Originally Posted by
sonatageek
I ordered a Nashbar Touring Frame last week, taking advantage of the 30% off coupon they sent out for the earlier CC snafu. I am so used to steel framed bikes, I was surprised how light it was. I plan to build it up with trekking bars and already have a nice set of XT/Mavic 36 spoke wheels, XT shifter/brake pods, trekking bars, Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires, pedals and a Brooks B-17 Imperial saddle.
I am having trouble deciding on a crank set, bottom bracket, headset, brakes (will need to be V-brake to match the brake levers), seat post and stem.
I would love suggestions and opinions about what level/price poiint to shoot for for those items.
Since you are going with trekking bars, go with mountain bike shifters and levers. Personally, I'd go with SRAM shifters and derailers. X9 isn't bad nor is X7. I have XO on my mountain bike and it works very well.
For headset, I'd suggest a Cane Creek S-3, threadless. Cheap, reliable, easy to set up and maintain.
For a crank, I'd go with a 48/34/26 external bearing trekking crank. Shimano seems the easiest to work on but some models are harder to find. JensonUSA has a
Deore for $125. Here is a
Truvativ for relatively cheap. The cheapest external bottom bracket crank I've ever run across is this
one for $80 from Pricepoint. However it's a 44/34/22 which is a pretty low gear for the high. You can find 48 tooth chainrings but they aren't that cheap.
For a seatpost, I'd suggest a Race Face over just about anything. Much simpler to set up than just about any post I've used. The seat clamping mechanism is separate from the tilt adjustment.
Just about any stem will work. Race Face makes some economical ones. Salsa also makes good cheap ones.