No offense, but disown him.

-Kurt

It's ok, my single speed raleigh is still faster than this bike ;)

Cottered cranks were invented by the Devil. Evil..

I have only dealt with them once, but it was enough for me to know to steer clear of bikes with the 'mark'

I saw a bike today for sale.. It was hand painted with dynamo powered lights and cottered cranks.. I didn't even ask how much.

But enjoy the bike. And upgrade the cranks!

Cottered cranks are fine...IF you have the right tool for installation and removal:

http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/index.html

-Kurt

I worked on, and use to sell, Flandrias at the second hobby/bike shop I worked at (short stint between the two real bike shops that employed me). While nothing special, they were certainly well made bikes and well worth the $100.00 they were going to back in '71. Fifty bucks for this? I'd have happily paid it.

Actually, over the years I've come to the conclusion that nothing two wheeled from the Benelux countries ever came out bad. Even the cheap ones. I always had the impression that they took their bicycles a bit more seriously than the rest of Europe.

I'll heartily disagree with that. Yes, cottered cranks are heavy compared to later stuff, but they're classy, work very well, and if you've bothered to get a proper cotter pin removing tool, absolutely no more problem than any cotterless made. I've deliberately kept them on a number of bikes that I've owned because they're original and look proper.

Note: Do not try removing the cotters without the proper tool. They're impossible to get out neatly without the tool, easy beyond belief with the tool. And enjoy them. On a bike of that level, it's usually not cost effective to upgrade to later cotterless - and it'll just flat out look WRONG!!!!!

Where do you find this tool? I'll be honest though, my intent would be to replace them with a nice used alloy crankset. While I do think they look nice, they're heavy. The steel rims I took off looked nice too, but the bike is more of an enjoyable ride without them and ultimately, bikes are for riding.

I wouldn't worry too much though, at this point I'll probably never get 'round to it and if I do, I'll save them just like I saved the steel rims and all the Simplex components I took off.

Post #29...:p
I can vouch for the quality, they are very well made. The only other option is one of the old Park Tools ones that shows up on eBay occasionally.

Aaron:)

Thanks :o

Hard to justify for one bike, especially since the tool cost more than the bike ;) I suppose if working on (several) old bikes is a hobby, then it's probably worth it.

I think Flandria went bust in 1981, so if it is early 80s, it'ver very early 80s. I remember they made a very nice moped, but somehow in the midst of the moped and bicycle boom, despite being a manufacturer of mopeds and bicycles they went bust.

http://users.pandora.be/flandriaclub...TheMarque.html

I rode the bike for a while and it's pretty good. It's heavy and could do with different wheels (as could my raleigh..) but it rides nicely. The original headlight and tail light/ generator thing is fully functioning too, it's sweet.

I don't care an ounce about weight; that is not my motivation for disliking the older cranks. I just don't like the look of them. And you mean that banging them with an adjustable wrench is not the correct removal method?? Maybe it would have been easier with a tool. But I was removing the cranks in order to 'cast' them into the bin.

Yes cotterless cranks are also bad, especially when you forget to take the bolt out of the opposite side you are working on, and strip the threads with the removal tool - have done that twice now and have learnt my lesson...