Cranks that can handle a wide range of chain rings

[Chris M]

I have been in Colorado for much of this winter and I do not have my
own bikes with me. I have used solo Campagnolo forever (1985 anyway) on
my own bikes and I was thinking of picking up 1 or 2 compact cranksets
for use on these trips to the Colorado mountain road rides. I have used
39/53 doubles and a triple (that was geared too low) and I think a 34
to 36 with a 50 would be perfect for these trips. Now that I am getting
serious about it, I wonder if this is the best idea (swapping cranks
several times a year on a Campagnolo bottom bracket. Am I likely to run
in to problems from swapping them freguently (like wearing out the
crank's bottom bracket interface enough to cause creaking)?

I remember that at least one French manufacturer (Mavic) had a crank
that could be changed from a double to a triple. I think Stronglight
might even still make a crank that can accomplish this. Would this be a
better idea? I guess I could get a dedicated bike for doing "nothing
but" climbing and descending. The final idea is just to go with compact
and leave them there but use one that can handle a 52 big ring. I think
FSA ships at least one of its compact cranks with a 36/52. As long as I
keep the tooth difference at 16 ir fewer I should be ok. Does anyone
have any experince with these compacts swapping rings of these sizes?

 

[A Muzi]

Chris M wrote:
> I have been in Colorado for much of this winter and I do not have my
> own bikes with me. I have used solo Campagnolo forever (1985 anyway) on
> my own bikes and I was thinking of picking up 1 or 2 compact cranksets
> for use on these trips to the Colorado mountain road rides. I have used
> 39/53 doubles and a triple (that was geared too low) and I think a 34
> to 36 with a 50 would be perfect for these trips. Now that I am getting
> serious about it, I wonder if this is the best idea (swapping cranks
> several times a year on a Campagnolo bottom bracket. Am I likely to run
> in to problems from swapping them freguently (like wearing out the
> crank's bottom bracket interface enough to cause creaking)?
>
> I remember that at least one French manufacturer (Mavic) had a crank
> that could be changed from a double to a triple. I think Stronglight
> might even still make a crank that can accomplish this. Would this be a
> better idea? I guess I could get a dedicated bike for doing "nothing
> but" climbing and descending. The final idea is just to go with compact
> and leave them there but use one that can handle a 52 big ring. I think
> FSA ships at least one of its compact cranks with a 36/52. As long as I
> keep the tooth difference at 16 ir fewer I should be ok. Does anyone
> have any experince with these compacts swapping rings of these sizes?
>
The 'triplizer' or 'mertz conversion' type rings are available .
Removing/remounting crank arms on your spindle twice a year
will kill them in a few seasons.

Either dedicate one bike for this or get the 'triplizer'
setup or simply go triple and just don't shift to the lower
range when you're on the prairie!

Modern triples perform very well, not at all like the
finicky stuff of the classic era!
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971