Road Crank Less Than 30 ??
09-15-08, 11:56 PM
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: torrance
Posts: 530
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Road Crank Less Than 30 ??
I know I am going to get critized for this but I want a crank set on my road bike that has the smallest gear less than 30. I ride alot of long hills and I dont ride fast. I usually prefer my MTB for the long hills because it has a 24 for the smallest gear. Now I want to put something on my road bike because it weighs less. Can anyone suggest a brand that has something between 24 and 30 ?
09-16-08, 12:02 AM
#2
zone 2
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 591
Bikes: BMC Teammachine
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Just get a mountain bike triple and stick it on your road bike. I have a 26-36-48 on my touring bike and it's been treating me pretty well. I just don't use the 26 unless I'm carrying a load.
09-16-08, 12:07 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Topanga, but I'm not a hippy
Posts: 2,820
Bikes: IF Club Racer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
You can use MTB cranks and cassettes on road bikes and go for the ultimate low 44/33/22. - 11/34 combo. Touring bikes use this set up frequently.
FSA makes (or used to make) a 48/38/24 crank that will also work. It shouldn't be too difficult to find something.
If you're running a triple, you can probably find a 28 inner ring for your setup which would be the cheapest option.
FSA makes (or used to make) a 48/38/24 crank that will also work. It shouldn't be too difficult to find something.
If you're running a triple, you can probably find a 28 inner ring for your setup which would be the cheapest option.
__________________
just being
just being
09-16-08, 08:21 AM
#5
Likes to Ride Far
I put 26 or 28 tooth inner chainrings on all my road triples, and I've done so on a few friend's bikes recently also. The inner position on road cranks has a 74mm BCD (blot circle diameter), and so you can mount chainrings down to 24 teeth. A couple of things to watch out for:
With the bigger jump down to the small chainring from the middle, your chain is more likely to fall off the inside of the ring. Therefore, mount a chain retention device such as the ChainWatcher from Third Eye, or if your bottom bracket has too much material to allow mounting it in the right place then try the DropStop from Jtek Engineering.
The teeth on Shimano inner rings are displaced slightly inwards from the mounting points. Therefore, to get the teeth on a chainring from another manufacturer to have the correct lateral spacing, place some thin washers between the chainring and the mounting points.
With the bigger jump down to the small chainring from the middle, your chain is more likely to fall off the inside of the ring. Therefore, mount a chain retention device such as the ChainWatcher from Third Eye, or if your bottom bracket has too much material to allow mounting it in the right place then try the DropStop from Jtek Engineering.
The teeth on Shimano inner rings are displaced slightly inwards from the mounting points. Therefore, to get the teeth on a chainring from another manufacturer to have the correct lateral spacing, place some thin washers between the chainring and the mounting points.
09-16-08, 09:21 AM
#6
shut up and ride
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: noho
Posts: 1,947
Bikes: supersix hi-mod,burley duet tandem,woodrup track,cannondale cross,specialized road
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
most road triples come with a 30 tooth inner chainring but like chris w said above that doesn't mean something smaller won't fit. i did the same on my tandem, i replaced the 30 with a 26. it works fine and i haven't had any problems dropping the chain when going to the little ring
09-16-08, 09:34 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 159
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I used to ride with a guy who had a 25 granny gear on a regular triple. With a 12-27 cassette, he had more teeth in the back than the front in his smallest gear. Of course, he would usually drop his chain when shifting to or from the little ring (I think his middle gear was a 39), so some of the benefit was negated.
