Originally Posted by
stapfam
...They should be able to sustitute a Mountain bike Crankset for you. A 48/36/26 should be possible- but not certain that the quality of the only one I can think of (Deore) would be as good as the Ultegra set up...
Shimano has just come out with an XT touring crank that is 48/36/26. I think you need to use the matching fd also. I use XT on my touring bike and it performs as well or better than the XTR/Ultegra/DuraAce components on my various bikes.
Note that standard rear cassettes with 32 or 34 teeth are mbr and 9 speed. There are special order cassettes that go to 30 teeth but I have heard mixed comments on their quality of shifting (compared to modern Shimano) so do not have personal experience with them. I'd be interested in comments about these 10 speed, 29 or 30 tooth cassettes.