Originally Posted by
cranky old road
I've never measured the bottom bracket width. I installed that spacer years ago to increase the clearance between the chainring and stay. Looking at it these days, it seems there would be sufficient clearance if I removed the spacer. Perhaps I'd been drinking when I serviced the BB and had reversed the spindle when I installed it? Next time I service the bottom bracket I might try removing the spacer. I'll measure the width today.
I did not have a problem with clearance for the 42T inner chainring, however, I noticed that the adjustable cup did not screw in sufficiently so that it was flush with the outside of the lockring. Since the distance between the spindle races is fixed, it doesn't matter how you install the spindle, the overall distance between the cups will not change. It's not the end of the world I suppose if the adjustable cup protrudes by 2mm, however, it just doesn't look right to me, so that's why I installed the spacer on the fixed cup side. Now that I look at it again, I think it also provides a better chainline as well.
As to your question about adding pinstriping, I would say no. I think the elegant simplicity of the Ron Cooper lugwork would look tacky with pinstriping. In fact, I believe that pinstriping is often used to distract attention from less than perfect lugwork, and does not work unless it is done extremely well.