Cyclocross - which crank to use on my cyclocross?

I currently use a double crank 50/36 on my cyclocross. I feel I might need a triple so that I will have the extra granny gear to get me up the hills. So far the double is good but I now realize that with a little more effort in thrusting my legs down through the pedal stroke it will give me more steam up the hills. The problem here is I borrowed the double crank off my road bike so I could get the cyclocross on the road. Also, the triple cranks I find harder to shift the double is more manageable for me. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

What do you plan to do with the bike? If you plan to race it I would go with a 48/38 double because if you are going any slower than that you are better off running. If it is a fun type bike to do some trails and still do road then a triple might be the way to go.

I currently use the soma double cross for winter fitness rides. I just recieved a triple gossamer exo 52X42X30 for my soma but changed the chainrings to 48 X 38 X 28 and am going to try that out for a couple of weeks to see if it is stiff enough. The gearing might be a little easier to push up the steep hill I climb.

I currently use the soma double cross for winter fitness rides. I just recieved a triple gossamer exo 52X42X30 for my soma but changed the chainrings to 48 X 38 X 28 and am going to try that out for a couple of weeks to see if it is stiff enough. The gearing might be a little easier to push up the steep hill I climb.

I too have a 48-38-28 and have used it for cyclocross. I like it because I can pretty much use that bike for road use (non-racing), cyclocross, some mountain biking (I do use a 11-30 cassette for most of the mtb stuff). Good luck with it!

T.

The 48X38X28 triple is good if one uses all three rings. I am not new to cycling but have been riding steady for about 1 1/2 years on fitness rides. I still can't get used to having so many choices when it comes to shifting. Today on my fitness ride I was scared to use my bail out gear because I almost like the hard workout that steep hills provide. If I have it in a low gear and I am spinning my pedal strokes it feels as though I am not getting a workout. Confused. I am going to read what Lennard Zinn has to say about shifting. Anythoughts on shifting would be appreciated? Thanks.

The 48X38X28 triple is good if one uses all three rings. I am not new to cycling but have been riding steady for about 1 1/2 years on fitness rides. I still can't get used to having so many choices when it comes to shifting. Today on my fitness ride I was scared to use my bail out gear because I almost like the hard workout that steep hills provide. If I have it in a low gear and I am spinning my pedal strokes it feels as though I am not getting a workout. Confused. I am going to read what Lennard Zinn has to say about shifting. Anythoughts on shifting would be appreciated? Thanks.


how long have you been riding? when I started riding, it felt like my legs were flying ALL the time, and I could have been pushing much harder. Eventually, I figured out that I could go much longer, much faster, if I was spinning more and mashing less. Trust me, you will feel the workout.

I have a FSA road triple that I use on my cross bike, its a 53-39-26 set up with a 12-34 cassette; I use this for trail riding and it is perfect for that type of riding. And yet great on the road at the same time.

shifting makes you slow. singlespeed cross is where its at.

shifting makes you slow. singlespeed cross is where its at.

Pansy. I'm a few days away from finishing my fixie cross. That's where it's at ;)

oh please, did you really think it wouldnt be a fixed/free hub? :)
42:18 free
42:17 fixed

oh please, did you really think it wouldnt be a fixed/free hub? :)
42:18 free
42:17 fixed

:D I humbly retract my statement. Nothing wrong with that!

I currently use the soma double cross for winter fitness rides. I just recieved a triple gossamer exo 52X42X30 for my soma but changed the chainrings to 48 X 38 X 28 and am going to try that out for a couple of weeks to see if it is stiff enough. The gearing might be a little easier to push up the steep hill I climb.
+1

If you don't mind Old School, tapered BB, then try the very high quality Sugino XD-600. It comes in a 48/36/26. I was thinking about equipping my Veloce equipped bike with one. Good for off road or non competitive road riding. Good luck

Tim

sugino also offers that crank in a compact double setup 48/34.

sugino also offers that crank in a compact double setup 48/34.
48/34 sounds really good to me. Who offers them?

Tim

On the current Gossamer triple 48X38X28 the steep hill climbs seem good. However, on sunday's fitness ride my front derailleur did not shift into the small chainring so I was unable to test the 28 tooth chainring on the steep hill. Next week! The sugino XD 600 seems like a good choice for non-competitive road cycling. The only thing I would have to purchase with the XD 600 is a BB. UMM.

Another vote for sugino 110 BCD cranks....none better for the money. Get the XD 600 with a good BB. Take off the small chainring for a double if you want. Sugino also makes every size chainring, so customize what you need....

Also, if you happen to have some old school Shimano MTB cranks hanging around (the 5 arm ones).... well you can deck them out with new chainrings (110 BCD as well)

This might sound crazy, but does anyone have experience with the single chainring (46T) Shimano Saint crank on a cross bike? The chainline is a ridiculous 50 mm, but it's about the beefiest crank I can find and I want to keep it simple up front while racing. Thoughts?

I have a 48x34 FSA Gossamer MegaExo on my Tricross. I miss my triple (52x42x30). I like to use all three rings, and I had a better range of gears, and it was easier to find the right combos when switching rings. With my double, I'm either spinning too much or pushing too hard a gear when I change rings. That's my two cents...and I don't race.

Another vote for sugino 110 BCD cranks....none better for the money. Get the XD 600 with a good BB. Take off the small chainring for a double if you want. Sugino also makes every size chainring, so customize what you need....

Also, if you happen to have some old school Shimano MTB cranks hanging around (the 5 arm ones).... well you can deck them out with new chainrings (110 BCD as well)


I run Sugino XD's on both my cross bikes.......with a FSA BB......I likt this option alot better than the 105 setup I used to run. :D

This might sound crazy, but does anyone have experience with the single chainring (46T) Shimano Saint crank on a cross bike? The chainline is a ridiculous 50 mm, but it's about the beefiest crank I can find and I want to keep it simple up front while racing. Thoughts?
A 46T ring is pretty big for a single ring setup...a 42T might be a better choice. I'm thinking about going to a single ring since I only used my small ring for only two races, out of the 20 that I did, last season. For the back, a 12-25 cogset should work well for racing.

My plan was: Saint crank, XTR long cage rear der and XTR 11-34 cassette. I'm going to be using this bike for several purposes: touring, cross, and Sunday rides. It won't be a light bike as it'll have S&S couplers and obviously some heavy duty mountain componentry. I want to have fun with this bike and not have it be just another cross bike with an Ultegra kit.

I use a 38 tooth chain ring and 2 chain gaurds on the stock bontrager selects that came on my xo1, thats your best way to go.

On the current Gossamer triple 48X38X28 the steep hill climbs seem good. However, on sunday's fitness ride my front derailleur did not shift into the small chainring so I was unable to test the 28 tooth chainring on the steep hill. Next week! The sugino XD 600 seems like a good choice for non-competitive road cycling. The only thing I would have to purchase with the XD 600 is a BB. UMM.
I've had that problem on several of my bikes. When I try to down shift to the granny gear under load it flat won't shift. I find that I have to down shift early into the 30/13 or 30/14. Then I use the rear no problem. Anyone else have that problem?


Tim

XTR baby!! You can get 110mm spiders so you can run virtually any ring you want. I've got between 32 and 53t rings for my set.

Want a road bike? Run the big rings
Want a mountain bike? Run the little rings.

HTH,

M