Pulled out of retirement,but needs help to get on the road
 

My dad gave me his old Raleigh (WOO HOOO), I love this bike, it had seat on back where I grew up. I have no clue on year but I know it has been hanging in the garage since 1985. Well I took it down, took of the child seat and pumped the tires etc etc.. But on a sad note the wedge pind in the crank broke. So my question is what cranks can I get to replace the current one?

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...t/IMG_0405.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...t/IMG_0406.jpg

Cotters are available. Your LBS should have them.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/three.html#cotters

I'm very jealous!!

Very nice. I got a 1978 ladies version of the same bike to fix up for my wife. Your Dad's bike looks older than that. You should be able to determine its age from the serial number. Great (Brooks?) leather saddle and unusual spoke lacing pattern on the rear wheel.

There should be a date code stamped on the rear hub with year and month along the lines of "68 10" for October 1968. I'm guessing your Sports was made right around then.

Neal

According to Sheldon Brown, you can swap the crank spindle for one that accepts square taper cranks. I was going to do this and snagged four spindles from an LBS that I thought would fit(according to my measuring). Sheldon says the spindles that accept nuts instead of bolts will work. I grabbed both kinds.
Use the old Raleigh cups. Get new ball bearings.

I went another route and had the LBS use their 68mm, 24tpi tap to cut new threads and install a cartridge bottom bracket. The bb went in like butter.

Let me know if you want to try the new spindle route; I've got some just lying around.

Love that chainwheel!

Looks to be in great shape.A cotter pin is easily replaced(only a couple of $).Hopefully the the crankshaft wasn't damaged from that bolt in there.I would guess the bike to be from the mid to late 60s.It's not too different from my 1971 Sport pictured here.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...ighsport-1.jpg
Raleigh didn't change the design of the Sport for almost 50 years.
If I was you,I would just replace the pin and leave it stock.There are alot of people here who think the cottered crank is no good,but I'm not one of them.I think the heron chainring is a beautiful thing.
The chrome looks to be in good shape.It should clean up fine.
The bike should outlast you.:)
NICE BIKE!!!!

Thanks everyone, yes it is a Brooks saddle. I am going to go to the LBS today and see if they have the cotter pins!!!

If your LBS can't help you out I have a few kicking around.
Top

Be sure to get some proofide for that saddle. After all these years it's probably "Thirsty" and dry as a bone.

oh yeah, I have already planned that LOL, it's more than dry!

That bolt holding the crank arm on doesn't look kosher...

Yeah it's is what is getting replaced!

Remember that cotter pins come in different sizes, so be sure the LBS gives you the right ones!

Yeah I recently found a LBS here that solely deals with the classics!

Who? Where?

The name escapes me right now but the shop is here in Colorado Springs and located off of Sierra Madre just a few blocks south of Gissepies restruant!

Oh, Brian's - he's a good guy. My only complaint is that he's very much into keeping old bikes ridable and not so much into vintage bikes as collectibles so you gotta be careful and make sure to explain to him what you want or you'll go to pick up your vintage steed and it'll have been converted into a fixie with aero profile rims :eek: Ok, just kidding about that but if you go in there with a bent rim he'll be happy to build a wheel for you but he'll probably recommend a brand new Sun rim with a dull silver finish rather than worrying about finding a period correct rim to match the other one. I always bring my own parts with me.

That looks like a nut and bolt holding the crank arm on. As what was previously explained, there should be a wedge type bolt that may have to be filed, fitted and pressed into place. You cannot just draw the wedge into place using the bolt. You may wring the bolt and nut off with to much pressure. I believe Sheldon brown has instructions on how to do this. It is not as easy as it looks. You cannot just beat a new wedge into place with a hammer.

Yes, you beat the cotter pin off with a hammer, a sledge hammer. Then you curse the engineer that designed cotter pin cranks and heap praise upon the square taper gods. Of course, square taper is now obsolete, replaced by even more ingenious(and expensive) methods of securing the crankset.

For a bike of this class, price range, and original intended use, the cottered crank is quite excellent. Don't bother putting money in an upgrade - you won't really get any benefit out of it. Cottered cranks tend to be very underrated by this group in general.

Your bike looks like the 1969 Sports I rode to school & work back in the early 80's. It should clean up into a great commuter bike. That is a Brooks B72 saddle, one of their most comfortable models, I still ride one on my touring bike. Don

I would hazard a guess that in my fleet of bikes I have more cottered cranks than anything else:D then ashtabula followed by the cotterless:p

FWIW a cotter removal tool is well worth the investment IMHO. I have an old VAR somewhere but currently use one from Bikesmith Design you only have to remove more than a couple of stubborn one before the payback.

Aaron:)

That is a great looking Raleigh, it looks well used and I am willing to bet that there are some great memories surrounding that bike. Here is my mom's Raleigh, a $14 score at Value Village:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...chEz/Trip4.jpg