kateskates

i have my mom's 197(?) Fugi special tourer, she used it for about 10 yrs and then it sat in our basement for a while. a couple of years ago i unearthed it and have been riding it around since. now the crank arems shift a little and the chain rings seem to be warped too (i can see the wobble and it rubbed on the front derailer when i had one) i had the crank arm problem before and replaced the little pin things but now the problem is back and the chain ring is mis-shaped. any suggestions on what i should do? i was thinking about getting a new crank and chain ring but the bike is so old, i have no idea where to start. thanks!
- kate

AndrewP

For the past 30 yrs, cranks have been attached to the bottom bracket spindle by being pulled onto the tapered square end of the spindle as shown in this Park Tool site:

https://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQrCarm.shtml

I suspect your cranks are the older type where a cotter pin going through the crank locks it to a flat on the spindle. If that is the case I suggest you take it to a bike shop and get a new or used crank chainwheel set installed. The cotter pin assembly is hell to deal with and I dont think a new set should set you back $50 (ask the bike shop)

halfbiked

It may be different with the older cranks, but when I took my tapered-square cranks (roughly from 1992) in for the same problem, the dude said that once they start wearing, you pretty much have to replace them - i.e. just tightening them is a very short-term solution. You may need to find some replacement crank arms.

sydney

Throw in a BB and labour.

sydney

They don't realy 'wear',but if you ride them with arm loose on the spindle,it buggers the arm to spndle interface.. Keep em tight.

kateskates

thanks, my cranks do have the pin -- is this a problem i could fix myself, or is it something i should leave to the experts?

flakey

you might be able to do it yourself. It s fairly simple. The right way to do it is to get a hammer and the correct size wrench for the nut on cotter pin. Seat the pin by tapping or pounding the pin with the hammer on the smooth end and then snug up the nut. Then repeat, tap and snug. The common mistake that people make when working with cotter pins is they just tighten the nut which does not always seat the pin completely, and then they stretch the threaded end and make the job a lot harder because it ruins the threads on the pin and you then cannot tighten it.