MAGAIVER

I want to upgrade de cranks/chairing/bottom bracket on my All-City Big Block, I am currently using the stock parts from the complete bike.

So far my two options are the SRAM Omnium, or a White Industries ENO with a White Industries bb.

I'm worried about two things on the white industries cranks, I can only seem to find them in 170mm or longer, I'm not sure how the 5mm longer cranks would interfere with the riding and fit I currently have, I will mostly ride it as single speed on the road but I do occasionally ride it fixed through traffic and I'm not sure if pedal strike and toe overlap could become an issue. As for the bb, the stock one is 68x110mm while the White Industries is 68x113mm, could the extra 3mm cause chain line issues?

And as for the Omniums I've read some bad things about the bb not lasting very long, and that external bb's are generally crap. Are those really that bad?

I will do some light touring on that bike next year, and I dont wanna get stuck on the road with crank issues.
I'm looking for a long lasting setup, with as little maintenance as possible, I'm not worried about weight, and I want something that will be easy to obtain since I'll have to import it.

So far the White and Omnium sets are pretty easy to get online and I even found a good a deal on white stuff on ebay, but I dont want to waste money on something that may not fit my needs.

I'm open to other options that there may be out there.

Scrodzilla

BB spindle length corresponds with the crankset being used, not the bike. If the White Industries calls for a 113mm spindle, you should have no chainline issues.

I had a lot of problems with the stock Omnium BB but I know plenty of people who haven't. I think it's luck of the draw when it comes to cheapo GXP BBs.

8bits

As Scrod knows I was always curious about those GXP BB's problems, couldn't understand how a BB fail so much and this week a good friend of mine had the exact same problem as the forum members were saying...so really you should factor that the chance of the BB failing is high. It's not kind of a big deal since the GXP is cheap, but it is a annoyance nevertheless

Scrodzilla

carleton pointed out somewhere that while Omniums are an awesome crankset, the reason they're so affordable is because the included BB isn't exactly the best. I'm sure replacing the stock BB with a higher quality GXP would eliminate common problems but if you plan on doing any type of touring where you'll be carrying a bunch of stuff with you, I'd stick with square-taper.

TejanoTrackie 

If you don't want any issues, stick with a traditional square taper crank / BB design. For example, I'm building a new track bike on a Soma Rush frameset with Sugino 75 cranks (RG sells these) and a Protype sealed cartridge BB from Ben's Cycle. I've used nothing but square taper setups on all my track / fixed gear bikes for 35 years, and never had any issues. If you buy a high quality crank such as the Sugino 75, it will stay tight provided you tighten it properly. I really don't like external BB's, since the bearings are eccentric to the frame BB threads, which places additional loading on them and makes them more likely to get loose.

MAGAIVER

I am sold on the square taper bb, but I still cant decide which cranks and bb to use.
I contacted white Industries and they recommended that I use a 108mm bottom bracket for the ENO cranks on my bike. The seller with a good price on the Eno crank has the white ind. bb in 108mm also.

Does anyone have any experience with the ENO cranks, should I go for it or would it be wiser to save some more for a Sugino 75?

dookie

the quality of the eno cranks is 2nd to none, but don't they take proprietary (splined) chainrings? i looked at 'em a while back and seem to remember that $75 1/8" white rings were the only option that would fit them. limits drivetrain to 1/8" and gear choice to cog changes only, at least according to my wallet.

proper BB shell preparation is essential to external BB bearing life. if you go this route and the frame has not already been chased/faced, it would be well worth the one-time-only expense to do it now.

MAGAIVER

The set I found for sale comes with the splinned chainring I can chose from 32 to 48 teeth, white industries lists the rings on their website as available for both 3/3"2 and 1/8", I currently run 48x18 singlespeed with a white industries freewheel and 48x17 with the stock All-City cog and that gearing seems just fine, I could deal with a larger chairing if needed, which would be the case with the omnium crankset.
My only issue now is the crank length, not sure on the 170mm length, I did get away with a cheap 170mm crankset on my first fixed gear so maybe im just beein paranoid or something. Do the extra leverage of longer crank arms provide any sort of benefit on long rides/climbs, the roads here are full hills.

TejanoTrackie 

One way to save on the Sugino 75 initially is to buy the arms only ($225 @ RG), a less expensive 144mm bcd chainring and the Protype BB ($35 @ Ben's cycle). The quality of the Sugino 75 is second to none (I have a set on my PConcept). If however, you want to spend a bit less, I believe the Miche Advanced are very nice, and about $100 less than the cost of a Sugino 75 crankset with chainring. I was considering them for my build, but since I already have a bunch of Sugino 75 chainrings, I would not be saving very much.

TejanoTrackie 

The advantage is minimal, since you are only increasing the length by 3% over 165mm crankarms. Unless you have really long legs, I'd stick with 165mm arms to make it easier to spin faster and provide better pedal clearance when cornering.

dookie

right. don't wear it out or want to change it for gearing purposes though. also, damage it for any reason and a replacement will have to be ordered, not picked up off the shelf at your LBS.

not saying you shouldn't do the white, just consider the annoyance(s) of the proprietary ring interface.

MAGAIVER

Anything I need has to be imported, Brazil is really lacking on single speed specific stuff and the little that there is either real bad quality or extremely overpriced. I'd love to be able to go to my LBS and just pick anything I need, but I cant even get decent 700c tires larger then 23c over here. For geared mountain bikes there's quite some variety, but single speed and commuter specific items are almost inexistent.

I'm still reading a lot about different cranks and BB's to make the right decision, turns out white industries does make 165mm cranks, according to an e-mail I got from them 165mm is fairly new and not every shop has those yet.

I'll just stick to the stock all-city crankset for now, and wait for a good deal.

8bits

Magaiver I'm from SP. I can recommend you some brazilian stores that sell fixed and single speed gear. You can PM me if you want.

TejanoTrackie 

Actually, he can't. He only has 6 posts, and I think needs 50 before he's permitted to PM anyone. If you PM him, however, he may be able to reply.

8bits

true that!

MAGAIVER

Saw your PM 8 bits thanks for the help.