Lightest triple 10 speed touring crank - low Q factor

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ridgwad
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Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:36 pm

by ridgwad

I am looking for a 10 speed triple crank that i can use for my touring bike that has a low q factor. The frame can take a road crank with enough chainstay clearance, but i am looking for lower gearing for touring - 24-36-48 would be good. The shimano M781t has the gearing I want, but by all reports has 170mm+ Q. The only other cranks I have seen for vintage bikes are a bit on the heavy side. Any suggestions? A Sugino crank might not work with the HG-X 10 speed chain too well. Any help appreciated :D

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Stolichnaya
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Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:55 pm
Location: Vienna, AUT

by Stolichnaya

You might not get much of a response here regarding touring triples, but FYIW, I have used a Sugino square taper compact crank just fine with Campy 10 speed chains. As this is for touring, you might not want to spend too much time determining the absolute lightest option out there, but I surmise it will be a carbon MTB crank of some sort. I used a Campy Racing Triple crankset to ride across the USA hauling an overloaded BOB trailer, and the Q factor was not an issue for me coming from standard Campy road doubles. So if you can find one of those in NOS form, might be worth a try. Not sure about the Q factor on Middleburn, but those might be worth investigating as well. On the high end, take a look at the Q factors on Tune and Extralite triples.

ridgwad
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:36 pm

by ridgwad

Hi, and thanks for your reply and advice about the Sugino and Campy 10 speed chain. Do you know how the 10 speed campy and shimano chain width compare? The Q factor on the Extralite looks great at 160mm, really nice kit which I hadn't seen before thanks!

I'm planning on using a Salsa Vaya as a dual purpose tourer/commuter so want to keep the weight down if I can. The problem with the Vaya comes with finding a 10 speed crank with the 48t big ring that will work with Shimano front road derailleur for STI. The triple FD has 22t range so can cover the granny smoothly but doesn't work with 44t MTB crank as the FD position is too high in order to clear the rear stay. I'm using 10 speed XTR on the rear and Ultegra STI triple levers which I had from another bike so sort of committed to shimano compatible, hmm. I'll check out Middleburn too.

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bikerjulio
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Location: Welland, Ontario

by bikerjulio

Do you know how the 10 speed campy and shimano chain width compare?


All current 10-speed chains are 5.9mm wide and are interchangeable in my experience.

KMC and Wippermann are good names to try.

Don't know much about triples, but point out that Campy just reintroduced them last year.
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nachtjager
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Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:23 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

by nachtjager

You can use a Shimano MTB FD if you also use a JTEK Shiftmate. this will convert the cable pull ratio in line so you can use the Shimano road Shifters.

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DMF
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Location: Sweden

by DMF

You don't need anything to use a MTB FD with other levers (regardless of brand), except for DA 9000 they are all 1:1 ratio. As to using XTR M980 RD with Ultegra 6600/6700 STI's, that may be incompatible due to different pull ratios.

+1 for Middleburn as you can choose your own Q-factor and BCD with interchangeable axles and spiders.

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