vjp

I really don't need anymore bikes or projects, but my wife and kids are away for 3 weeks and that darn Craigslist is always taunting me....

So, yesterday I picked up a very sad ZUNOW. The paint is very chipped, there is a dent in the TT and some hipster sawed off the TT cable guides, very very badly. It is also a sedate green ( as compared to most neon Zunow) is triple butted , has forged dropouts and really needed a loving home. It has been on CL sporadically for the last month. I took it home for $65. It wasn't a great deal but I like it.

I am not going to re-paint it, I am going to re-build it with parts bin stuff that is dying for a place to go, polish it up and ride it. If I like it then who knows. Right now this junk yard dog needs to hunt.

The first help that I need from you is the BB length. I have a pair of first generation Suntour Superbe cranks that I want to use but I don't have a BB yet. I am planning on buying a Shimano UN 72 because they are cheap and available here. The BB Shell is 68mm/English and the rear spacing is 126mm. What spindle length should I get to use these cranks with a 126 mm rear (7 speed) ?

Thanks

caloso

First off: congrats and good for you for reclaiming a fine bike.

Second: do you know for sure if the taper of the Suntour cranks is JIS? If it is ISO (like my 80s vintage Superbe Pro crankset), it won't sit all the way down on the Shimano spindle. That will affect your chainline and possibly a maddening creaking sound when you stand on the pedals -- at least it did for me. If it is ISO, you can pick up a Campy Veloce BB for relatively cheap.

huerro

Check out Sheldon's bottom bracket database https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html

The Superbe Pro take 111 ISO (Campagnolo, miche, etc) for a 43.5 chainline.

cyclotoine

That bike was rescued by my landloard from the south vancouver transfer station some years ago. I saw him riding it one day and told him it was a pretty nice bike. I told him I could probably get a bit of money out of it for him (since it was way too big for him... he said he passed on the same frame only bigger - doh! and left it at the station)...

anyway I stripped the frame of it's mostly shimano 600 parts and decided i didn't want or have the time to build it up. When I discovered the dent I knew I couldn't get much for it. I sold it for $150 (it's still a very fine quality zunow afterall; probably comparable with any top italian bike of the 80s) and gave my landlord the money. I got to keep the parts for the parts bin... we both won. I guess the guy I sold it to chopped it. To bad... at least you have a cheep beater now.

vjp

The cranks are the early version that came out in 79 and I just assumed that they were JIS, I probably have a BB that will work already then, I'll check my parts stash.

Cyclotoine, that is too funny! What a small world. The seller said that he got it hacked so maybe your buyer sold it on. Now I really feel like it is a good rescue =)

jet sanchEz

It sounds like a fun project to me, do you think you could fill in the dent with bondo? I ask because if the answer is yes, you can then take a blowtorch to the remains of the cable-guides and have just the top tube painted.

John E

I'll bet the SunTour crankset has the smaller European taper, rather than the larger Shimano JIS.