New Crankset?
 

I have spotted what may be a crack in the left crank of my TruVativ Touro set. Or perhaps not.
I makes for an excuse to fix my biggest complaint about my bike: the gearing. I have 52-42-30 'rings and my cassette (we used to call it a 'cluster') is 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25. These old knees and spine want shorter and closer ratios. Is a 'compact' or MTB crankset the answer? Will there be chainline problems or something else unforeseen by me? I do expect to move the front derailleur and remove some links.

Seems a MTB Compact will suit, after all a 44/11 will be plenty high enough..
perhaps the 25/22 will be low enough, Im guessing its a road frame , the change to a MTB
front mech and Road brifters have been said to be difficult to mate..
chainline .. middles of each end should line up ..

Turn the job over to the Bike shop If its too much to contemplate, on your own.

You can get plenty low gearing with a stock Sugino XD crank and 26/36/46 rings and get a 45mm chainline with a 110mm BB.

Switching from a road crank with a 45mm chainline to a mtb crank with a 50mm chainline is not optimal on a road bike with 130mm rear spacing.

My new Sugino XD-600 26-36-46 crankset arrived this morning, and they are beautiful; feels like an upgrade. A visit to my LBS-1 has me in possession of: a Shimano cotterless crank extractor, a Park mini chain tool and an IceToolz pedal wrench. They are non-denominational. I hope I have all the other tools I will require and I expect to take a ride this evening!
I just wanted to thank you for the advice, which seems to have hit the mark perfectly.
Perry

Just back from my first ride...to above mentioned LBS-1. I neglected to measure the BB while it was off, but it is too long with the new cranks. Even removing the outer limit screw I can't engage the big ring. Tomorrow I will replace the BB. It looks like I can get one 12mm shorter!
Is there some sort of standard measure of how much cranks project so we can predict what size BB spindle is appropriate? Same bike, didn't remove the wheels or anything that might have altered the chainline.
BTW, even with the 36 ring the small rear cog feels too tall for level ground. I expect to train up to it some day.

You may find that you spend most of your time on the 36t ring until you strengthen up some. That is completely normal if you do not have a lot of miles/years of riding under your belt. It's still healthier than doing the 'lazy boy' routine!