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I have fitted a triple to my road bike, replacing the original compact set up. However the front mech will not shift down into the granny ring' it looks like I need to space the drive side crank out by a fair bit!
Would the best solution be a new bb with a longer splindle? Its a square taper and the crank is an FSA veto triple if that makes a difference! Any help would be much appreciated.
You've almost certainly got a double-only shifter and/or front mech.
May find you need new shifters - some will do both double and triple, some are double specific and don't have the extra click to shift the mech again.
Oh and the obvious MTFU comment for fitting a triple in the first place... 😉
You need the BB length appropriate to the crank, you can find this on the FSA tech docs, also, have you replaced the FD with a triple specific?
As jimc above. On an old style BB I went from 108mm to 118mm to go from double to triple. Don't know how that works in new money (i.e. new BBs) but I guess you need to fiddle with the shims.
You shouldn't have to move spacers or anything if its an external bearing chain set. Front mech as per Crazy Legs's suggestion.
need a triple-specific left shifter (often only available as pair)and a triple-specific front derailleur
not cheap
personally I'd have kept the compact chainset, and install a wide range cassette (11-30/32)and mid cage rear mech for lower climbing gears
Front derailleur may not need changing if it can handle the capacity the sidways throw across the rings should be ok .I have used mechs from double setups on triple chainsets before
Shifter and mech shpuld work fine its just the drive side crank neefs to be spaced out a bit. I read somewhere you need to increase the bb splindle length by 5mm? Can anyone confirm this? Also will any square taper bb fit and square taper crank? Road bikes are very complicated!!
"[i]You shouldn't have to move spacers or anything if its an external bearing chain set.[/i]"
If you'd read the original post...
Anyhoo.
Cranks are designed for specific axle lengths. It's not a case of adding 5mm because you've gone to a triple, it's a case of finding out what axle length your cranks are intended to use, and fitting that. (Or at least something within a few mill - you've normally got a little bit of leeway.)
Will any axle fit any crank? Pretty much (chainline considerations aside). You'll need a JIS taper, which almost everything is these days.
Cheap l/H triple shimano STi levers are available separately on Ebay. £20odd plus postage from Asia brand new.
Bike shop staff will have you believe otherwise
Bike shop staff will have you believe otherwise because uk bike shops can only buy shimano sti levers from the uk shimano disty in pairs.
Utter bullshit! They aren't tied to madison as their [u]sole[/u] shimano supplier.
Work in a bike shop do ya? Don't take it personally
A huge amount of fuss about nothing at times this job. I assume that you have replaced or at least released the cable and used the low stop screw to drop the mech to where it should be. Yes?
Then you need a longer BB. Hw much do you need to
"move" the crank out by? Buy a slightly longer BB to do that. Ask your LBS for some shagged ones to try it. 118mm is a fair guess but all cranks are different as are frames.
Shifter won't need changing if you are a euro fan but stuff from anywhere else is triple or double specific.