Hi all

I am currently building a beach cruiser from scratch and was hoping to fit a cottered crank to it. However I have now tried both a 140mm and a 145mm spindle and with both I am having issues with the clearance at the rear of the frame on both the chain wheel and at the ends of the cranks. The chainwheel is 46 tooth, and the cranks are a 165mm hole to hole. Is there a way to get round this problem or am i going to have to reconsider different options? and if so, what are my best options?

Thanks in advance for the help!

More info needed. Name of bike, name of crank, what width does the crank manufacturer recommed, etc. Seems to me you need a wider spindle to do what you want to do. You might also include some pictures. Roger

Hi Roger. The frame is a 15" Barrcuda Tia, I am unable to find any manufacturers specs and I believe the 3 piece crank is a Raleigh. But I am not entirely sure. A cottered spindle of around 150mm would seem ideal, but I don't believe they were ever manufactured that long.

You are going to have a hard time finding any BB spindle that long. Some square taper cranks have bent arms the give more clearance. Some of the ones you see on flat tire bikes are like that. How wide is the bottom bracket? Is it a standard size. 68 mm, 70mm or 73. You would have more options with square taper cranks. Cottered cranks are kind of obsolete. Roger