Road crank on an LX bottom bracket

Hi all,

I have an old Rocky Mountain Hammer from '94 that I'm coverting to a touring bike. So far, I've
replaced the cassette with a road-friendly 12-23T 8-speed, and have put lower profile tires on. What
I'm really missing now are big chainrings!

Currently, I have a sugino triple crankset (170mm, 22-32-44, 94mm bolt diam.), and a sealed LX
bottom bracket (the old square type - no octalink here!). I'd like to keep the BB and get a new
crank of similar quality to the Shimano LX installed elsewhere on the bike. I'm looking to try
shorter arms (160-165mm) cos I'm short, and big rings (at least 54T on the big ring) cos my small 26
x 1.25 wheels are reducing my gear ratio.

What do I need to look for in a road crank to meet the above criteria, and to ensure compatibility
with my current BB?

Cheers, James

 

"James Lodberg" wrote in message

> Hi all,
>
> I have an old Rocky Mountain Hammer from '94 that I'm coverting to a
touring
> bike. So far, I've replaced the cassette with a road-friendly 12-23T 8-speed, and have put lower
> profile tires on. What I'm really missing now are big chainrings!
>
> Currently, I have a sugino triple crankset (170mm, 22-32-44, 94mm bolt diam.), and a sealed LX
> bottom bracket (the old square type - no octalink here!). I'd like to keep the BB and get a new
> crank of similar quality to the Shimano LX installed elsewhere on the bike. I'm looking to try
> shorter arms (160-165mm) cos I'm short, and big rings (at least 54T on the big
ring)
> cos my small 26 x 1.25 wheels are reducing my gear ratio.
>
> What do I need to look for in a road crank to meet the above criteria, and to ensure compatibility
> with my current BB?

For a touring bike, I think the gears you have are perfect. A low of around
1:1. And a high of 44-12 ain't bad.

But if you want to replace it, you can't go wrong with a TA Zephyr. 110 BCD and any chainrings you
want. And if you want to go 160, then it may be your only choice.

www.peterwhitecycles.com

Cheers,

Kyle

 

"KBH" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> > I have an old Rocky Mountain Hammer from '94 that I'm coverting to a touring bike.

I forgot to mention that I also want to be able to remove the fenders & racks and use it as a quick
road bike when I'm not touring - thus the desire for big gears.

> For a touring bike, I think the gears you have are perfect. A low of
around
> 1:1. And a high of 44-12 ain't bad.

Good point. So far I've only ridden the bike unburdened, so I haven't needed such small gears.
That's why I'm missing the big gears so much atm!

> But if you want to replace it, you can't go wrong with a TA Zephyr. 110
BCD
> and any chainrings you want. And if you want to go 160, then it may be
your
> only choice.
>
> www.peterwhitecycles.com

Great link! I like his reasoning for choosing shorter crank lengths. Makes sense! I'm definitely
willing to give short cranks a try, I'm just that kind of guy. (I switched to the Dvorak keyboard
layout a year ago because that made sense too, and I'm never going back to QWERTY!)

Those cranks look nice. I think what I'll end up doing is getting some big chainrings for fast road
riding, and some smaller ones for touring.

Thanks for your help!

-James

 

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 16:26:59 +0200, "James Lodberg" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I have an old Rocky Mountain Hammer from '94 that I'm coverting to a touring bike. So far, I've
>replaced the cassette with a road-friendly 12-23T 8-speed, and have put lower profile tires on.
>What I'm really missing now are big chainrings!
>
>Currently, I have a sugino triple crankset (170mm, 22-32-44, 94mm bolt diam.), and a sealed LX
>bottom bracket (the old square type - no octalink here!). I'd like to keep the BB and get a new
>crank of similar quality to the Shimano LX installed elsewhere on the bike. I'm looking to try
>shorter arms (160-165mm) cos I'm short, and big rings (at least 54T on the big ring) cos my small
>26 x 1.25 wheels are reducing my gear ratio.
>
>What do I need to look for in a road crank to meet the above criteria, and to ensure compatibility
>with my current BB?
>
>Cheers, James
>

I think the gears you have are pretty darn good. If you want a higher top gear I think I'd just swap
in an 11 to the cassette.

I toured Hawaii last year with a 22/32/44 XT crank and 11/30 cassette, and never found the 44/11 to
be a lot of use. I wished I had used a12 and had one more intermedate gear. Admitedly, that was ona
700c bike, and it was very hilly. (In case you're wondering, the
22/30 was just about perfect for climbing Mauna Kea).

Good luck,

Bob