Crank-Crankity-Crank-Crank: Revisted

I'd run this crank on my Gen I Fargo for what? A decade?

 Last year one of my most read posts was one I did in January titled "Crank-Crankity-Crank-Crank". In my review of the most popular posts for 2021, it ranked #7. I said about it at the time: "This is a paean to the triple crank, on one hand, and a severe criticism of 1X drive trains on the other, all tied up at the end with a whimsical prediction for the future".

 Well, being a strong believer in triple crank sets, I am always on the lookout for them. We had a road bike, mind you, come in with a total mish-mash of parts on it down at the Collective. It was obvious that it was going to have to undergo a complete transformation, because, amongst other things, you simply do not put a MTB triple crankset on a road bike. 

Whilst tearing the bike down, I noted that the crankset was an XT from around the late 90's, maybe. 110 BCD, 5 bolt, square taper kind of gives it away as something not from this century. Anyway... As I took it off I noted that it was in great shape for such an old crank set. Maybe some marring due to bouncing around in various bins over the years, but no heel marks or snubbed crank ends like you'd expect to find on a well-loved MTB crankset that is around 25 years old. 

Huh! I'd forgotten that my old crankset was a 170mm!

Then I flipped it around looking it over. "Hmm....I wonder what the length is.....HOLD ON! 180mm?!!"

Yes, a super-rare 180mm triple crank from the halcyon days of 26"er MTB. How these escaped being converted into a single speed crankset, I will never know, but I am betting these were bought on close-out and then never put to use. Well, until they ended up on this 80's era Vitus! Ha ha! What a deal!

So, I purchased them from the Collective and brought the set home. At first I did not have a plan for them, but since they were square taper compatible, that led me in a certain direction.

I knew that my Gen I Fargo was overdue for a drive train maintenance. Everything was pretty old on it. The 9 speed chain was tired, the cassette, an old one from the late 00's, needed swapping. That old chain set I was using, a rare Deore cassette style with a square taper interface, (most of this series of Shimano crank sets were Octalink), had been in service for at least a decade. This better condition, XT 180mm armed crank set was a shoe-in to replace that old Deore one. Plus, the XT has the far more commonplace 110/74BCD pattern chainrings.

The XT crank is appealing for its more common chain ring sizes.

While that XT crank very well could be an 8 speed model, a 9 speed chain will work on it just fine. Well....for me it will. Your mileage may vary. I seem to get away with mismatched stuff far better than most. That's not a brag, it's a warning. I don't want anyone coming back here and blaming me for their mismatched components failure. So, don't do this...

Anyway, the main point here is that I had 170mm cranks and now I will have 180mm cranks. Many, many theories exist concerning crank length. I'm not doing this for anyone else's benefit, but I am sharing my experiences as I go along.  Once all the parts are replaced in my drive train, I'll let you all know how it goes. If you find crank length discussions interesting, well this could be for you.

The proof.

Another interesting nugget here is that the ring sizes are 48T/36T/26T. This replaces my 42T/36T/28T set up. I checked the chain length and while it goes into "big-big", it should really have one more link than the current, worn out chain has. Making a note here....

So, I'm going to end up with a wider range than I had before, and a longer crank by 10mm, which an old school touring jockey would tell you affects the gearing range too. Yeah..... That's over my head. If I had to guess I'd say longer = more gear inches/higher speed and shorter would = lower geared/slower speed. 

All I can say now is that a longer crank set articulates my legs more, makes for a slower cadence, and a more relaxed heart rate. That's just me maybe. I just notice this with my 180mm crank set single speed bikes, which I have three of, at least, maybe four. I also have one single speed set up with 170mm cranks and I can spin faster than all get-out on that bike. (Just rode that one two days ago)

As installed on the Gen I Fargo.

So, I have to source a good 9 speed cassette and a chain, then I'll be good to go. I'm excited to give a geared set up a whirl with 180mm cranks again. I had a similar set up on a 26"er back in the 1990's when I used to race MTB. I loved that set up and I am hoping it works out on the Fargo. 

I'm even more excited that my Fargo will be good to go in terms of drive train stuff for quite a while again. I probably should redo the brakes and get new pads installed, but that can wait as the brakes are okay right now. 

Interestingly, the stock gearing on the Fargo was similar to this old XT set up. That too was an XT crank, but a HollowTech one with a 104BCD four bolt set up. I still have that crankset, by the way. 

If you are thinking I have a 180mm triple crank in silver from earlier, you would be correct. That is the one that Steve Fuller gifted me this past Spring, so that one is destined for the upcoming Gryphon build, which probably won't happen now until next year. The Gryphon frames and forks have been pushed back to December now.  

Yes, I like my 180mm crank sets, but I use all lengths. Most of my gravel bikes stuff is 172.5, I have some 175mm arm stuff, and then the 170mm and 180mm stuff. Got any questions? let me know, otherwise, stay tuned....