Triple Conversion?
 

I have an '82 Bruce Gordon framed 10-speed with a Campy Super Record crank and Suntour Perfect freewheel, and want lower gears. I've read about the Peter White conversion kit for adding a third chainring to this crank. Does anyone here have experience with it? I have a Suntour Cyclone GT rear derailleur to use, and the Campy Nuovo Record front derailleur should work too I think. Are there any alternatives to the PW system? Am I committing a sin by considering this?

The Cyclone Gt will handle a wide range block so if you do not mind wider gaps you could install a freewheel with lower gearing and see if that works and leave the SR crank intact.

Have converted doubles to triples using longer stack bolts and spacers which is an old fashioned solution to get lower gearing on a road double with no provision for a granny... you will need a longer crank spindle for this in most cases.

That's not going to work with a 144 BCD Super Record crank!

Well, you could always do the old 52-47-42 triple. Sort of a corncob front.

I've used the TA triplizer inner ring for Campagnolo a few times. Its a cool setup, though I've used Rally rears. My daily rider:

I'm not sure what the "Peter White system" is, but maybe you mean a TA or Willow 42-tooth tripleizer ring? Those can work well, use a 74 BCD granny ring, and don't require any modification to your existing crank arm. You'll need about 5 mm of additional spindle on the drive side, although sometimes you can get away with less if the granny is small and/or your frame has a lot of 'indent' where the granny rings passes by the chainstay. Get the smallest Q-factor you safely can (would be my recommendation).

Note to all: those TA tripleizers won't work as-is on a Gran Sport 144 arm - the spider arms are too thick (radially) where the tripleizer needs to clear them, fwiw.

You had to go and post that. There I was, content with my 53-42 144BCD Avocet crankset; now I'll be laying awake at night scheming about making a triple out of it! Thanks a bunch!:twitchy:

The Peter White triple-izer is a bolt on which works well. Key, as Sixty-Fiver pointed out, is the BB spindle length.

I sent a Campy drive crank arm to Elliot Bay Cycles in Seattle, to have Bob Freeman drill a permanent triple-ized bolt holes. I turned a Super Record into a Campy triple that could take smaller inner rings than the original Campy triple (that, at 100bcd, was limited to 36t). It was slightly less expensive than the Peter White solution, but only just.

This is my crank, post drilling: http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o.../GetInline.jpg

I did swap out the bottom bracket to a proper triple BB, tho.

It's worth it to get those lower gears. IMHO, of course.

Yes, that's always another option (to have the arm modified), but it's not reversible.

FWIW, that 100 mm BCD will take a chainring as small as 31 teeth (but Campagnolo only made 36-tooth ones). Jim Merz used to make 31-tooth rings for those, but I don't think he has done any in ages.

Are the 'Peter White parts" just a TA tripleizer ring? A Willow one? I'll go look at his website.

You're welcome. You could use a wide-range 14-17-21-26-34 freewheel, and the 52-47 would give you nice half-steps and smooth out the big jumps. You'd have more half-steps between the 47 and the 42. Of course, you'd only have a 42-34 low. What's that, something like 35 inches? I don't have a gear chart in front of me. That's too high for an old guy like me who lives in the midst of long steep hills with unpaved roads. But you're young and strong, right?

I've purchased 2. Yes, the TA triplizer inner (now middle) ring and the bolts to mount the new inner. Still need a spindle (I used the Campagnolo triple) and the new inner ring (28 for me)

So far I seem to get by just fine with a 45" or so low gear. My preferred setup is a corn cob on the rear and single spaced + not quite granny on the front. E.g. on my Moto GJ., 52-48-36 & 13-14-15-16-17-19. My FrankenCilo with the 144 BCD Avocet double crankset is set up right now with 53-42 & 13-15-17-19-21 which is more less 1-1/2 step; it would be nice to set it up like the Moto. A half-step double setup with a wide range rear cogset probably isn't a good idea with the Campy NR RD (which I'm loath to change as the Campy shifting gruppo is kind of the focal point of this build). The gears are actually working pretty well for me; though smaller steps would be nice.

Thanks for all the input everyone! Love to see someone who had the spider drilled out for a new inner ring!!! I believe I'll go with the PW system because it's reversible.

Been there ... done that for about 20 years. Actually, I did a 49-46-43 / 13-16-19-23-26 14-speed (large-large cross deliberately redundant w/ 43/23), as well as a 50-47-44 / 14-16-19-23-26 13-speed (both crosschains redundant). When I worked at Bikecology, we converted one chap's Nishiki to a 54-50-47 / 14-18-22-28-34, using only the 50T ring, five long stackbolts and a long spindle. I kind of like "third-step" gearing.