Touring Cranksets
 

Since I'm in the process of building a tourer, I've been looking at cranksets.

I've been concentrating on square-taper, since I don't really trust the octalink v1 for touring applications, but I've started to wonder about the most recent Shimano stuff, with the integrated axle/spider, and external bearings. That sounds like it could be a winning combination from a touring perspective.

What do people think?

The external bearing design is nice and simple to install and remove. I don't know how durable it is but a replacement BB is cheap. I imagine almost all bike shops in North America would have replacement parts. This seems like a good choice to me.

I upgraded my Schwinn Voyageur to a Truvative Elita GXP crank. It has the external bearings. So far, no problems or issues. The nice thing about this crankset is that the bolt center diameter for the chain rings are 110/74, so I was able to put a more touring friendly 48 top gear and 26 low gear (and something else in between like a 38 or 36).

Rich

It makes crank installation and removal as simple as threadless headsets. I have a RaceFace on a mountain bike but the Shimano version is better. Simpler setup.

Look at the Shimano Trekking cranks. A little expensive but very nice.

There really isn't any problem I've ever had with the Octalink/ISIS bottom brackets. I've been using them for 6 or 7 years without issue on many bikes. The Shimano LX trekking crank sold by Nashbar is a real bargain even with a new bottom bracket.

The Octalink BB is a solution in search of a problem. Nothing wrong with the square taper BB's Shimano used to sell. Anyway, either one works fine. Find a good deal on a crank and buy the corresponding BB. The Octalink BB's seem to be more expensive at most places. Like I said, both work fine.

Octalink is fine, so is old school square taper. Sugino makes a nice touring triple that uses square taper, RaceFace also makes nice touring cranks (I have a bike with the Turbine) , as do Shimano (and the touring LX seems like an especially good deal). You won't be replacing a bottom bracket very often no matter what brand or type you use. They are inherently long-life components, like most headsets are. Pick one you like that has the chainrings you like.