Originally Posted by
Robvolz
Yes, the frame is a 78 Colnago.
I assumed the crank was the same. It is a few years earlier. Its also my understanding that the crank did not change, but the FD changed when the safety stuff came out. I have both lipped and non-lipped FDs campy to choose from.
So, either newer or older spindle will work.
Other than ebay, have you had any luck locating spindles elsewhere?
Still searching.
Thanks all, learned so much. Chain lines, relationship between spindle length and rear drop-out spacing. New vs Old derailleurs.
Things I've never really thought about and now it all adds up.
The front derailleur cage, crank, and bottom bracket spindle all changed together in 1978. The lip on the derailleur cage necessitated moving the crank arm outboard 1.5mm to clear the lip. The chainline stayed the same, so just the crank arm was moved outboard relative to the spider. The spindle length was increased to reach the new crank arm position. So mixing pre and post CPSC parts may cause chain line and derailleur clearance issues. You will definitely want to use a non-lipped derailleur with your 74 crank. If you use a post-CPSC X3 spindle with your 74 triple crank, the derailleur may have difficulty reaching the outer chain ring.
I think I found a few X3 spindles from CR members, but most from ebay. I set up some daily searches and watched for a year or two, but I needed several.
Here's another mix-n-match trick that will work for many bikes with 68 mm bottom bracket shells. A pre-CPSC crank installed on a post-CPSC Nuovo Record (thick cup) 70 SS bottom bracket will give about the right chainline for a triple if you use a 2 mm spacer behind the fixed cup. This 70 SS is about the easiest bottom bracket to find, much easier than finding an X3 bottom bracket. I did this on a couple of bikes.