9-speed triple chain set required for 26” hardtail?

[citizen-snips]

Hi guys & gals,

I’m after a bit of advice regarding a 9 speed triple chainset for use with my 26” hardtail.

I’ve spent the past 25 or so of my cycling years as a roady and only recently dusted off my 26” MTB as a bit of a lockdown project really (along with putting a steel hardtail together for the wife). Any hows, I’m looking to replace my chainset with a 170mm crank arm length type from the 175mm that’s already on there. The bike is a nicely kitted out Klein (on a 9 speed groupset). I’m not too worried about getting period correct so have been looking at what’s currently on offer from Shimano with the idea being I might be able to add chainring spacers to make room for a 9 speed chain (feel free to laugh at this point!). But, I have no clue whatsoever when it comes to MTB standards these days as everyone seems to be running x1 and x2 chain sets.

I can see on the Shimano site blurb there’s stuff written about boost spacing etc, which I’ve heard of (148mm, etc, etc) but I’ve never really took much notice as I’ve stuck to riding my road bikes since the late 90’s. Ideally I’d put a 9 speed triple on it but they’re pretty hard to come by from what I can tell. So I’m wondering if any of these Shimano 11 or 10 spd chains might work with the addition of chain ring spacers (please see attached).

The bike is built up with SRAM XO 9 speed and uses the cassette from that groupset.

 

[danbe]

Sram and Shimano likely won't be compatible together.

Me personally I'd keep the Sram XO and get the matching groupset required or even a Truvativ Noir crankset which is exactly the same to my knowledge and the same company under another name only it doesn't carry the x0 pricetag.

 

[danbe]

The Shimano triple crank will also require a hollowtech BB instead of the GXP one on it already.

Moving too Shimano just seems like headache and unnecessary expense to me.
I'd save the money and go with the xo/noir groupset which you have most of already. Better groupset, cheaper, more range and looks nicer imo especially on a Klein.

 

[citizen-snips]

The Shimano triple crank will also require a hollowtech BB instead of the GXP one on it already.

Moving too Shimano just seems like headache and unnecessary expense to me.
I'd save the money and go with the xo/noir groupset which you have most of already. Better groupset, cheaper, more range and looks nicer imo especially on a Klein.

Thanks for input.

Should have said the current chainset is a RaceFace with a RaceFace BB. Everything else is SRAM. CK classic hubs.

 

[citizen-snips]

So guess I might be looking for something like this Sram XO chainset???

 

[Joe_Rides]

Have a look here;

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p0/Drivetrain/Chainsets
They sell a range of square taper chainsets (which also look fairly period correct) if you didn't want to change the BB to a hollowtech jobby.

Any 7/8/9 speed chainset should work with a 9 speed chain, and generally I've always been able to run SRAM/shimano together without issues.

 

[citizen-snips]

Have a look here;

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p0/Drivetrain/Chainsets
They sell a range of square taper chainsets (which also look fairly period correct) if you didn't want to change the BB to a hollowtech jobby.

Any 7/8/9 speed chainset should work with a 9 speed chain, and generally I've always been able to run SRAM/shimano together without issues.

Thanks for the lead. I'll look into it and TBH I'd much prefer giving my hard earned cash to the chaps at Spa rather than the CRC's of this world – they've always been great to deal with in the past.

 

[ishaw]

You should be able to run any brand of chainset you like. If you have an RF one fitted already, you would actually be better going Shimano or like for like BB standard wise, SRAM use gxp standard which requires a different BB or at least an ht2 BB with a spacer.

Depending on what level of quality you want, choice is pretty vast. Watch out as some 2x ones will not run 3x as the outer chain ring has ready been moved inwards to where the middle ring would be, and the bolt holes closed from the outside

Another potential option is to get a crank that you can replace the spider on. This will allow you to run 2x (Middleburn duo style) or 3 X by simply swapping the spider.

Hope this helps.

 

[citizen-snips]

Thanks again for your input on this.

So if I find a Shimano 9 or 10 spd triple chainset I can use it with the race face bb that is already in the frame? I plan to keep it a triple set up and ideally something relatively high end but obviously that would limit my options. The bike was always well looked after and a no expense spared type build so I don’t mind keeping the chainset of the same quality as the rest of the rig. But with that said I realise modern components are now probably light years ahead of what was available then.

I already have an old square taper Middleburn RS1 or RS2 (not sure which but it’s the silver model with a Rhino’s head on the crank arm) so had considered that but again I’d prefer something a bit more modern and performance orientated. I’ve looked at the latest middleburn offerings so that is a potential as well.

I found the SRAM X5 triple on their website but that would mean using a GXP BB (I’d always thought the GXP BB‘s weren't a very robust design? Apologies if I’m wrong on that).

Also found a Shimano XTR M970 but I think it needs a proprietary tool to fit/remove it (I think). And its a bit ‘pricey’! But with that said the bike it’s going on was a dream bike for me when I was younger so I don’t mind spending a bit of cash on it as it was and still is amazing to ride.

 

[ishaw]

M970 are great cranks, run a couple of sets myself. The proprietary tool can be had fairly cheaply so don't let that put you off. Just be sure to check the splines on the non drive side arm and make sure there is no wear play from badly fitted cranks. I run a set of FSA k force light cranks on my 29er as 1x10, but bought them new as 2x. They simply had blanking tabs on the outer spider position for the big ring, so can be used as triple no problem. They are nice and light, carbon, lovely to look at and don't need any silly BB standards.