Any crankset smaller than 46-30T ?

[matteof93]

I am building a gravel bike that will be used for long days with a lot of elevation gain. I do not need 46/11, 42/11 or 40/11 is more than enough.
Is there any 2x crankset that can be used with combinations like 42-28T or 40-26T ?

Since I still need to buy the frame, I consider both road cranksets (i.e., GRX) and MTB cranksets (i.e., SLX, XT, etc.). However, the rest of the drivetrain will be GRX-600 11 speed, including the chain. MTB 2x cranksets have a chainline of ~49mm, GRX has a chainline of 47 m, so I guess they work but they are not ideal. A solution might be to use cinch-compatible cranks (i.e., Race Face, Easton), paired with a spider with a 46 mm chainline and suitable chainrings...but that is expensive.

[CampagYOLO]

Just wondering if it had to be GRX and 2x?

A 1x SRAM Rival mullet set up could pair a 36t chainring with a 10-52 cassette and give you the gearing range you're looking for.

[matteof93]

Just wondering if it had to be GRX and 2x?

A 1x SRAM Rival mullet set up could pair a 36t chainring with a 10-52 cassette and give you the gearing range you're looking for.

Yes, I need a 2x setup because I am going to use the gravel bike for very demanding rides where finding the right cadence is very important to exploit energy in the best way...so a 2x setup allows me to have smaller jumps between the cogs.

[jemima]

Secondhand EC90SL crank, to save a bit?
EA90 is cheaper + weight.

My setup is that with a RaceFace 104/64 spider and TA Chinook rings. 40/22.
[with 11-28 for the time being].

[burritoh]

I came across this same dilemma when building up my gravel bike. I needed to set up my granny gear with a 32T cassette, so a 28T chainring fit the bill nicely.
A Sram 2x10 120/80bcd 4-bolt spider(for mtb) mated to Sram road crankarms with a removable spider like Force, S950, etc will give you the 42-28T combo with a proper chainline.
Sram also has a 2x10 104bcd spider that will get you down to a 39-26T.
You can find them relatively cheap on ebay.

[psi]

Russ from the Path Less Pedalled went super low 2x on some of his bikes recently. I think maybe 24 inner cog. I think this might be the video where he talks about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBSrw6xoIMw

[c50jim]

Several years ago when sub compact cranks first came out, I looked at options for that. White Industries makes square taper cranks and I bought one of those with 46 and 30 rings. At the time I bought the crank, there were also 44 and 28 tooth rings (which I thought might work for me as I age) and now it seems as though they go as small as 38 and 24. One thing you'll need to be careful about is the placement of the rear derailleur hanger. I tried to use an FSA 46/30 crank on a gravel bike but the derailleur hanger wasn't positioned low enough. My crank has worked well for years with first Campagnolo Chorus and now 11 speed Red eTap. White say the crank doesn't work with 12 speed but that doesn't sound like it's a problem for you.
https://www.whiteind.com/product/square ... ad-cranks/
https://www.whiteind.com/product/outer- ... hainrings/
https://www.whiteind.com/product/inner-vbc-chainrings/

[satanas]

There are at least five options, depending on what BB shell your frame has:

1. Sugino OX series. The smallest stock combo is 44x30 (or 44x27 with an oval inner), but the cranks are 110/74 so anything down to 34x24 will fit. 24mm spindle, 145mm Q
2. Dixna La. Again 110/74, with lots of chainring options including 43x27/25, 34x24, etc. Sadly the longest size is 170mm but they do lots of unusually short lengths. 24mm spindle, 140 or 144mm Q via washers
3. Rene Herse. Square taper, proprietary BCD, smallest stock option is 42x26, but rings go down to 24T. Only 165, 171 or 177 arms
4. Middleburn with Incy 110/58 spider. There are both square taper and 24mm options, but most of the parts seem to be out of stock most of the time
5. IRD Lobo. 110/74 and 24mm, but it's designed to fit a 73mm BB shell so chainline is apparently a little weird when used in a 68mm shell. There's little feedback from users online, and IRD's website is terrible, but they do sell rings down to 42x28...

The WI cranks have a fairly high Q (square taper), or very high Q (30mm), and are not cheap.

Other options include trad TA 50.8 BCD and clones, with outers down to 40 and inners to 26, and TA make rings for GRX down to 44x28; smaller is possible but they haven't made any yet...

The problem will be that other than Dixna and RH, nobody really makes dedicated paired rings <46x30, 44x30, or 44x28, so front shifting might be less than ideal. Bear in mind also that unless something is unusual the FD cage is likely to overlap the chainstay with anything less than 42T, and 44T is safer.

[MayhemSWE]

Bear in mind also that unless something is unusual the FD cage is likely to overlap the chainstay with anything less than 42T, and 44T is safer.

May or may not also be difficult to get the front derailleur low enough. Unless using a clamp on model against a seat tube that is round all the way down, some sort of shim/adapter might be required.

[satanas]

May or may not also be difficult to get the front derailleur low enough. Unless using a clamp on model against a seat tube that is round all the way down, some sort of shim/adapter might be required.

^ I like frames with round seat tubes!

If there's a "braze-on" mount this is usually placed for something like a 50T minimum ring on road frames (48T is usually okay), or 46T (maybe 43T for SRAM Wide) on gravel frames. Somebody has said that some SRAM FDs have two positions for the mounting screw, so more adjustment, but I haven't been able to examine one or find documentation. There are at least two makers of FD lowering pieces, Sugino & Wickwerks, and maybe more, but if the frame is unusually bulbous near the BB these may not help.

FD angle adjusting shims for braze-on mounts are available from SRAM & Aliexpress, and may help in some cases.