Building a touring drivetrain

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Dave Carroll
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer
thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up
front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the
advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps
an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of
touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in
the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL
while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain,
including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want
to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and
I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about
something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30
crankset. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does
anyone have any recommendations for an (relatively) inexpensive 8-speed drivetrain set-up that could
take me happily through my trip? I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of
smaller components in it that I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace
moving from the current 600 set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket?

Sounds like you are asking for more ratiometric range for mountains.

The 11/34 and MTB der will be a little better but slightly more expensive.

Low cost crankset approach:
Replace the 39T with a Willow Tripleizer, hang a granny, try it with you existing fder first but you probably need to go to triple fder.

If you replace the crankset, consider a Schlumpf MT drive BB internal gear hub- mounts 2 sprockets and has a 2.5:1 reduction low gear. Having a portion of your geartrain shiftable while stopped could be handy touring, especially with a trailer.

If the climbs are steep enough you need sub 25 g.i. ratios, the drops are probably steep enough you need consider at least one hub based brake with that trailer weight-plus it gives you a good rain brake.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Dave Carroll
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer
thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up
front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the
advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps
an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of
touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in
the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL
while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain,
including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want
to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and
I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about
something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30
crankset. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does
anyone have any recommendations for an (relatively) inexpensive 8-speed drivetrain set-up that could
take me happily through my trip? I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of
smaller components in it that I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace
moving from the current 600 set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket?

You may want to visit the Rec.bicycles.touring forum.
I suggest a mountain triple crank and a front derailer that has the arc that matches the largest chain ring and a range that will handle the smallest chain ring. A "matched set" of Front Derailer and Crank seem to give the best shifts under load.
I woudn't go larger than 48; and I would like to go down to 24 or 22. Cranks like Sugino XD2 46/36/24 or Shimano LX 44/32/22 work well when climbing with a touring load.
You will need to get the correct length Bottom Bracket for your Crank and Frame to give the best chain line.
I would use Shimano bar end shifters for their simplicity and ability to be used in the friction mode.
The range of the cassette you mentioned 11 - 32 should be fine with a LX rear derailer. 11 - 34 is also good.
I think that 9 speed is OK too, if you find that acquiring parts is less expensive.
Visit some of the sites that have touring information at URLs:
http://sheldonbrown.com/touring/index.html and the many links he lists
http://www.bgcycles.com/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22bicycle+touring+Spain%22
Also check out the little gadget I have found helpful of triple bicycles at URL:
http://www.gvtc.com/~ngear/
You mentioned REI in your post. A good shop with touring experience can also guide you in your choices and make sure that things will work and hold up well.
Sheldon Brown's site has many great articles. Check the one on cables at URL:
http://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html
I have no connections with anything I mentioned here, except as a satisfied customer.

Dave Carroll said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB
cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at
REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also
change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but
I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal
a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-
up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less
maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame.
So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear
derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset.

11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big for
that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a
triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if
necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on
your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much
as you can afford to.

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios first,
then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have already will.

~PB

Dave Carroll said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB
cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at
REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also
change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but
I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal
a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-
up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less
maintenance than 9 speed,

There is no difference in reliability or maintenance between 8-speed and 9-speed. If you're going to
replace the shifters, I'd definitely recommend going with 9.

Quoted message said:

and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame.

All "road" derailers are bottom pull, so that's a non-issue.

Quoted message said:

So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear
derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset.

That's not a terrific choice for touring. You're wasting gears on super-high gears you'll get little
use out of, and giving up useful intermediate cogs that will give you closer spacing in the cruising
range. Also, it doesn't go down all that low, though if you're strong enough and travelling light
enough it may work for you.

If you're going with a 52 in front, there's no reson for anything smaller than a 13 in back. I'd
recommend something like my "Century Special" (13-30) or "Cyclotouriste 13" (13-34) cassettes. I
also offer these ranges in 8-speed, but, of course, with wider gaps.

See: sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

I'd go with 105 if you decide to stay with Shimano, though if it were my own bike I'd go for
Campagnolo Ergo brifters and some sort of Campagnolo rear derailer, at least if I wasn't going
bigger than about 30 in back.

Also, the 30 tooth small chainring is not wonderful for touring. We commonly upgrade touring bikes
with something smaller, most often a 26, sometimes 24.

Sheldon "Not By The Book" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways, | And deep ways and steep ways and high
| ways and low, | I'm at home and at ease on a track that I know not, | And restless and lost on a
| road that I know. | --Henry Lawson |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

"Dave Carroll" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend,

(Snip)

Ditto Sheldon's comments about going to 9, it really isn't any less durable, though he can get you a
custom 8 spd. 13-30 which will work well when pulling a load. Aim for a gearing range of 20 gear
inches at a low to a 100 high. Sheldon's site has a great gear chart to let you key in the variables
in ring sizes and cassette combo's to see what will work.

Sheldon's thought about Campy Ergo 9 spd. levers with a Campy R derailer will work great, but may be
a bit more expensive if you already own a set of brake levers and don't need to buy another set. In
that case, Ultegra 8 spd. barcons are the cheapest (and most reliable) solution.

Going to a Sugino 110/74 BCD triple crank is also a good solution and when mated to a set of
24/36/46 rings and Sheldon's 8 spd. 13-30 cassette gets you a 21 to 99 gear inch range, which would
be perfect. You might need a new rear derailer to handle the additional chain and the larger 30
tooth cog, but my advice would be to call/e-mail Sheldon directly for some very good advice.

Steve B.

I'd look at a Sugino XCD triple crank, and consider Ultegra 8 bar end shifters. look for used brake
levers. Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY

"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
berlin.de...

Quoted message said:

Dave Carroll said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB
cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at
REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also
change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--
but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying
piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a
good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable
and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the
cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX
or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset.

11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big
for that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a
triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if
necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on
your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much
as you can afford to.

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios
first, then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have
already will.

~PB

Quoted message said:

11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big
for that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a
triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if
necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on
your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much
as you can afford to.

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios
first, then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have
already will.

~PB

Who makes a good touring triple crankset? I don't want to pay a premium for performance parts, I
just need a good one for touring. Does the 105 come in that arrangement, or is there a good SRAM or
Sugino one? I don't have the cash th try out a bunch of these, so I'm looking for something that one
might find standard on a well-equipped touring bike. The 105 crankset that I was thinking about is
on the trek touring bike, but I don't want to get it if the 52-42-30 is too big.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB
cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at
REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also
change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but
I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal
a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-
up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less
maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame.
So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear
derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. I don't really know what bottom
bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does anyone have any recommendations for an
(relatively) inexpensive 8-speed drivetrain set-up that could take me happily through my trip?
I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of smaller components in it that
I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace moving from the current 600
set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket?

What you're looking at should work fine, but you could save a bit of money with a Tiagra 52-42-30
crank and derailleur. That's what my Fuji Touring came with from the factory.

Quoted message said:

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"Dave Carroll" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend,

(Snip) Going to a Sugino 110/74 BCD triple crank is also a good solution and when mated to a set
of 24/36/46 rings and Sheldon's 8 spd. 13-30 cassette gets you a 21 to 99 gear inch range, which
would be perfect. You might need a new rear derailer to handle the additional chain and the larger
30 tooth cog, but my advice would be to call/e-mail Sheldon directly for some very good advice.

Steve B.

I tour with 26/36/46 with an 11/30 cassette. I like to pedal downhill to keep up with the traffic
sometimes so the 11/30 suits me better than a
13/30 although the closer ratios would be nice. I also agree that a 24 granny ring would be better
for really steep stuff. I walked for a few hundred meters up Arthurs Pass in New Zealand (22% I
think) and I like to kid myself that I would have stayed on the bike if I had a 24.

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dave Carroll said:

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad
trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39
crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At
first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB
cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at
REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also
change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--
but I don't want to be SOL while on

tour

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole

new

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would

be

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more
reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed,

There is no difference in reliability or maintenance between 8-speed and 9-speed. If you're going
to replace the shifters, I'd definitely recommend going with 9.

Quoted message said:

and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame.

All "road" derailers are bottom pull, so that's a non-issue.

Quoted message said:

So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear
derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset.

That's not a terrific choice for touring. You're wasting gears on super-high gears you'll get
little use out of, and giving up useful intermediate cogs that will give you closer spacing in the
cruising range. Also, it doesn't go down all that low, though if you're strong enough and
travelling light enough it may work for you.

If you're going with a 52 in front, there's no reson for anything smaller than a 13 in back. I'd
recommend something like my "Century Special" (13-30) or "Cyclotouriste 13" (13-34) cassettes. I
also offer these ranges in 8-speed, but, of course, with wider gaps.

See: sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

I'd go with 105 if you decide to stay with Shimano, though if it were my own bike I'd go for
Campagnolo Ergo brifters and some sort of Campagnolo rear derailer, at least if I wasn't going
bigger than about 30 in back.

Also, the 30 tooth small chainring is not wonderful for touring. We commonly upgrade touring bikes
with something smaller, most often a 26, sometimes 24.

Sheldon "Not By The Book" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways, | And deep ways and steep ways and high
| ways and low, | I'm at home and at ease on a track that I know not, | And restless and lost on
| a road that I know. | --Henry Lawson |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

If he might be replacing the whole drivetrain, what do you think of Dura Ace bar ends with a
friction option? That way the front can be set as friction always and he has the ability to use
friction for the rear should the need occur. Assuming he may buy all new, what do you think is the
ideal touring set up of gear sizes and equipment Sheldon?

Dave Carroll wrote: -snip-

Quoted message said:

Who makes a good touring triple crankset? I don't want to pay a premium for performance parts, I
just need a good one for touring. Does the 105 come in that arrangement, or is there a good SRAM
or Sugino one? I don't have the cash th try out a bunch of these, so I'm looking for something
that one might find standard on a well-equipped touring bike. The 105 crankset that I was thinking
about is on the trek touring bike, but I don't want to get it if the 52-42-30 is too big.

Yes, a 52 is too big for me as well.

Sugino's XD crank is a popular model as its 110mm/74mm rings are widely available in just about
every imaginable size [24t to 56t]: yellowjersey.orgcranx.htmlOpen ↗

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971

daveornee <[email hidden]> wrote:
: You may want to visit the Rec.bicycles.touring forum.

wha?
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by David Reuteler
daveornee <[email hidden]> wrote:
: You may want to visit the Rec.bicycles.touring forum.

wha?
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

http://www.cyclingforums.com/f79
is the URL that shows when I am looking at the "Touring Forum"
Take a look and see what you think.

I pontificated:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you're going with a 52 in front, there's no reson for anything smaller than a 13 in back. I'd
recommend something like my "Century Special" (13-30) or "Cyclotouriste 13" (13-34) cassettes. I
also offer these ranges in 8-speed, but, of course, with wider gaps.

See: sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get.

I'd go with 105 if you decide to stay with Shimano, though if it were my own bike I'd go for
Campagnolo Ergo brifters and some sort of Campagnolo rear derailer, at least if I wasn't going
bigger than about 30 in back.

Also, the 30 tooth small chainring is not wonderful for touring. We commonly upgrade touring bikes
with something smaller, most often a 26, sometimes 24.

Frank Knox asked:

Quoted message said:

If he might be replacing the whole drivetrain, what do you think of Dura Ace bar ends with a
friction option?

Some people like those, but I'm not one of 'em. (Though I sell tons of these.) This is probably
mainly due to the fact that, back in the '70s, I used to make my own bar-end shifters by clamping
downtube shifters just inboard of the end of the handlebars, but these shifted in the opposite
direction, and that's what I got used to. As a result, I've always found store-boughten barcons
confusing. Mebbe I oughta give 'em another try sometime, using one of Shimano's low normal
derailers...

In any case, I prefer the ergonomics of brifters, particularly Ergo and Sora STIs. Unfortunately,
Sora isn't yet available in 9-speed yet.

Quoted message said:

That way the front can be set as friction always and he has the ability to use friction for the
rear should the need occur.

Lots of people buy them for this reason, but there's really no need for the friction mode if you
know how to adjust a derailer.

Quoted message said:

Assuming he may buy all new, what do you think is the ideal touring set up of gear sizes and
equipment Sheldon?

Anybody who would give a blanket answer to that is oversimplifying.

The "ideal" gearing setup will depend on the rider's strength, endurance, cadence preference,
payload, distance to be covered and desired speed, and also on the nature of the terrain to be
toured in.

Personally, I'd like to have a range of gain ratios* of maybe 1.8-8.2 (25-110 inches; 2.0-8.7
meters) if carrying a load. Obviously nobody needs anything that high, but I like to go fast down
hills, and generally don't like to coast.

You might find it worthwhile to spend some time with my online Gear Calculator
sheldonbrown.comgearsOpen ↗.

I've also written a bit about gear spacing and the like at sheldonbrown.comgear theory.htmlOpen ↗

*Gain ratio is a new system for measuring bicycle gearing. It is explained in detail on my Web site
at: sheldonbrown.comgain.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "More Than You Need" Brown +--------------------------------------------------+
| If you find yourself standing to accelerate, |
| on level ground, it is a sign that your gear |
| is too high, or that your saddle is too low. |
| See: sheldonbrown.comstanding.htmlOpen ↗ |
+--------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

For loaded touring, forget about any crankset with a large ring over 50t and a middle ring over the
mid-30s in size. Having a 52-42-30 on a loaded touring bike means that you have a large chainring
that is fairly useless except for flogging the downhills and a middle chainring that is too big to
enable you to get up most hills without having to bale out to the granny ring.

Figure what speed and cadence you'll average on the flat when loaded for touring, and pick a large
chainring size that puts that gear on the large chainring and the middle of the rear cassette. Then
have a guess at what you think your lowest speed will be when climbing, and choose the bottom gear
accordingly. Depending on the load you're carrying, these speeds will be quite a bit lower than what
you might think from having ridding an unloaded bike.

For instance, my touring bike is setup as a double, not triple, with 42-28 chainrings and 12-28 7s
rear (with a 135mm rear hub this gives an almost dishless rear wheel, as well). At a cadence of 80
the big ring and the middle of the cassette gives me about 23kph, and bottom gear gives me about
10kph. I start running out of gears at about 50kph, but so what - this is loaded touring we're
talking about, not road racing or training rides.

Nick

Nick Payne said:

For loaded touring, forget about any crankset with a large ring over 50t and a middle ring over
the mid-30s in size. Having a 52-42-30 on a loaded touring bike means that you have a large
chainring that is fairly useless except for flogging the downhills and a middle chainring that is
too big to enable you to get up most hills without having to bale out to the granny ring.

Figure what speed and cadence you'll average on the flat when loaded for touring, and pick a large
chainring size that puts that gear on the large chainring and the middle of the rear cassette.
Then have a guess at what you think your lowest speed will be when climbing, and choose the bottom
gear accordingly. Depending on the load you're carrying, these speeds will be quite a bit lower
than what you might think from having ridding an unloaded bike.

For instance, my touring bike is setup as a double, not triple, with 42-28 chainrings and 12-28 7s
rear (with a 135mm rear hub this gives an almost dishless rear wheel, as well). At a cadence of 80
the big ring and the middle of the cassette gives me about 23kph, and bottom gear gives me about
10kph. I start running out of gears at about 50kph, but so what - this is loaded touring we're
talking about, not road racing or training rides.

Nick

Is there a particular reason you have a double up front?

Bruce Graham said:

I tour with 26/36/46 with an 11/30 cassette. I like to pedal downhill to keep up with the traffic
sometimes so the 11/30 suits me better than a 13/30 although the closer ratios would be nice. I
also agree that a 24 granny ring would be better for really steep stuff. I walked for a few
hundred meters up Arthurs Pass in New Zealand (22% I think) and I like to kid myself that I would
have stayed on the bike if I had a 24.

My tourer is 50/36 Sugino GT and 14-32 (in 6) on the rear, I cycled up Arthurs Pass from Greymouth
with this. This bike is soon to be upgraded to an 8 speed arrangement on the back.

Dave Carroll said:

Who makes a good touring triple crankset? I don't want to pay a premium for performance parts, I
just need a good one for touring. Does the 105 come in that arrangement

There's not a lot of choice with the chainrings supplied as standard but a Sora, Tiagra or 105 (or
Campagnolo Mirage) triple will be good if you are prepared to change the rings, and if 38 or 39T*
minimum for middle is acceptable. Suitable Shimano, Stronglight and TA rings are available. The
original rings could easily be sold to help fund the customization. This really is worth doing, in
my experience.

Others have recommended alternative cranksets that can take smaller middle or inner rings if you
need that.

* 39T for Campag.

~PB

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Bruce Graham said:

I tour with 26/36/46 with an 11/30 cassette. I like to pedal downhill to keep up with the
traffic sometimes so the 11/30 suits me better than a 13/30 although the closer ratios would be
nice. I also agree that a 24 granny ring would be better for really steep stuff. I walked for a
few hundred meters up Arthurs Pass in New Zealand (22% I think) and I like to kid myself that I
would have stayed on the bike if I had a 24.

My tourer is 50/36 Sugino GT and 14-32 (in 6) on the rear, I cycled up Arthurs Pass from Greymouth
with this. This bike is soon to be upgraded to an 8 speed arrangement on the back.

I met someone else on the same trip with a set up like that (you??) I was envious of their legs, not
their bike.