It all depends on what type of riding you are going to do and where you are going to ride. Personally, I can never see needing a 48T chain ring on a mountain bike ridden off road. The highest gears are just too fast to be useful. On the other hand if you are doing steep extended climbs like I have, the 22T chain ring can be useful. I'm using a three ring crank with the big ring removed and I'm only using 22/32T. Here for your information is a graphic comparison of the two cransets:

HTML5 Gear Calculator

I've assumed a 29 inch bike with ten speed 11/36T cassette.

 

I ride 20% Road, 80% off road (Which most of the time are climbs). I dont understand too much about gears. I assuming would be best to pick 40/30/22t what about the cassette 9- speed, 12-36T vs 11-34T vs 11-32T.
When climbing my best gear is the second on the cassette and first on crankset. Right now I have 8x3. I never use the 7 and 8 cassette and 3rd on crankset.

 

yeah, you don't need the big chainring (48t). go with the 40/30/22. that'll give you plenty of range for your riding.

cassettes: same idea, one is geared slightly higher than the other. if you like having a super low gear for climbing hills then pick the 12-36. if you don't need it and want a little more speed at the top end then go with the 11-34. either one should offer plenty of range. very minor difference between the two.

 

I am using a 20/30/42 with a 11x34 or a 12x34 9 speed and I really like the gearing on my 29" MTB. Th 20/34 is as low as I can keep the bike upright with and the 11/12x42 gives a fairly high speed for downhills on the road.
I live in the front range of Colorado and have to climb when riding off road.
I also weigh 230 pounds and have bad knees which requires lower gearing.
I ride this bike off road, bike paths and some road rides and the gearing works great for me.
Good luck,
Wayne

 

I like my 42/32/20 setup. Since it's on my heavier bike the 20 ring really helps with the climbs.

 

I'm running the newer 10 speed 22/30/40t Shimano XT cranks, and love them... 180mm!!

I took off the 22t and put on an Action Tec 20t granny gear. I'm not in great shape, and climb lots of crazy steeps. Perfect setup... but I wish the 40t was a 42 or 44.

 

I have been putting a Deore FC-M615 22/30/40 crankset through the paces for about 6 months. This gear combo (with an 11-36 cassette) on a 29er closely resembles what the 22/32/42 was for 26" wheels. Now that production of new 26" wheel bikes has slowed to a trickle, it was time for cranksets to come along for the ride.

Boutique gearing options aside, your choices for MTB gearing have been going toward somewhat wider ratio cassettes with 2x up front, and more recently the 1x with ultra wide ratio cassettes (10-42). These modern options have their advantages, and IMHO, their disadvantages as well. Then, a while back, Shimano came out with this 22/30/40 triple crankset, and like the other options, has it pros and cons, depending on how you view it, how you ride, and what you ride.

1x:

Pros:

No FD, so it is less complex, lighter without the FD, cable, and shifter. You can also run the N/W chainrings which keep the chain on the chainring pretty well.

Cons:

Wide spacing between gears, narrower range.

2x:

Pros:

Less complex to tune the FD, more likely to be able to use every gear on both chainrings with less noise/wear.

Cons: Still has what some see as a limited range compared to what traditional triple chainring cranksets are capable of.

3x:

Pros: Widest range with best chance to find the right gear.

Cons: Most complicated to tune the FD. Cross-chaining is a real issue.

The good news in all of this, is that we now have a wiiiiiide range of choices available, but you really need to do your homework if you're going to choose 1x system, and to a lesser extent, this new 3x system. The 2x, is a pretty safe choice, but not perfect for everyone.

Personally, I really like the wide range of gear combos available to me with the 22/30/40 crankset. My biggest gripe with 2x was that the FD's just didn't work with more than a 16t gap between chainrings. I really like having a 22t inner chainring for climbing the trails where I live. I can do many climbs with a 24t, but not as many as I like, and some are damned unpleasant on a 24t inner compared to a 22t. So, if I chose to use a 22t inner chainring, that left me with a 36t outer chainring, and that was unsatisfactory to me. I treasure the back to the barn fire road sprints and I couldn't hold off the baying hounds for very long with a 36t outer chainring. The 38t made a big difference in that regard, so this made 2x lacking in one area or another, I just got to choose which one.

Along comes the 22/30/40, and I have it all. Low enough gearing to keep slogging along up the hill, and plenty of gearing at the ready when the flag drops on those flat fire road sprints.

Everybody has their own unique set of conditions, and subsequent requirements to get the best from their equipment on the trails they ride. I think I have found what works well for me in my situation.

Cliff Notes Verson:

If all I know about the OP's situation is:

"Crankset 40/30/22t vs 48/36/26t ??
Which one? and differences..."

I am in no position to offer any advice with regard to their unique situation. If you really want some suggestions worth more than zero, then we need more information to consider before rendering a thoughtful suggestion. I love the 22/30/40 on my bike for me. I have no clue why it may or may not be better for the OP than 26/36/48, and that is who would have to ride it.

 

I am in no position to offer any advice with regard to their unique situation. If you really want some suggestions worth more than zero, then we need more information to consider before rendering a thoughtful suggestion. I love the 22/30/40 on my bike for me. I have no clue why it may or may not be better for the OP than 26/36/48, and that is who would have to ride it.

I ride 20% Road, 80% off road (Which most of the time are climbs).
When climbing my best gear is the second on the cassette and first on crankset. Right now I have 8x3. I never use the 7 and 8 cassette and 3rd on crankset.

i was offering my opinion based on his description of the riding he does. maybe you missed this? he said he never uses the big chainring so having a 48 would be useless.

 

i live in a very mountainous area. many times i choose to bike up the canyon road and then ride the trail. even riding to other trails i wind up doing some road riding.

my 46x11 gets spun out a lot on the road. even on long rollers.

on the trail i ride more tech stuff so the big ring rarely gets used. the speed that can be gained in that gear on the dirt would be silly fast and dangerous to you and others.

i cannot imagine not having a big ring just because i use mine often. the new push toward one and only two small front chainrings in my application is just soo limiting.

now to make up for cheating you down to one front chainring is to make you use a 11 speed super spaced out 9-42 rear cassette. why? 3x9 gearing covered all that perfectly.

if the reason is so 29ers can shorten chainstays, fine. but where are the short chainstays? 16" and smaller please if your gonna make us use fragile, spaced out, super expensive large rear cassettes.

 

I have the Specialized RH Sport with a 44/32/22 crankset. Honestly, I think I will get a 2 gear crankset instead. The 44 cog is wayyyyy to big, always comes in the way of clearing logs. Plus, let's be honest, do you ever really use it in MTB? I've never used it. Always stay with the 32 and 22 cogs.

If you ride flat trails, then I guess yeah a 44 would be ok. But real MTB doesn't require a 44T cog in the crankset, let's be honest.

I'll probably upgrade to a 32/22 crankset.

 

I had a 42-32-24 on my 29er with an 11-36 cassette and felt the climbing and cruising gears were just a shade high. I swapped out the 42-32-24 to a 40-30-22 and really like it. Can climb almost anything in 2nd and that granny gear is there for relief on longer climbs. I couldn't find a 40-30-22 set of rings for my XT cranks. I found the 22, but not the 30 or 40, so I'm running a cheap set of Deore cranks which cost only $55 with the chain rings.

I'm no racer, and do virtually all my climbing in the saddle.

 

The 48/36/26 11-34t . Is better if your 29er'ing incudes pavement, commute ,touring, trekking,gravel riding to your XC trails from your home along with typical dirt XC riding ...though a bit high depending. Essentially you would mostly use the 36/26 XC Riding and Rarely would use the 48. On road you will use the 48 a great deal in flats for higher consistent speed along with high speed down hill. It takes more than slicks for a 29er MTB to have respectable speed on tarmac ......it takes gears. The MTB "Touring Triple (48,36,26) is actually age old and was quite common once upon a time >And more recently on some drop bar 29ers like the Salsa Fargo certain serie> Look at it more like two doubles in one , rather than a "triple", one double for XC MTB and another for Tarmac/Comute/Tour MTB

So to answer your question IMO - If you ride mostly XC = 40/30/22 If you ride partial pavement,gravel along with XC = the touring triple.

 

It takes more than slicks for a 29er MTB to have respectable speed on tarmac ......it takes gears.

But giving up the 48T for the 36T still leaves you with "gears". The difference between 48T and 36T is only a loss of the two top gears. It's not that big a deal and most people would be happy to simply not pedal in those conditions.

 

I don't see any benefit worth having in giving up my triple setup, especially not for a double.
Why not?
With an 11x36 and a 32 center ring I don't have to use the front shifter at all while on my favorite trail loop.
With a standard double with a 38 or even 36 front large ring I'd be shifting the front all the time. Front shifting is no fun because of the concentration it requires and takes away from the trail. I'm there to ride the trail as best as I can not mess with an imprecise shifting mechanism. If I bought a bike geared that way with a double and didn't know any better it would drive me to a single like so many other guys.

 

I don't see any benefit worth having in giving up my triple setup, especially not for a double.
Why not?
With an 11x36 and a 32 center ring I don't have to use the front shifter at all while on my favorite trail loop.
With a standard double with a 38 or even 36 front large ring I'd be shifting the front all the time. Front shifting is no fun because of the concentration it requires and takes away from the trail. I'm there to ride the trail as best as I can not mess with an imprecise shifting mechanism. If I bought a bike geared that way with a double and didn't know any better it would drive me to a single like so many other guys.

I'm with you eb, my two bikes are 42-32-24 and 44-32-22. I live in the 32t middle ring for 80-90% on my trail riding and just drop to the 24 or 22t granny ring on steep or sustained climbs (btw I really don't notice the difference between the 24 and 22). When I had a 38-24 double the 24 was too low for most riding and the 38 too high. I hated that combo and really don't like the shift to 2x or even 1x for most of the new bikes. Having said that I could easily lose the big ring and go 32-22 double but that doesn't seem to be a standard offering. The big ring only gets used if I'm riding on the road going home and going downhill.

 

I had the Deore 40/30/22 matched with an 11/32 cassette on a Vassago Bandersnatch. The cassette came on the bike, otherwise I woulda swapped it out for a 11/36. Nevertheless I LOVED going back to a triple crank, esp one that was compact in design and ratio. The 40t was great on the flats and the roads and the the 30t was useful for most moderate climbs. I stayed in the 30t for most of my offroad stuff. Loved that crankset. Here it is on the bike.

 

Unless you ride a lot of road or steep paved descents, 48/36/26 would be useless for mountain biking. Hell, I rarely want for more than a 32x10 gear ratio on mine even on pavement. 48x11 will probably never even get used.

 

I am using Shimano Deore 22-32-42t crankset and I like the 22-30-40t and what do you think about 22-30-40t for Expedition bike touring? With 11-36t 10 Speed Cassette.

Shimano Deore M6000-3 10-Speed 170mm 22/30/40t Crankset 64/96mm BCD

 

That's a rare 20 granny. What crankset is it? Is the 20 an aftermarket item?