Classic & Vintage - TA triple with a 9 speed chain?

I'm having a custom touring bike built and love the look of older TA triple cranks. They were made in the 5-7 speed era so I'm worried about chainring widths as I want to mate them to a 9 speed rear cassette. Has anyone tried a similar setup? What were your results?

I imagine you will risk dropping the chain between rings and upshifting will be a little more difficult as the chains fights to slip on the wider than specified chainrings. I can see it working, but not well.

Ehh, it will work fine.
If the chain takes longer to go to the bigger rings it is because of the lack of hyperglide grooves that are present in the newer shimano rings. That said, your old chainrings will not perform any worse than all those truvativ cranks on the market today.
As far as chains getting stuck between rings, that has happened to me on full 9spd setups -with 9spd dura ace cranksets-, and it took me little time to realize that it was a chain of improer length that was causing the problem. For the record, I have used 6 speed cranks on 9 speed setups and i have not had a problem provided that the system was set up properly, including front derailleur height and pivot, and yes, chain length.

Hope this helps.

I'd be a bit more worried about chaindrop, Mike. Even stock NR setups with older, wide chains have a tendency to skate on downshifts if not downshifted aggressively enough.

I have not had experience with this particular setup, but I'd take a scrap piece of 9 speed chain and check their clearances between rings. If it seems tight enough, it can't hurt to try.

-Kurt

I'm using a TA double on a nine speed rear cassette, no problems. Chain is a SRAM PC-991.http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/cr/somec-bike-big.jpg

I'm using a TA double on a nine speed rear cassette, no problems. Chain is a SRAM PC-991.

Nice setup. What size are your rings and casette?

I'm using a TA double on a nine speed rear cassette, no problems. Chain is a SRAM PC-991

That's quite a jump from large ring to small - I wouldn't expect that combination to give much trouble by nature. The chain will almost always fall in such a way to always engage enough teeth to give a smooth shift.

-Kurt

My bluish Somec has a 30-48 TA crankset with a 11-34 nine speed cassette [24 - 117 gear inches]. It is setup for mountain riding, and I ride some steep grades. I like to motor on downgrades too. It shifts up and down with no problems. If you want to see a big jump with a TA-like Stronglight 49d crankset, here's my Mondia with 28-53 rings and a 13-32 freewheel for 23-109 gear inches. This shifts up and down just fine, and I'm doing it manually as you can see. This bike I use for lightly loaded credit card touring with an Ortlieb handlebar bag and a Carridice SQR Tour saddlebag.
http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/cr/mondia-bike-big.jpg

anyone have experience with 10speed chains and TA cranks?

Sheldon Brown's Hetchins:

http://sheldonbrown.org/hetchins/index.html

i guess the 9speed chain isnt thaaat much thinner then 10.. i just wanted to be sure before invested in a new bottom bracket

I am running a 9 speed chain w/ a 7 speed IRD freewheel, Suntour Barcons and a Campy NR triple. It shifts like a dream!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/bylar13/057.jpg

I am running a 9 speed chain w/ a 7 speed IRD freewheel, Suntour Barcons and a Campy NR triple. It shifts like a dream!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/bylar13/057.jpg

what kind of front light is that? I have the same rear... how well do they work together? I dont have a dyno-hub but one of the B&M dynamo's (and matching front light)

what kind of front light is that? I have the same rear... how well do they work together? I dont have a dyno-hub but one of the B&M dynamo's (and matching front light)

The front light is a Supernova E3, 3 watt LED. It works great with the B&M wired tailight. It is very bright and replaced 2 Schmidt E6's.