jjPax

Picked up a 2009 Jamis Coda Sport on craigslist pretty cheap and in need of some love. I was planning on using it mostly for when the weather was bad and didn't want to take my road bike out. Thinking I might turn it into semi-cyclocross bike and do some local races. So far I had to replace the shifters/brake levers, brakes front and back, cables and housing, chain...

This all being new to me, what would be a good bottom bracket and crank set to go for, thinking of going to down to 2 or even 1 chainrings?

Andy_K 

Just about any compact double crankset will do. CX cranksets typically use 46/36. Even a standard double would work if you go with a single ring -- generally something in the 44T-38T range. I'm guessing that you aren't too worried about weight.

I've had bad experience with the bearings in FSA's MegaExo bottom brackets, but the Gossamer and Energy cranksets are decent. I've just replaced the bottom bracket with a Shimano BB when the bearings go.

Right now I'm using a Shimano CX50 on my geared CX race bike. It came with 46/36 rings. I replaced the small ring with a 34T for general riding, but I'll probably switch back in the fall. On my SSCX bike I've got a Race Face Cadence crank that I got for an absurdly cheap price at a Western Bike Works clearance sale last year. I don't really like the way Race Face handles pre-load on their bearings (it's easy to ruin a set of bearing with poor installation), but it's solid and can usually be found pretty cheap.

NormanF

Keep the triple and install a mega range cassette if you don't already have one.

All new touring/country/adventure/gravel grinder bikes sold these days come standard with super low gearing for the hills.

jjPax

Thanks for the info Andy_K, yeah I'm not terribly worried about weight, that frame is a heavy beast anyway. Since I put shimano everything else I might look into that CX50.

Thanks NormanF, it has a 9 speed cassette but I haven't looked into what range it has. Good idea.

Kobe 

If it still has the stock cassette, it will have a 11-32 per the Bikepedia page. As long as it is in good shape I would keep the original.

jjPax

I might just do the bottom bracket for now then, because it does needs that bad. I'll see how the cassette and crank hold up for a bit rather then throwing money at this bike.