I'm working on designing my commuter (Soma Saga frame--I will post the build progress when I have all the parts), but the crankset has me stumped. I'm looking for a ten-speed triple crank with 48/36/26 teeth and a square-taper interface. JIS or ISO is fine. And I want 175 mm arms, which will probably be the easiest part. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd rather not break the bank with an Alpina 2 crankset, so maybe something under $150.

problem w/ shimano from ebay? there should be hundreds of choices.

No problem in that, I just must be searching incorrectly. I'll give ebay another search.

Update: The one feature lacking from the cranks I find on ebay is the square-taper interface. All the ones I can find that meet the other criteria use integrated BBs.

Square taper cranks with 10 speed rings are quite hard to find.

The IRD Defiant triple is 48-36-34, but $210.

The VO Grand Cru triple is 48-34-24, $195.

The Sugino XD2 would work but it has 8-speed (wider) chain rings.

The Grand Cru triple Tim mentioned is a very good crankset. I installed one on my neighbor's bike and it work beautifully. So, for a 2 tooth difference in each of the smaller rings, I'd still go for it.

In your search, refine the results to square taper BB interface.

the 36t middle , means you need a 110 BCD outer spider , the common pairing is a 74 bcd for the inner-most.

Square taper , many brands ... Sugino is popular .

I just don't understand the knee jerk e-bay love where you fight like hell to pay as much as you possibly can for items that are easily available from mass market retailers who are fighting like hell to undersell each other for the lowest price possible. Amazon has cranksets galore and they are available new in a variety of configurations. 10sp is kind of like 21" CRT monitors... if you had to ask... lower the requirement to 8sp or even 9sp and you won't have to shop for used stuff on Ebay or pay top dollar for new stuff on Ebay. If there is such a thing, the defacto triple is 48/38/28. They give those away and you will never break them or find them wanting in any way. The more money you spend the lighter and stronger they get but the cheap ones are plenty strong enough. Anything other than the defacto triple will exact a price premium. Having a 12 tooth gap between the middle and top ring will exact a price premium. Most people use 10sp cassettes with doubles. 52/3 39 or a compact 50/34 or such. If you are on a budget stay within the 'default' industry standards and you can save a bundle.

H