I have a 90s Campagnolo Veloce crank that I hope to use with a new Steamroller frame - I bought it before I realized there was a 50 tooth max on the chainring, but that's ok I guess. I'm pretty much resigned to using the cheap Campy bb with a 111mm spindle that goes with all the non-Record/Chorus cranks and running the chainring on the inside of the spider, but for aesthetics I prefer not to do this.

Anyone running a (modern?) Campy road double with the ring on the outside with a bb that gives a decent chainline on a Steamroller? Phil is not a possibility, but with some searching I haven't come up with much in the way of compatible bbs besides older Italian stuff that's not made anymore.

Also, anyone running chainrings bigger than 50 on their Steamroller? I don't have a bb yet, so I can't eyeball anything, but I was running a 53t with a campy copy crank on a 107mm bb on the road conversion, and while the chainring bolts barely cleared the chainstay when running the chainring on the outside spider (by like a mm), I got it to work.

And yes, it's purely for aesthetics, and yes, I'm already running 42x15 on another bike, I know the smaller ring gives you more combos with standard and cheaper sprockets and chainrings. My road conversion was purely functional, but this new bike I want to be pretty, and that's within my definition of pretty.

Problem you'll most likely run into with that setup is clearance between crankarm and chainstay on both sides. I don't think you have much choice but to mount your ring on the inside.

Even with my vintage Campy pista crankset I only have less than 2mm clearance between the ends of my 165mm crankarms and my Steamroller chainstay, and chainline is still a tiny bit off.

I hadn't even though of crankarm clearance - I figured the manipulated chainstays would negate this problem. They're 172.5 cranks, and with the 170s on the road fix and straight round stays the clearance is tight - about 2mm, but I haven't had a problem with it.

Maybe I'll start looking for cheap track cranks, but I really don't care to spend 200 bucks on a crankset just because it's a track set. I mean, would that even matter? It's the chainline with the bb and crank that matters, right? I totally hadn't considered that the Surly might be made for short crankarms since it's a street bike - I would run 180s or bigger if I could find them.

The new steamrollers have funky "s" type stays. They have plenty of clearance for your crankarms.

George - you're probably referring to your brown Steamroller right? The old ones didn't have the new stays/clearance. The new s bend fixed that.

You can see that in this photo:

Miche Primato bottom bracket. 107mm with ISO taper. It's about as perfect a fit as you can get for campy road cranks on fixed. It also uses 2 cupish mounting rings which allows fo a couple of mm chainline adjustment. I got mine from Trackstar

Do you run the ring on the outside or inside mattface? I also forgot that a Miche bb would work.

Ahh......you're absolutely right. Those stays are really neat.

outside. I had been using a 107 shimano BB, but it was a couple mm outside perfect with JIS taper. The Miche should be perfect, but I haven't finished the bike it's on yet.

this problem here has been the bain on my existence and my one and only complaint about my Steamroller.

Now, mine is different than all of yours, I have the very first seriese with the straight Chain stays, the brownish red color and the 1" threaded headset.

When I first set it up i had an old Sugino Aero Maxy crank on a Dura Ace double BB and it worked fine. When i really started to get into making it nice i got a set of Sugino 75 cranks and the matching BB. I got it all put together and the cranks wouldnt spin cause they overlapped the stays by more than 2 or 3mm. Bummer.

I put them on the DA and rode it for years. The DA had an axle length of 113mm and for the Sugino's that left me a few mm's on each side.

When I started to really get killed by the Campy bug and wanted to replace the work-worn 75's i got a new model Campy Pista crank and wound up having to use one of the 115.5mm AC-H BB's. Same situation here but since the Campy have a much smaller Q and sit further onto the BB so I had to get an even bigger BB...

I've been riding the Pista's for a month or so and i really love them, one day i'll get a new bike and im sure i'll miss all these little character defining traits of the ol steamroller.....

Anyone running a 102mm Chorus or Record bb with a campy non-chorus or record double and the ring on the outside with a metallic grey steamroller? I think sirrobinofcoxly mentioned running one. Assuming a 46mm chainline to the outside ring with a 111mm bb, and assuming that campy bbs are symmetrical, that would make a near dead on chainline if the chainring bolts don't scrape the chainstay. And I get to use the outside ring for that clean look.

Anyone making this work?

With my experience, I can't see running a 102mm Campy BB on a new Steamroller. I recently picked up an '05 Steamroller frame and built it up with an old Suntour Superbe road crank (pre-Superbe Pro) that supposedly mirrors non-Chorus/Record Campy in terms of BB fit (ISO taper). I originally ran it with a Campy ACH 111mm bottom bracket, but my chainline was off quite a bit.

I picked up a Miche Primato 107mm bottom bracket to remedy the chainline, but now the clearance between the inside of my crankarm and chainstay is pretty tight. I had to file off the tabs that hold the inner chainring in place (effectively making it a track crankset) just to clear the 'stays, and even then I've only got a few mm's clearance. The BB isn't mounted symmetrically in the frame, either: I've got the non-drive side cup screwed into the BB shell a few mm's and the drive side cup sticks out from the shell a few mm's. When both were flush to the BB shell, the chainring bolt nuts scraped the chainstay.

FYI, I'm running a 45t chainring on the outside of this crank, and the length is 170mm. I've got fairly good chainline now with a Suzue Basic hub and Dura Ace cog. When it comes time for a wheel upgrade, the slightly wider chainline of a Surly hub should get me dead-on.

I can take and post pictures of my setup if that'd be helpful. Good luck.

One more thing: I've got a 52t ring that I can install on the Superbe crank to check large chainring clearance, if you're interested.

A pic would be great - I think my frame is a 2005 too, but I'm not sure, as I bought it off a guy on CL. I think mattface said he'd planned on running a Miche BB to get outside ring chainline ok, but it ain't built yet. And don't bother with the big chainring; if Surly says a 50T will clear, I'm pretty much resigned to believing them.

I'm also considering just using a cheap campy bb and the inner chainring for a good chainline and not looking pretty, but I want this bike to be pretty and with nice stuff, since I've never had nice new stuff. Worst case scenario, I pick up a 600 fd and shifters to go with the rd I've got kicking around, use the campy double on that to turn my current fixed bike into a road bike, and face the facts that a nice crank costs money.

I'm also considering picking up a full Miche group and selling off the pieces I don't need to sort of level the cost a bit, and building up the steamroller with pretty Miche hubs and a matching crank. I just can't resolve paying as much for a crank as I did for a new fg specific frame.

As promised, here are pictures of my setup with Superbe cranks and a Miche 107mm bottom bracket.

Pic 1: Superbe Crank


Pic 2: Cranks on spindle


Pic 3: Drive side cup out a couple of millimeters


Pic 4: Non-drive side cup in a couple of millimeters


Pic 5: Chainstay clearance = skinny (note filed off tabs)


Pic 6: Chainline = pretty good


The setup has been working well. Only thing to remember is to put some green Loctite on the drive-side cups when installing... otherwise, the whole BB is liable to shift to one side or another.

Good luck!

Thanks for the pics!