DIYGUY

I want to put a NOS vintage Campy Victory crankset on my 1972 PX10 with its original Stronglight BB and axle. I am wondering if the one-piece bolt on the Campy crankset will mate properly with the female thread of the Stronglight axle? Another issue is if the spacing is not correct. I assume if that turns out to be the case that I can correct the spacing with a Velo Orange BB. But I would still have the same issue with the one-piece bolt of the Campy with the new BB. As this combination is going to set me back about two large I sure don't want to get a bad combo. Short of trying it first you all are my best resource.

Anyone have a thought to share on my latest brain cramp? Thanks ...

Garthr

I'm trying to follow you, but one-piece bolt? Do you mean the auto extractor bolt? If that's what you're referring to, I personally ditched those things and used a regular 14mm bolt. Try a 14mm bolt and see if it threads into the Stronglight axle. Victory cranks also used a shorter taper, it may have been ISO, maybe their own spec., but not JIS. Just make sure the crank goes in far enough on any BB axle used. Nor can I remember the BB length. Can't help you more than that.

tellyho

Spindle length should be 109, symmetrical, according to Bicycle Classics.

DIYGUY

Thanks for the help. I do not have the Campy parts in hand (yet), so I am at a loss to describe what this bolt does, except that the product description is for a "one key release." I assume it is both a bolt and a dust cover. A pic of the crank shows something that I assume is the "one key" whatever installed. It appears that you remove it with an extractor that might have two round pins 180 degrees opposite each other, cannot say for sure. I need some Campy expertise here to tell me what this description means.

I have thought of another alternative which is to keep the Stronglight axle and bolt, but I wonder if that would work and of course, there would then not be a dust cover. As for the square taper, heck I am wet behind the ears on that one. I am still trying to understand the diff between the two types. I imagine that as my bike is from the early 70s it is the older version. That could be a reason to go the new BB route with an Orange Velo if the Victory crankset is 80s vintage as I believe.

Further thoughts are most welcome and sincerely appreciated!

Grand Bois

I think you may be describing a self extracting crank bolt on the Victory crankset. I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't work with any square taper spindle that takes a bolt rather than a nut.

Ex Pres 

The "one-key" just allows you to install and remove the crankarm fom the BB without any tools except for an allen wrench. The bolts are the same thread that you would find with any BB.

Second part: What spindle length is required? Don't know, but VeloBase might have it.

tatfiend 

The Velo Orange French thread bottom brackets are listed as JIS taper. The Campy cranks are ISO taper IIRC. There may be compatibility problems. Also not sure if the Stronglight BB and crankset used a third, French taper. Most French parts were not compatible with anyone elses it seems like.

JohnDThompson 

Stronglight spindles use the same taper as Campy. I've used Stronglight double spindles (118) with Campy NR cranks without problems. Unfortunately, the Victory arms have less offset than older double cranks and may require a shorter spindle. Victory spindles were pretty much symmetrical, like a track spindle.

DIYGUY

I think this is good news and thanks for that tip. If the offset is wrong on the chainring side, I think I will just flip the spindle around, as I don't think there is anything wrong putting the 'long' side on the left instead of on the right. I doubt I would ever notice it anyway. Or maybe I will just go ahead and put it a new BB. Will know which path to take when the new cranks arrive. I am very excited ...

DIYGUY

UPDATE

I would like to thank everyone for their advice so far. Here is my progress to date. Today I replaced the Stronglight cranks with a NOS Campy Victory. My next step is to replace the BB cups and spindle with a sealed bearing unit from Velo Orange. According to Sheldon, the spindles for Campy cranks are ISO square taper. The Velo Orange spindle according to their site is JIS. Sheldon states that the two can mix if you don't plan on removing the cranks on a regular basis, which would be the case with the new BB. He also states that when going from ISO to JIS the cranks will sit 4.5mm further outboard.

Thanks to the generous help with my previous post, I have located a site that states that the Campy Victory cranks use a 109mm symmetrical spindle. If my math is correct here, 4.5mm x 2 = 9mm. The V-O BB with its shortest spindle is 103mm. Thus, 103mm plus 9mm = 112mm, which is longer by 3mm than what the Victory cranks should have. To my thinking that is 1.5mm further out on each side than ideal. I believe everything in the chainline will still be okay as this is hardly excessive. I am not concerned about the left side at all.

What are your thoughts??

Ex Pres 

Your math sounds OK. Something you may want to try. You've indicated that you replaced the crank already. Did you put it on your existing BB? If so, measure your chainline as it sits and re-confirm your math. Never hurts to doublecheck. In a similar situation I went with a slightly longer spindle to increase my qfactor, but stayed within chainline tolerance.

DIYGUY

Thanks. I am committed big time at this point, as I have ordered the BB and purchased a tool to assist me with the installation. I am wondering at this point if it might help anyone else if I took some pix along the way? If so, would I post them here in a reply or is there a better way to do this type of thing?

bleukahuna

I put a Velo Orange BB on my PX-10. If you have the SN riveted on you'll need to trim the rivets or remove the plate to clear the new BB. I also chased the threads, had to check 8 shops before I found one with a 35x1 tap, 2 claimed it was the same as Italian.

DIYGUY

Just a note of thanks to all who helped me. The installation of the new BB went fairly smoothly. Minor problem in getting the fixed cup out, but prevailed in the end. New Velo-Orange went in painlessly. Campy cranks fit just fine and the bike looks and rides better than ever.

I took quite a few pix along the way with the thought that I would post them on Picasa if there is enough interest. Nothing radical here, likely as not others have done something similar before me. But if anyone cares I will take the time to make them available.