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Any Crankset I Want?

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Any Crankset I Want?

Old 04-11-06, 03:19 PM
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Any Crankset I Want?

I'm building up an old frame and need a crank and bottom bracket. I'm looking at a Campy Centaur crank and bb combo on ebay, but I just want to make sure it will be okay. I'm unsure about what gearing I would ultimately use, but I was thinking of keeping the 52/53 on the outside and then using a larger cog in the back (17). Is this a stupid idea? It seems like on FGG those guys all use 42, 44, etc.

Also, any potential problems with aligning my chain and my cog. This seems like something that most people agonize with, but I'm not sure if I understand what to look for so as to avoid the problem altogether since I am buying a new crank and bb.

thanks, tim
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Old 04-11-06, 03:42 PM
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That's going to give you an 81 or 82 inch gear. Fine if that suits your riding, but I think that the reason many bikes on FGG are in the 42-46 tooth range are because it's easier to get gears in the low-mid 70's inch range (good for street use in many cities) with easily available cogs.
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Old 04-11-06, 03:45 PM
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One thing you might want to look into is an adjustable BB, such as the Miche Primato Pista BB.
 
Old 04-11-06, 03:46 PM
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The rings on the campy crank probably are pinned and ramped, this is done to make shifting easier, though it might also make dropping your chain on a single speed easier, which is not a good thing. Also campy cranks use 135BCD which means it's harder to get chainrings for, but Miche makes them, as does Salsa, so you still can get chainrings.

If the crank is a used or NOS one then it might not have pins and ramps.
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Old 04-11-06, 04:01 PM
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Another thing if this is a road conversion.
A lot of times, people end up having to run on the inside ring to get a decent chainline. A lot of road frames do not have chainstay clearance for a 52t ring on the inside of the spider.
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Old 04-11-06, 07:26 PM
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I just set up an old set of Sugino Mighty's with the 52 tooth ring on the outside and got a pretty near perfect chainline on a conversion with a 110mm Shimano bb on an old Italvega. Really depends on the bike. Also 52/18 is a pretty decent gear ratio about equal to 46/16 which is what a lot of folks ride. If you've got a local shop that's done some conversion, they can probably steer you in the right direction as far as bb's and chainlines.
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Old 04-12-06, 11:08 AM
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Originally Posted by nightfly
I just set up an old set of Sugino Mighty's with the 52 tooth ring on the outside and got a pretty near perfect chainline on a conversion with a 110mm Shimano bb on an old Italvega. Really depends on the bike. Also 52/18 is a pretty decent gear ratio about equal to 46/16 which is what a lot of folks ride. If you've got a local shop that's done some conversion, they can probably steer you in the right direction as far as bb's and chainlines.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Nightfly, do you happen to have any pictures of this bike? I'd be curious to see it.
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