Touring - Touring Crankset??

I've read the touring hubs, touring saddle, and touring frame threads... all were helpful and informative. How about a little advice on a touring crankset with dependability, durability and affordability as goals? It's tough to choose given the variety of manufacturers and BCDs! Thanks.

Depending on whether you're running 26" or 700c wheels, I would try to narrow your choices down to either a road or a mtb crankset first..... although it may not matter much..
George

How about a little advice on a touring crankset with dependability, durability and affordability as goals?

I have a 2003 Trek 520. Came with a 105 triple crank. I had it switched out to a Deore LX triple. Bottom bracket was switched out, too.

Almost 900 miles and I like it. Plus the bike has 700c wheels. I think the Bruce Gordon touring bikes come with MTB cranks, on both the 26" and 700c models.

I should have been more specific. I'll be using a 700C wheelset. One of the more consistant pieces of information I keep hearing is that the typical road 130/74 BCD triple is geared too high for loaded touring. There's other choices: 110/74 and 104/64.
There doesn't seem to much difference between them, and I'd be interested in hearing about your preferences. Thanks again.

Rivendell sells the Sugino SD2 triple with 110/74mm bolt pattern, 165mm Q factor, and 46/36/24 chainrings.

http://www.rivendellbicycles.com

Don't concern yourself too much with BCD's (bolt-circle-diameter).....what's more important on a crankset is the size of chainrings indicated by the # of teeth, in combination with the rear cassette which determines your range of usable gears.

Shimano XT M-752, 26 - 36 - 48, the inner and middle rings are steel and the outer is 7005 aluminum, it uses the ES-71 113/118 mm bottom bracket. This is a strong, stiff, fairly light weight, long lasting crankset with ideal ring sizes for touring.

I would try to narrow your choices down to either a road or a mtb crankset first.....

Ummm....You should also seriously consider a touring crankset. These come in 110mm BCD, whereas road cranksets use 130mm. The reason why you need a 110mm crankset is because at 130mm, you won't be able to fit a middle ring smaller than 39 teeth.

I run a 13-30 cassette (7 speed) with an LX mtn crankset (square taper - old school) with 26-38-48 chainrings (all steel). My Sugino 500 crankset is identical, minus the stripped pedal hole. :rolleyes:

Specialities TA are about the best trad design cranks. Cold forged, precision machined, with useful sized holes, and in a variety of lengths. They are very expensive.
Shimano LX or XT work well, and you can replace the rings with TA if you want to customize the ratios.
Stronglight make some interesting versions, available mainly in Europe.
Anyone touring on ISIS-compatable cranks yet?

Anyone touring on ISIS-compatable cranks yet?

What is ISIS? Is that the standard for the new splined cranks?

Great crankset about for about $90 at Harris Cyclery (available mail order and personally recommended by Shelton Brown, good enough for me!). It is also very attractive. I went with 46-36-24 chainrings. The TA sets are beautiful, but not worth 3X the Sugino. Peter Harris has an interesting read on his website re: chainline on touring bikes, specifically the Rivendell Atlantis, which just happens to be the newest addition to my stable.

Hope this helps.

If you think you'll need really low gears (steep hills with heavy loads), go with 94mm/58mm BCD. You can get a chainwheel as small at 20T for those. 110mm/74mm BCD is limited to 24T.

Also, since most (all?) wide range 9-speed cassettes start with an 11T, you can get a big enough top gear for touring with a 42T or 44T big ring (IMO).

FWIW: I tour with a 28-38-48 110mm/74mm crankset (taken off my old MTB) and a 13-28 7-speed freewheel. I tour fairly light (~25lbs gear) so the 1:1 low gear has been low enough so far.

http://www.chrisking.com/bb/bb_ISIS.html

The Sugino XD600 sounds/looks good... and the price is right as well. Thanks for your suggestions.

I'm using the sugino XD300, very nice value... My touring bike is also my around-town bike, so I switched the 46 to a 48, so I'm not riding in the smallest cogs all the time (philly is flat).