wclarkin

I picked up this white Peugeot road bike for $100 from the original owner. Unfortunately it has a cottered crank that got stripped out on my second ride. I had a guy out of his garage try to fix it with no luck because he couldn't find the right size cotters, so new ones are installed but he doesn't think it will hold... I already bought new brown leather look bartape to match the brooks saddle it had when I bought it. After I complete everything except for the crank, I will be $140 into it... should I dump it or have the crank fixed? I don't plan to keep it forever so I don't want to make a bad investment... what do you think?

howsteepisit

What do you mean when you say stripped? If a cotter just wallowed out, you need to buy the correct diameter cotter and file the taper to fit. The easiest way is to find a bike shop that knows about old bikes. You are already close to upside down on the bike, but bikes have never really been much of an investment, most of them depreciate.

I think you already have made a bad investment.

juvela

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Peugeot wedgebolts have a uniquely heavy cut. They can be difficult to remove without a press. If you get a nine mm bolt not intended for Peugeot you will be doing a good bit of filing to get the flat to size.


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howsteepisit

I know, I file fit many of them in my past life. A good heavy vice and a good file make it a 5 minute job though.

jj1091

If you like the bike and it rides well, it's certainly worth the $140 you've got into it. You can get a set of cotters for it on ebay for $9.95, you need 9mm cotters with the 3/4 cut style. Look at the pins, and the taper should go 3/4 of the way up the pin. Most that are sold now are barely 1/2 cut and will bottom out before you can thread the nut on them. It's a cheap fix.
VINTAGE BIKE BICYCLE CYCLE CRANK COTTER PINS BIKE PEDALS 9MM FRENCH COTTER PIN | eBay

wclarkin

Thanks everybody... I just dropped it off at the bike shop. They feel they will be able to tighten the cotters without problem, as they have already been replaced. Now I am very confident that I will get what I have spent and more out of it when it comes time to sell, because I sold one just like it that needed work for $200 last year. I was just worried that the cost of a new crankset could mess it up. Thanks

SkyDog75

It's not just a matter of tightening the cotters. They need to have the right taper, or at least close. The flats on the cotters for my UO-8's Nervar crankset looked like the Peugeot ones on Bikesmith's page:

Bicycle Crank Cotters

Most cotters sold nowadays have a much shorter flat. If you're using some of those, they may need to be filed.