Shifter / Deraillieur / Cogset/ Crankset compatibility?

Zombie Monkey

Hi,

I recently picked up a super cheap 3rd hand Carrera Kraken & it needs a little work to get it up to scratch. The short version is that the bottom bracket is shot (bike shop told me so for free) so I'm looking into upgrading the drivechain & shifters in stages as I can't afford to do it all in one go & crank/ bracket is priority no1.

Essentially I know the shifters & deraillieurs have to be the same system (likely to be a Sram x.5 set all round) due to shift distances but could I replace my current shifters / derailliers without changing the rear cogset?

Basically, are the cog spacings on an 8 spd SRAM cogset the same as any other 8 spd set. Same for the front really as I'm likely to end up with a truvativ howitzer crankset on shimano shifters before the SRAM gear goes on.

Thanks and sorry if this is a dumb question.

nicklouse

the shifters and chain and cassette need to be the same speed.

the rear mech and shifter need to be the same make. (shimano with shimano, and sram numbered with sram numbered)

the reast is freeish. using the correct speed front mech will aid shifting.

Zombie Monkey

Cool,thanks. I'm not planning a speed change, 8x3 is more than enough for my (admittedly hilly) commute.

The key thing is I need to be able to ride it between upgrades. Would this work?

1.Change bracket & front chainset (still 3 spd) to Truvativ howitzer set.

2. Sometime later change both derailliers & shifters to SRAM X.5s 3spd front, 8spd back.

3. Still later, change rear cogset to SRAM or similar 8spd & probably get a new 8spd chain at same time?

NatoED

don't go truvative shimrno are much more reliable BB wise .
best off going 9 sp straight off as 8sp stuff is just as pricy as 9 sp and more difficult to get hold of as 10sp comes in

nicklouse

NatoED wrote:

don't go truvative shimrno are much more reliable BB wise .
best off going 9 sp straight off as 8sp stuff is just as pricy as 9 sp and more difficult to get hold of as 10sp comes in

wrong on both counts.

Zombie Monkey

Okay, thanks guys. The choices of BB / Crank etc were based on several hours of internet trawling looking for the best reviewed for a reasonable price. I know there's better out there but they're waaaay out of the price range I'd set for myself :-) The budget Shimano cranksets seem to get poor reviews generally, and barring the UN54, their budget BBs seem to get similarly naff write ups. I wanted a splined or similar setup as my commute has some evil hills on it & I tend to pedal in high gears. I'd heard that square tapered sets don't handle that too well.


I'm open to suggestions though. Top end for a crankset & bb is probably about £70 or £80? Just don't want to spend too much as I may as well have just bought a new bike.

nicklouse

I'd heard that square tapered sets don't handle that too well.

you have been misinformed.

there are some crap spline interfaces out there...........

so how much do you want to spend?

Zombie Monkey

nicklouse wrote:

you have been misinformed.

Ahh, curse you google!

All in, I'd guess £70 to £80 tops. In some ways square tapered would be ideal as I know my current set is ST & then I can just buy the tools and fit & maintain it myself. (I can't stand spending money on people fitting things I could blatantly do but don't have the tools for)