Geared Up

Whoa! A Front Derailleur!

By-Tor, the Titanium Mukluk got a make-over. I was not enamored of the single speed deal for slogging it through snow, (and now mud), so that was ditched in exchange for a greared set up again. Only I did not do the 1 X 10 set up, as before. Nope. I went in a bit of a different direction.

I have a 2 X 9 set up on the Snow Dog, and that's been a great set up for almost anything this winter. Actually- it's just been a really great set up ever since I switched from a standard triple. So, when the opportunity came up to redo the titanium Mukluk, I went 2 X 10.

On the Snow Dog, my "chain line" measurement, (from the center of the seat tube to the center line of the big ring), is 70mm. That's using an Origin 8 Sub-Compact crank, which is now available as a Dimension crank, I believe. Anyway, it is a crank with an offset spider to the outside by a  millimeter or two to optimize the chain line for 2X usage. I came across some FSA rings that can be mounted on a standard 104BCD crank, and these rings are offset slightly to offer a similar effect as the Origin 8 cranks I have do. Interestingly, FSA has these little "ears", or tabs, that you can use to flesh out the look on the outer side of the crank, so it does not appear that you dropped a ring off a triple. I also used these, which ended up looking great with my old ISIS Bontrager crankset.

The outer ring is a 36T and the inner is a 22T. The offset is 1.5mm from standard, so not much, but every little bit is welcomed on a fat bike, and more importantly, this makes a triple crankset work like a double crankset is designed to work like. No compromises in chain line or on front derailleur set up.

A view of the full drive train

I mounted that all up, and I measured again. 69mm chain line, so very close to the Origin 8, and they could be dead on the same considering variances.

Did you know FSA makes chains too? I did not until I got ahold of this one. 10 speed specific, of course, and it connects with pins, but I hear a quick link is in the works for future chains.

Astute viewers will note the SRAM front double ring derailleur and the rear Shimano Shadow plus derailleur. Shifters are similarly mismatched. Rear shifter- Shimano, front- SRAM. It'll work fine. Besides the drive train, nothing else has changed on the bike. I probably will look for a Nate or two soon for slop riding though.

Speaking of slop- It is going to get messy for awhile out there due to all the rain, slush, and with warmer temperatures, frost coming up out of the ground now. There are a few challenging spots on my way to work, so expect a muddy mechanic for the next week or so!