BB and Crankset replacement for Kona Jake (9-speed 3 rings)

danielsbrewer

This is a cross-post from the commuter general forum, so apologies if you've seen it before.

I have got a Kona Jake 2010 bike which has a FSA MegaExo BB and FSA Omega Crankarms. Most of the rest of the stuff is 9-speed 3 ring Shimano Tiagra.

I have had no end of problems with one of the crank arms coming loose and this has caused one of the crank arms to get damaged. Also because the BB needs replacing and two of the chain rings are well worn down I thought that I should look into replacing the whole lot. So the question is what Chainset/BB combination would you recommend for a 9-speed 3 ring?

I would be tempted to go for Shimano as I have been having problems with this FSA combo. I do a 11 mile a day commute on this bike and so it needs to be fairly robust.

Thanks

veronese68

I had a Jake and had to replace the FSA bottom bracket after about 5,000 miles I reckon. Not too problematic otherwise. I built my new bike up with full Shimano 105 and the BB seems to be stronger, the spindle is larger diameter and so the bearings are also larger diameter. A Tiagra triple would do the job and be in keeping with the rest of the bike.
Not sure who is cheapest at the moment. Try Merlin, Ribble and the German sites, they seem to be cheapest as I recall. Read the last few pages of the bargains thread on Commuting Chat.
Or do the sensible thing and sell it to get a bike with discs. SO much better than the canti's on the Jake.

danielsbrewer

Ribble are doing a good deal on a Tiagra triple crankset at the moment (£47), so I might go for that. It's 10 speed, but from what I've read it should be ok with the other 9 speed components. I agree with you about the brakes being rubbish and I have changed them to some v-types which seem to be a bit better. Thanks.

veronese68

I bought the groupset for my Kinesis from Ribble, they were the cheapest at the time. I've not tried mixing 9 and 10 speed, I believe the teeth are thinner on a 10 speed as the inside of the chain is thinner. You just need to check the distance between chainrings is the same and the 9 speed won't throw the chain too far.

The Rookie

Veronese68 wrote:

I believe the teeth are thinner on a 10 speed as the inside of the chain is thinner.

You believe wrong, the chain internal width is the same and hence the teeth are the same width.....

10 speed are fractionally closer together, but many people are using them with 9 speed without issue, or you could use a 10 speed chain.

danielsbrewer

Thanks to both of you for your help. I have ordered it and we'll see how I get on. It doesn't look too bad to fit yourself. The only thing I'm not sure on is whether spacers will be needed or not, but I'll look what is already there and then go from there.