I have an 82 Pro Miyata with a high geared 'racing' setup. I'd like to achieve lower gearing in the least expensive way, but also with the least disturbance to the original equipment drive train. My old legs just cant take the current setup.

I currently have a Sugino Aero Mighty crank (52/42), Suntour Superbe FD & RD, and a 13-18 freewheel 6-speed (probably Suntour Winner). At first I considered switching out the freewheel for a bigger cog cluster. I figure I need a 28T cog to to be comfortable. It appears likely that I would have to also switch out the RD (see the thread on max cog for Superbe RD). One problem with this is that I'm not sure I would like the spacing/gear ration on a cluster that's like 14-28.

Now its occurred to me that I could also achieve lower gearing by changing the chainrings on the crank. Info on Velobase says that 42T is the smallest ring an Aero Mighty will accept. My thought is to switch it out with a touring crank, with something like 48/36 rings. I might still want to change the freewheel, but I could go with something with a closer range, like 14-23 If I do this I'd want to keep with a similar quality product.

So my questions are:

• Does my idea of changing the crank hold water in general?
• If I find a touring triple crank with the right size rings (and the right cheap price) can I simply remove the smallest chainring? Will it work with my current FD and fit my BB?
• What crank makes might be compatible? Suntour, Shimano, Sakae, etc.?