Originally Posted by
Trentkln27
If that's the case then with a hollowtech bb can I somehow grind at the axle on the MTB crank to make it shorter and work with a road hollowtech bb? Or should I just stick to using square taper bottom brackets?
Square BB, IMO they offer a wide range of options. If you go the mountain crank route, an 103 mm BB will usually give you the correct chainline.
Road FD and shifters work well with mountain, but there needs to be a 12 tooth difference between the large and middle chainrings.
A 44 tooth chain ring combined with an 11 tooth cog will give you 28 mph at 90 rpm. Most folks on tour do not reach those speeds unless going downhill or one heck of a tail wind.
The 44/ 32/22, 11-34 combination mentioned above works well when you get into the mountains. Last week my family completed a tour in British Columbia, Canada where we encountered a lot of 1-3 mile hills of 8%. It was the Selkirk loop. We were all glad that we were running mountain bike gearing.