Just curious if anyone runs road cranks on their XC race bike? Or any road compents at all on their bike?
Crank selection?
- Thread starter Muuqi
- Start date
Some run road cassettes on their MTB to save weight. No way on the cranks, much too big a gear for the dirt.
I run a compact FSA crank on my SS, and the 34 is perfect, I've heard of road cassettes, but my buddy just said that he runs a compact road crank on his xc race bike and I was thinking about putting them on my geared bike. Wondering if anyone had any experience or problems.
What is the advantage? Is it a triple or a double?Muuqi said:
Some times the offset on double ring road cranks causes you to have to run an extra long spindle and probably messes with the q factor.
As long as you set up chainline and all that correctly, there shouldn't be any problems, I suppose.
I don't really know why you would want to run compact road cranks over regular mountain cranks, though. Isn't the minimum chainring on a compact double road set a 34T? That's pretty high for most people on a geared bike if you aren't running a triple (does anyone even make a modern compact triple?), in which case it makes more sense to just run a mtb crankset anyway, right? A standard compact would give you something like a 50-34. Who needs a 50? I doubt the weight savings in the arms would be that much.
I suppose it makes sense if you only want a 34T ring....course, you could just take the granny off a mountain triple....might be heavier, I guess
I don't really know why you would want to run compact road cranks over regular mountain cranks, though. Isn't the minimum chainring on a compact double road set a 34T? That's pretty high for most people on a geared bike if you aren't running a triple (does anyone even make a modern compact triple?), in which case it makes more sense to just run a mtb crankset anyway, right? A standard compact would give you something like a 50-34. Who needs a 50? I doubt the weight savings in the arms would be that much.
I suppose it makes sense if you only want a 34T ring....course, you could just take the granny off a mountain triple....might be heavier, I guess
One of my buddies runs a Dura-Ace rear derailleur on his dually. Looks pimptastic.
The closest I've ever come (cyclocross bike aside) to doing anything like that would be when I put 1.25 slicks on my hardtail back in my courier days.
The closest I've ever come (cyclocross bike aside) to doing anything like that would be when I put 1.25 slicks on my hardtail back in my courier days.
Don't see why you would want to, it doesnt seem worth it.
Hey man, don't waste your time. There are no advantages on an xc bike. I used to go on an urban ride and the rule was mtb frame and wheels. I was getting my butt kicked.come to find out some of the guys were running 48x12-21 so I tried a road crank. It worked for that aplication, but I had to mess ith chain line via bottom bracket. it took three times to get it right.
I know some people run dura ace front derailleurs, but why would you run a crank?
Road cranks almost never work on mtb's, as the inside of the arms hit the chainstays. FYI a road crank that uses a 108 spindle usually needs like a 122 to fit onto a MTB. This ruins your chainline, which was the reason I was going for road cranks in the first place, better shifting with a doublering setup. New externall BB cranks probally won't fit on the majority of bike
I have a Dura-Ace rear derailleur and a 25 tooth 9 speed cassette on both my Merlin XLM hardtail and on my Kelly Ro Sham Bo 29". The advantages are quicker, sharper shifting than an XTR, a closer ratio spread, and a smaller, less vulnerable rear derailleur. I use XTR cranks and XT or XTR front derailleurs on both bikes.
Many people run DA rear ders... It's unlikely you know anyone who runs DA front ders. I only know of a few XC frame manufaturers who use bottom pull front der's on their frames. Scott comes to mind but that's a 3-4000$ frame and people use campy record front ders over dura ace.robdamanii said:
I've seen a few race bikes set up with them; nothing you'd ride on a leisurely ride or an epic, that's for sure.mattv2099 said:
I've set up several mountain bikes with Dura Ace front derailleurs. One was a Salsa Bandito with a regular bottom pull, an FRM frame with a top pull (and very poor at that) cable routing, and one was a Dean custom, also top pull routing. I'll probably be setting up a couple of Seven Solas with top pull routing very soon. Yes, there are some tricks to it and I don't recommend it for everyone that's for sure. Durability is not an issue but the shifting has a different feel to it and I have not intent of running the setup on any of my bikes.mattv2099 said:
I run a Dura Ace rear cassette for dh to save weight and tighten up the gear differential. I run BG2 saddles on all my bikes cause I like my body, I know guys who use bar tape to save weight. I run a Dura-Ace front derailleur with a C-Dale Hollowgram racing double crankset. If you don't buy a cannondale frame with SI Hollowgram cranks you can use XTR cranks and run two rings with a similar gear ratio. I think the race double is 44t/29t. Its pretty low gearing for a race. There's not much you can't climb with it in typical xc races but for trail riding if you really like climbing and like to find technical steep climbs keep the triple. Shimano has the best shifting and is the strongest weight to stiffness ratio also.