popula

Hi, everyone! I’m thinking of buying a 46-30 sub-compact crankset for my R3000 sora equipped road bike, for climbing steep hills. I cannot find any 9 speed specific cranks that are compatible. Any thoughts about finding one or 10/11 speed compatibility? I’m running 11-30 cassette, but I’ll swap it for 11-34 or 12-36.

seypat

Can you buy 46 and 30 rings only that will fit your current crank?

popula

No, because the sora crank is 110bcd and the smallest chainring is 33T, so not really much lower gearing.

billridesbikes

I have both of these (on different bikes) in the 46/30 version with 165mm cranks. One on a light weight touring bike and the other on my wife’s bike.

Grand Cru from Velo Orange

and if you have cash to flash

Rene Herse (Compass)

I believe I’m using a 110mm Shimano BB for each with 10sp Campy.

ThermionicScott 

Crankset "speeds" don't need to match the cassette and chain exactly. I wouldn't run a 5-speed chain on an 11-speed crankset, or an 11-speed chain on a 5-speed crankset, though.

Drew Eckhardt 

Wheels Manufacturing, LeTour, and Origin 8 all make 0.5mm chainring shims so you can avoid rub pairing a 10 speed crank with a wider 9 speed chain.

Maelochs

Ten and eleven-speed chain rings should run a 9-speed chain without problems. Also i found this: https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/product/component/alivio-m4000/FC-MT210-2.html

SHIMANO HYPERDRIVE MTB Crankset 2x9-speed
FC-MT210-2_46-30T_C6_1_750_750

ALIVIO_M4000_m
FC-MT210-2
SHIMANO - HYPERDRIVE - MTB Crankset - 2x9-speed

The SHIMANO FC-MT210-2 crank is designed for 2x9 speed MTB drivetrains. With HYPERDRIVE technology it provides smooth and precise shifting.

Precise and reliable shifting
SG-X chainrings
HYPERDRIVE
Upper series image
Anodized crank
With or without chain guard (46-30T)

popula

Thanks for the research and replies. The sora crank has chainline of 43.5mm, will the front derailleur be able to handle 48.8mm chainline?

Canker

Absolute Black makes oval 110mm chainrings in 46/30. I have them on my shimano 105 cranks. They are super pricey though and at this time if I were to do it I'd just get a set of shimano GRX cranks and a new FD. I doubt 9 speed cassette/chain would be problem but I've never ran it.

clasher

I've been using an FSA tempo 46/30 crank on my winter bike and it's been solid with 9 speed stuff. I picked it up at a local co-op, apparently a take-off, they had a few sets. FSA's webstore but they are square taper. They make other options but I don't think any of them work with a shimano BB. I would be tempted to try some of the CNC 46/30 rings available on ebay but they are almost the same cost as a basic square taper crankset.

Whit51 

I’ve used older Ultra triples as a staring point then removed the large ring and replaced the middle ring with a 46 tooth, giving me a 46-30 subcompact double.

SalsaShark

I run a Shimano GRX 10-speed 46/30 crank with Sora 9-speed STI, derailleur, and cassette on my Salsa Journeyman and it performs flawlessly. A couple things to remember: Be sure to match your chain to the crank speed you choose - in my case i used a 10-speed chain to work with the 10-speed crankset. Also, you will might need to swap out your front derailleur (as i did), especially if you go with GRX cranks, as the chainline gets pushed out a bit, and the GRX front derailleur is designed to compensate for this.