dvald001

Hey everyone,

I've been slowly gathering the parts I need to build up a VO Campeur, but lately I've been on the fence about my crankset. I have a Sugino GT crankset 26-36-46 on an old touring bike ... I'm thinking of using that on my new bike even though it's older and has some obvious signs of use. However, there's a part of me that's tempted to drop 150-200 on a new crankset--maybe a triple from Velo Orange or a Sugino XD or something similar.

My question is this: is there a functional difference between an older touring crankset and a modern one? Is it worth "upgrading" or should I just stick with my old crankset until it wears out? Oh, and I plan on using this crankset with 8-speed friction bar end shifters.

pdlamb

As long as it's not worn, and the spacing is such that an 8-speed chain won't fall down between the chainrings, it should work just fine.

Mauriceloridans

Chainrings are the parts of a crankset that wear out and they can be easily replaced. I like the sizes of those on the OP's Sugino. I put a 24 for the granny ring on mine.

tjspiel

There are some advantages to cranksets that use external bearings. They're stronger and the bearings are cheap to replace. You also don't need a crank puller, - maintenance or emergency repair is easier. A 5mm allen key is typically all you need. It's also easier to use spacers to optimize chain line.

That being said, if you've been happy with your Sugino, there's no reason you'd need to replace it.

Drew Eckhardt 

Just like a square taper crank with self-extracting crank bolts. For a while Campagnolo even did this better than we do in modern times with left-hand threaded dust covers that wouldn't unscrew if not tight enough when you used the self-extracting feature.

Using spacers is not possible with most external bearing cranksets installed in the bottom bracket width they were designed for (68mm for road). If I added a spacer of any sort to mine the left crank wouldn't bottom correctly on its shoulder. The spindle also can't be changed for a longer one because it's permanently bonded to the right crank.

Right. The weight savings isn't going to make a meaningful speed difference and square taper cranks are stiff enough.

fietsbob

Had the self extractor ring push the threads out, rather than budge the crank arm.
so might be a good idea to use a regular extractor,
if you don't know how tightly affixed the arm is to the spindle.

ThermionicScott 

Square-taper Suginos have never done me wrong.

rogerstg

I think the most noticeable difference is that the new chain-rings will have ramps and pins to aid in shifting. Most 80's stuff assumed friction shifting, not indexed. OTOH, if your build is using friction shifting for the front, I don't see any practical difference.

gerv 

I'm personally confused about why anyone would want to have an indexed shifter for the front. The ramps and pins are great, but 6 clicks often isn't sufficient.

Chris Chicago

the sugino is a classic in the looks department.

tjspiel

I love modern indexed shifters but yeah I agree, especially for a double. It seems to have taken nearly 3 decades for indexed shifting on the front to work as well as friction did.

rogerstg

I agree that it does take a bit of skill to properly set up an indexed front, but I've never had the range of indexed shifts and trim be insufficient for nice clean shifting.

gerv 

And nothing is more painful than an expensive STI shifter that is no longer working properly. You spray some WD40 and hope it will work. It might for a while. I think I got about 12,000 miles or so out of my Tiagra shifters and then replaced them with friction barends. I liked the STI levers, but think the barends are pretty much OK for what I need.

Oh well, you can't stop progress!

gerv 

High-end Suginos are great. I have a swaged Sugino crank on my old Fuji road bike (I think the crankset is from 1982...) and it seems like they are bent. Very slight, but very annoying too.

A one-piece spider would be great.

cyccommute 

Modern external bearing cranksets are not anything like square taper with self extracting crank bolts. I've tried self extracting crank bolts on square taper and the results weren't very good. The 6 mm Allen bolt on the ones I used didn't have enough bite to keep from slipping out. At least the 8 mm bolts did better without slipping. The affixing bolts on Shimano external cranksets are 5 mm Allen bolts that bind to the axle and require very little force to remove them. Removing the bottom bracket from the frame is easier as well.

I've not run across an external bottom bracket crankset that doesn't use spacers and isn't designed for a 72 mm bottom bracket.


It's not just about the stiffness. The ease of installation is a very large difference and advantage. That it is stiffer is just a bonus.