Originally Posted by
jrecoi
As far as I understand, cotters come in different sizes, 9.5mm is the usual English size, and French cotters come in 9mm. So on the main, a French crank is drilled to take French cotters, and an English crank takes English cotters. Is this the case?
My question is, are the spindles are all the same, English, French, Italian? Can I take a french crank with a french cotter, and mount it on an English spindle?
I see in this thread some very handsome cranks, like that 5 pin Durax. As far as I know, Durax is a French crank supposedly taking French cotters, can I mount it on say my Raleigh?
No, the spindles are not all the same. There are charts in Sutherland's4th and 5th editions
that list this information in a handy format, which i cannot find to cut and paste right now.
ISO, French, Italian are all nominally 16mm in diameter, 15.9mm actual
English is smaller.....5/8 " diameter, 15.8mm actual
Sometimes you might be able to get away with a swap like this if you use
the correct crank to go with the same spindle.
By far the most vexing thing in swapping these is the various incompatibilities
between cups and spindles, and the different (and seemingly endless) positioning
of the cone shoulders and the flats, as well as the lengths and offsets.
If you can find a copy of Sutherland's to look at (4th, 5th editions) online or
at a bike shop, it explains a lot of this very nicely.
Or you can just measure and experiment. It's unlikely the swap you have in
mind will work, though anything is possible. You'd have to use your Raleigh
cups if they are Raleigh threaded, and the chances of the French spindle and
crank to fit it going in there properly are pretty slender.