bootchop

So im building up an Nashbar touring frame and fork set, it very similar to the surly LHT. Im looking for a decent tripple crankset and matching quality 8-9 speed rear derailure. My budget is about $120 for both items. Any reccomendations?

saddlesores

if you're cloning an LHT onto a nashbar frame,
why not just use whatever gear components
the LHT uses that are proven to work well
together.....

cyccommute 

I’d look at Fleabay. Look for an external bearing bottom bracket. Easier to install and work on. For the derailer, just about anything Shimano works as long as it’s not mountain 10 speed...aka Dynasys.

skidder

Just curious, but is this an old dark-green-colored Nashbar Touring frame and fork combo? I would not consider it the equivalent of the LHT and would not load it up as much as some folks do with their LHT for epic multi-week/multi-month tours.

That said, I like mine for lightweight trips, typically 3-5 days and using hotels/hostels for overnighting. I built it up on a budget, and it was originally a personal 'bucket-list' project to assemble a bicycle from a bare frame/forkset. For the crank I used a square-taper BB with a FS Vero 50/34 crankset. Not as low as more robust touring bikes, but works for me. Headset is a Cane Creek 40 - good, solid, and reliable. RD and FD are Shimano LT's I already had in my parts bin. Wheels are Vuelta HDs that have held up quite well for their price. If I was to change anything it would be the wheels as they are steel/low-quality stainless and do build up some rust if you're not careful about cleaning them or ride in wet conditions a lot (I don't). I'm happy with it.

Tourist in MSN

Some communities have a bike coop or bike charity that sell used parts. The cranksets I have seen in the local charity are ones that I would not buy, the chainrings are often quite worn. But they often have a bin of rear derailleurs, sometimes you find a good one.

I have bought stems, handlebars, seatposts, etc., from a local bike charity.

This year bike stuff has been in such high demand that a lot of the sources I have generally gone to or recommended are out of stock.

djb

do you know what range of chain rings you want?

Trevtassie

Shimano RD-M592 9 Speed. Will cope with a cassette up to 40T rear, even with a 20-30-40 front crank, so can deal with 49 teeth total.

Still a fan of square taper or Octalink cranks, because they are cheap. But like DJB says, you need to figure out what gear range you want. There are a couple of shimano Altus grade ones that are very good bang for your buck. If you want super wide range, a sunrace 11-40T rear and a shimano 22-30-40 will give you a touch over 700% and cover everything from cruising on the flats to riding up a wall.. Get a Shimano side swing derailleur, they work well with large rear cassettes,because the cage doesn't move vertically, so they're easier to tweak with a chain path that changes a lot from the smallest sprocket to the largest.

timdow

I would also recommend Deore RD-M592 series. I got a M592 rear derailleur off FleaBay for $34 and shifts my 34T cassette great using Road STI shifters. The M592 crankset would be a good call if you can find one. You could go with SHIMANO M361 (or similar) crankset for the time being.

bootchop

Thanks for all the help. Im trying to now figure out what gear range i want. Im leaning towards a wide range of gears, hills and big hills.

Tourist in MSN

You are correct, for touring you want a wide range of gears, wider than for most other bicycling activities. And a lot will depend on how much weight you carry, more weight means a lower first gear.

I have three touring bikes, my first gear on them are 16.2, 19.3 and 20.7 gear inches. My bike with the lowest gear of 16.2 gear inches, that is equivalent to a cadence of 72 with a speed of 3.5 mph for the steeper hills using a 26 X 2.25 inch tire.

And it is nice to have gears that are high enough that you do not run out of gears on shallow downhills. On one of my bikes my highest gear is 85 gear inches, but I wish it was higher, up around 105 gear inches would be nice.

If you are not familiar with gear inches,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear_inches

bootchop

Well thanks to all the help im on my way to having a running cycle, almost. Im having a little indiscision about what front derailleur to get. I have a tripple front crank set , shimano 42 32 22 M361. Cassette is a SunRace 8spd 11-34. My cable comes up from the underside of my bottom bracket, so i think i need a down pull derailleur. What would be a good derailleur for my needs?

robow

yep, you need a down pull FD. What shifters are you using ?

bootchop

Im using Sun Race SL96 bar end shifters.

cyccommute 

It’s called a “bottom pull” derailer but, yes, that’s the one you need. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a road derailer that wasn’t bottom pull. Top pull is a mountain bike thing. I’d go with Shimano Tiagra, Sora, or Claris (descending order of cost) or even a Microshift R8 or R9.

bootchop

Got it thanks. This is the first bike I have had to select every part.

Cycle Tourist

Nice. You certainly have covered the low range but about that high.... Your going to run out of gear mighty quick. Once you get all that mass moving on a long flat your going to want a higher gear to keep it moving with a relaxed cadence. With a little downhill slope or a tail wind it's nice to take advantage of a chance to fly.
I've seen the occasional deal on ebay for some nice dx or lx front and rear derailleurs that have never given me a bit of trouble.

dwmckee

I'd recommend Deore 9-speed. The road adn mountain groups are interchangable so you can putt on a 36 tooth cassette for low gears. Sora also is a consideration in 9 speed.

robow

One of my road/cycle cross bikes is set up with a top or upward pull Shimano CX70 front derailleur while running 2x10 Ultegra brifters and a 46x30 crankset.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/produ...-CX70-F-T.html

csport

Recommendation for RD: Microshift M46.

I have never run Sunrace barcons, but for me changing Deore M591 to Microshift M46 made a huge improvement with Sora 3500 brifters. Almost 2,000 miles on it, set and forget. Some other people had the same problem with 591/592 not shifting perfectly:https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...mendation.html and some other threads. Also, M46 should work with a 36t cassette if you ever want to run it.

FD: if you can run the front shifter in the friction mode you can easily trim it. You can use some Shimano FD specced 10t top-middle difference and 20 capacity (IIRD M310, M360 and similar ones) or Microshift or ever Sunrace.

Philly Tandem

Sounds like maybe you got a crankset already, but if not, I have an XTR triple crank with 46-34-24 9/10 speed rings. $70. Takes Octalink BB. Details at https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...37122748138004