Originally Posted by
asmac
Thanks, all. My head is spinning...
You are of course correct, the Vaya specifies 135mm for the rear spacing and the size I'm looking at will have 700c wheels.
I was planning to use the Shimano XT hub and disc brakes if those are considerations.
I asked Salsa about using a Shimano XT triple crankset and was told "the only issue that comes up is the spindle length on thecrankset and that can be taken up by using the spacers that come with thebottom bracket. There are good instructions with the BB to show you where toinstall the spacers to keep the proper spacing and take up any slack." It sounds to me that I would be OK but don't really get what they were talking about.
Any further light that can be shed would be appreciated. Even just a thumbs up or down! I guess there's a reason to let the pros do the specifying but that isn't much fun
]Your humble noob...
The rear hub spacing is a red herring. It really doesn't have much to do with the selection of a crank set. I'll assume a new external bottom bracket XT crank. The spindle on the crank...the part that connects the arms...is made for a bottom bracket the is 73mm wide, which is rather rare. Most bikes have 68mm wide bottom brackets. To make the 73mm spindle fit, you put in spacers behind the bearing cups. You can put them in behind the drive side or the nondrive side. Sometimes (often) you put them on both. The usual configuration is one on the nondrive side and 2 on the drive side. The number and thickness you put on the drive side depends on where your chainline needs to be to play nice with the rear cassette. People make a big fuss about chainline but it's really a nebulous thing. As long as the middle chainwheel of a triple crankset just sort of lines up with the middle cog on the cassette you are going to be okay. It's not really all that precise.
The XT will work just fine with the Vaya and it's not as hard to install as you think. The Shimano external bearing cranks are about as idiot proof as you can make a part on a bicycle be.