steve-d

Well, here's the story. I picked up a very, very nice Raleigh Professional. Just the frame and fork mind you.

I had a frame builder go over it for straightness and to face the bb, head tube, fork crown and chase the threads.

He said all went well, BUT......

He pointed out someone in the past reamed out the bb and tapped Italian threads into it. That wasn't an uncommon fix if the threads were stripped or cross threaded. He chased them and I thought all would be well, especially since I wouldn't be wasting several hours trying to install a British threaded bb onto what I would've assumed to be British threads.

Anyway, now I have a 67mm shell and I'm going intending to install a 70SS bb assembly. I did a test fit and the small chain ring hits the chain stay as it is drawn too close to the centerline of the bike.

I began looking for shims to space the fixed cup further out and bring the shell back to the proper 70mm size, but all the ones I've found won't fit the larger diameter Italian cups.

Has anyone run into a source for bb shims for Italian cups? Loose screws specifically says the ones they have are for British and French only and won't fit Italian. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Steve

dbakl

Can you just use a 68mm spindle?

prof2k

Yeah. Use a 68mm spindle with the italian cups.

steve-d

OK, I'll look at that fix.

I didn't measure the relative lengths of the 68 vs the 70 spindle. I assume the 68 would be a little longer and sit further out ?

Bianchigirll 

I think dbakl is right use a 68 spindle. what frame builder did you take it to? I may have to have some braze ons put on a frame.

randyjawa 

Are you sure that you didn't install the spindle backwards? It is possible that one end of the spindle is longer than the other. Have a peek just in case. If one end is longer than the other, then the long end should stick out the drive side.

Also, how will running a shorter spindle cause the rings to sit further away from the chain stay. I am probably missing something in that suggestion.

steve-d

John Hollands of Baltimore, MD. Very experienced.

steve-d

No, the longer side is on the drive side.

steve-d

Thank you all for the suggestion. I'll pull the 70 spindle and substitute the 68 spindle. I'll let you know how it goes.

If anyone has a lead for the Italian shims, let me know.

Best
Steve

dbakl

Beyond that, there were batches of Raleighs that needed a freewheel spacer on the fixed cup side. I'd get the typical steel one and file the inside by hand if need be.

dbakl

Only that the original English bb shell is 68mm wide and Italian is 70mm wide. An Italian spindle will never work, or would require shimming to both sides.

It could also be that the crank is worn in the square hole and goung on too far. Is there another that could be tested?

steve-d

Hello again,

I swapped the spindles: I installed the 68 (British) spindle into the 70 (Italian) cups. A real international affair. You should hear the parts yelling at each other!

Anyway, the 68 spindle was beautifully longer. It gave the inner chain ring breathing room next to the chain stay!! Super spacing. The chain line worked out to be 45.3mm vs the optimal 43.5mm. A whole 1.8mm too far out. Not bad for government work!.

Overall the setup should work just great and not even come close to scraping the chain stay.

Thanks for the advice.

Steve

JohnDThompson 

You shouldn't need any unless you end up using the 70mm spindle. If you do need them, Bike Tools, Etc. has them in 3 sizes:

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...tem_id=BR-FWS1

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...tem_id=BR-FWS2

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...tem_id=BR-FWS3

Sometimes these are sized for 35mm/1.37" cups and won't slide over the 36mm Italian cup. Do not despair, simply split the ring and slide it over the threads.

N.B. It is possible you will not need to put any behind the fixed cup; chainline is often just fine without them. In that case, don't bother with spacers unless the extra threads projecting beyond the lockring bother you.

dbakl

I'm not sure why they would: the cups are identical except for the threads... the spindles are identical except for the width: the spindle is now the right width for the shell.

steve-d

Hello and thanks again.

All worked out very well with the 68 spinde inserted into the 70 cups. The chain line is great and it works just fine in the shifting department. Thanks so much again for making life easier!

Steve