow 9-sp is compatible with 10-sp road IIRC) but I’m not sure it was necessary.
The big bolt circle unfortunately can’t go lower than 39 for the middle ring. Regardless I spend most of my time on that bike comfortably in the middle ring, so I think a 39 works fine.
Thanks Fourfa, I'm going to try a 11-34 10spd cassette with a 9 speed XT rear derailleur. What front der do you have on the 6600 triple. That's a big gap between the 50 and 24.
Thanks, I'll try to find a new M771 SGS locally. Some online shops in Europe have them, but I haven't found any online in North America. I'll call around to some local shops this week.
In 30 seconds I found 105 triple shifters, an xtr 46/34/24 crankset, and xtr triple front derailleur on Ebay. All are compatible, and function well from previous experience.
The older Shimano road and mountain components were interchangeable- one could mix them on a bike to get the desired gearing. Mixing road and mountain is no longer possible with current groups.
MC wrote:My goal is to get a triple crank with the following rings: 46-36-26.
Current drivetrain is 10 speed, mostly Shimano 105:
Crankset Shimano 563 with 50-39-30 rings ... Rear derailleur: Shimano 105 5701 (Can't find Shimano SI for the 5701, so the following is from the 5700A GS) Total capacity 39t Max large cassette 30t Front chainwheel tooth dif. 22t or less.
Cassette Shimano 12-30
FWIW I've found my Ultegra rear derailleur with specified max cassette 32T will actually shift cogs up to 40T just fine. Going from a 12-30 cassette to a 12-34 cassette would give you virtually the same low gear as going from a 30T chainring to a 26T chainring and swapping the cassette should be simpler and cheaper.
Thanks Stu, I've just ordered an 11-34 cassette and Deore 9 speed derailleur - should receive them later this week. (was unable to find a new XT M771). I'll report back once I've installed them. First I'll try the 11-34 cassette with the existing 105 5701 derailleur - maybe it will work.
I would like to report how the new parts work together.
The 11-34 CS-M771 10 speed cassette worked well with the 105 RD-5701 10 speed rear derailleur, but the chain was too short.
I had already purchased a new RD-M592 Shadow 9 speed rear derailleur so I installed it along with a new Wippermann Connex 10SE chain. The chain is a 10speed model with 134 links for use on electric bikes. I trimmed the chain to 118 links including the quick connect link.
Long story short: the M592 9 speed shadow rear derailleur and Connex chain work perfectly with the 10 speed 11-34 cassette and 10 speed ST-5703 shifters.
The M592 derailleur can accommodate a 36 tooth cassette.
