Triple chainrings on 2014 Epic
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First response last night came off far too grumpy and judgmental in my rereading, so I've altered my thoughts a bit (I blame the twin girls at home)
You may not find many (any) people who've actually gone through the process (at least on a 2014). If I think back to what my '13 looked like with a 2x set up, I think there'd be space, but I wouldn't put gamble my life savings on that statement.
As it could become expensive quickly (new crank, or at the very least, new spider and 3 new chainrings, BB maybe, new Front Derailleur and chain. Your shifter can flip a switch to be 3x), so I'm curious why you'd want to run a triple:
If you need an even lower gear, you should be able to get it by changing out the 24 chainring for a 22 on the stock crank, but you might run into shifting issues up front, and in that case, you could drop the 36 to 34. Another option might be to grab an aftermarket 42 or 40 tooth cassette add-on to get lower range, leaving your front untouched.
If you really want to know for sure, and don't have access to the bike yet, only way of knowing for sure might be finding a BB30 triple crankset, and walking into an LBS and asking them nicely to check for you.
You may not find many (any) people who've actually gone through the process (at least on a 2014). If I think back to what my '13 looked like with a 2x set up, I think there'd be space, but I wouldn't put gamble my life savings on that statement.
As it could become expensive quickly (new crank, or at the very least, new spider and 3 new chainrings, BB maybe, new Front Derailleur and chain. Your shifter can flip a switch to be 3x), so I'm curious why you'd want to run a triple:
If you need an even lower gear, you should be able to get it by changing out the 24 chainring for a 22 on the stock crank, but you might run into shifting issues up front, and in that case, you could drop the 36 to 34. Another option might be to grab an aftermarket 42 or 40 tooth cassette add-on to get lower range, leaving your front untouched.
If you really want to know for sure, and don't have access to the bike yet, only way of knowing for sure might be finding a BB30 triple crankset, and walking into an LBS and asking them nicely to check for you.
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5,437 Posts
From the pictures the chainstay on a 2014 Epic Expert (non WC) looks very similar to that of previous years.
You can definitely fit a triple chainset onto a 2012/ 2013 Epic so I'd say it will be possible on a 2014 Epic Expert also. Looking at the Shimano Deore XT triple chainset on my 2012 Epic there's tons of clearance between the outer 44 tooth chainring and the chainstay. It's not even close (1cm clearance approx) .
Along with a new front derailleur and new chain the other thing to consider is the bottom bracket. You can get triple chainsets with a 30mm axle (eg: Race Face Next SL or Rotor 3D+ ) which would go straight on, only needing a few spacers.
http://www.raceface.com/components/cranks/next/next-sl/
http://www.rotorbikeusa.com/products/3D_plus_mtb_cranks.html
If you want to use a 24mm diameter axle Shimano chainset I think it's worth replacing the PF30 bottom bracket. I'd suggest either a Wheels Manufacturing PF30 outboard bottom bracket (which will fit a 24mm diameter axle without reducers) or use a SRAM PF30 to BSA adapter and then a standard Shimano outboard bottom bracket.
http://wheelsmfg.com/products/bottom-brackets/pf30-outboard/pf30-outboard-bottom-brackets.html
For my 2012 Epic I've got a Chris King PF30 bottom bracket with plastic reducers in order to use it with a 24mm Shimano axle. The Chris King bearings are fine but I've been having issues with water (it rains a lot in the UK) getting into the small gap between the plastic reducers and 24mm steel bottom bracket axle. Where the plastic reducers touch the bottom bracket axle the bottom bracket axle is rusting away.:madman:
You can definitely fit a triple chainset onto a 2012/ 2013 Epic so I'd say it will be possible on a 2014 Epic Expert also. Looking at the Shimano Deore XT triple chainset on my 2012 Epic there's tons of clearance between the outer 44 tooth chainring and the chainstay. It's not even close (1cm clearance approx) .
Along with a new front derailleur and new chain the other thing to consider is the bottom bracket. You can get triple chainsets with a 30mm axle (eg: Race Face Next SL or Rotor 3D+ ) which would go straight on, only needing a few spacers.
http://www.raceface.com/components/cranks/next/next-sl/
http://www.rotorbikeusa.com/products/3D_plus_mtb_cranks.html
If you want to use a 24mm diameter axle Shimano chainset I think it's worth replacing the PF30 bottom bracket. I'd suggest either a Wheels Manufacturing PF30 outboard bottom bracket (which will fit a 24mm diameter axle without reducers) or use a SRAM PF30 to BSA adapter and then a standard Shimano outboard bottom bracket.
http://wheelsmfg.com/products/bottom-brackets/pf30-outboard/pf30-outboard-bottom-brackets.html
For my 2012 Epic I've got a Chris King PF30 bottom bracket with plastic reducers in order to use it with a 24mm Shimano axle. The Chris King bearings are fine but I've been having issues with water (it rains a lot in the UK) getting into the small gap between the plastic reducers and 24mm steel bottom bracket axle. Where the plastic reducers touch the bottom bracket axle the bottom bracket axle is rusting away.:madman:
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