kcblair

I'm still messing around with lowering my gearing, on my Concorde. I also need to deal with spindle length . I've read that 111mm is what's needed ??

7 speed cassette in the rear.

Thanks all. KB

ollo_ollo

Yes, at least it does on my 1966 Super Sport. Don

fietsbob

Chainring teeth, anything thinner than 3/32" is good..

kcblair

Thankx Don, now, did you use a 111 or 115 mm BB spindle ? I currently have a Athena BB, cup n, cone and I beleive it is 111mm. The BB shell is Italian (70mm) . If need, I find cartridge 70x115 BB on Ebay. Thankx , Ken

speedevil 

I think you'll need the 115mm spindle width for your triple. 111 is probably too narrow, but it does depend on the shape of the chainstays - oval might get away with 111, round will almost certainly need the 115.

ollo_ollo

I used an American to Euro conversion kit and either a Veloce or Centaur, 115.5 mm, cartridge, bottom bracket. Don

kcblair

Thanks Guys, It looks like 115 it is. I'll be ditching the old Cup n' Cone for a cartridge unit. KB.

kcblair

Thankx Don, my BB is Italian 70mm and threads. KB

ollo_ollo

Much more straightforward than the Schwinn.

verktyg 

Until you get to 10 speed+ cassettes, chain width is more related to rear sprocket spacing. From the introduction of narrow 6 speed freewheels in the late 70's, standard chains became slightly narrower. Chains for 6-7-8 speed cassettes and freewheel became the standard width until 9 speed cassettes came about.

In most cases chain width is not an issue with chainrings. Chainrings marked 10 speed have slightly narrower teeth and spacing because the 10 speed chains are narrower. I run 6-7-8 speed chains on those 10 speed chainrings all the time without any problems.

6-7-8 speed SRAM PC-850 chain with an 8 speed cassette and a Campy triple.



verktyg

kcblair

That looks great. Well, I'm going to order the Veloce 10 Speed Triple, while it is still available. I just re-measured my Athena spindle, and it is 116mm long. I was a bite surprised. So I'll try the crankset first, before ordering a BB. There seems to be some 70 x 115mm around. Any thoughs ? KB

Choke 

Your chain question has already been answered but I just want to clear something up. Bicycle chains from 5sp to 11sp all have the same inner width, i.e. the distance between the sideplates, and the same pitch, i.e. the distance between the rollers. What varies in those chains is the outer width - as the number of gears increases the thickness of the sideplates decreases. I found conflicting info when I researched this before with sources stating that the difference was between 1.5mm and 2.3mm. Since that distance is halved due the sprockets/chainrings riding in the middle of the chain there is effectively around a 1mm difference.

verktyg 

Older Campy cranks used asymmetrical BB spindles. The drive side was longer. AFAIK all of the newer types of Campy cranks from the mid 80's on use symmetrical spindles - equal length on both sides.

Campy introduced these BB cartridges for Veloce, Centaur and other cranks probably in the late 80's. They came in 111mm and 115.5mm with Italian cups in 70mm and ISO/British cups in 68mm.

There were 3 versions: aluminum cups with a hollow spindle, steel cups with a hollow spindle and steel cups with a solid spindle. I bought a bunch of them for ~$16 and have them on a number of bikes. I'm running the 111mm Veloce BBs in several bikes with Campy NR and Suntour Superbe cranks plus Campy Victory cranks.

I've seen these BB sell for ~$25-$28 online. The aluminum cup versions may be hard to find. They're not light weight but they should last for a long time???

You need a special Park BBT-4 wrench to install these. They sell for ~$10.00.


The 70mm x 115.5 BB should probably work if you need to buy a BB and not spend a whole lot of $$$.

"OH THE HORROR! THE HORROR!" Here's one of the aluminum cup Veloce BBs in my Gios!



verktyg

kcblair

Thank you soooo much. Found one on planetcyclery.com and the wrench , too. They have +10 available , as NOS. I got the Italian, 115.5mm version ($12). Again, thanks for the info. KB.

Edit: The crank I ordered is Campagnolo Veloce Triple Crankset NOS. Holly crap, I paid $69.95 for that same crankset, now the seller has them last 3 listed for $199.99 !!!

kcblair

UPDATE : Hello All, my Campy Veloce 10 speed triple crank set arrived today. Switched out the 42T inner chainring for a 39T from the double . The Campy 70 x 115.5mm BB cartridge has not arrived. SO I decided to install the crank set , on the '90 Athena BB, with a 116mm spindle.

Well, It seems to fit . There is about a 8-9mm clearance from the inner chainring, to the chain stay. So, no issue there and chain line looks straight from the middle chainring to the 4th , cog(7 speed cassette). Chain line measures about 47-48 mm. (28.6 seat tube)

FD shifts okay, considering the left Ergo sifter is a racket mechanism . Sometime during the winter, I will attempt to remove the dreaded DS cup, and install the proper cartridge , but for now, I'm pretty happy.

So, after a year, trying to lower the gearing on my prized Concorde, mission accomplished. With a 13-34 cassette, coupled with a Campy Racing Triple RD, and the 30-39-52T chainring, I now have a 24 G.I. low. Man I can't wait for the weather to clear a bit, and test this setup on a local hill.

I will post some photos tomorrow, of the completed drive train. Thanks to all for the tips.KB.

kcblair

Well, finally a year long project of collecting parts , in order to lower the gearing. It's been my flat land bike for some time. A month ago, I came across a Campy Triple Racing RD, coupled with a 14-34 cassette, got the GI down to 30. This week, I got a real good deal on the crankset, Now my GI is a low 24. I was able to use the original Athena spindle (116mm) and the chain lined up perfectly. I have about 8-9mm clearance between the 30T inner and the chain stay. I did, however , find a NOS Campagnolo Bottom Bracket 70 x 115.5 Square Taper cartridge, which I will install later this winter.

When I first started this project, the original drive train was a 13-28 (7 speed) 42/52 crankset. That was a low 39 GI. At 72, I can't climb hills with this bike. Now , I have a range of low gears.
Now, if the wind will let up, I'll got to climb a hill. KB

Edited:Went on a short ride, on some local hills, this bike went up hills, it`s not seem before. FD needs some fine tuning , but otherwise, nice and my first triple crank set. KB