Just bought a bottecchia with a cottered crank. would it make more sense to change it to a regular one, or would I be fine just keeping it? I'm wondering if I'll be happier down the road with a regular crank.

Depends. I know, thanks a bunch.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a cottered crank and if that's what the bike came with, there's nothing wrong with keeping it. But, new sealed bearing cartridge bottom brackets and three piece cranks are a lot nicer to deal with. So, it's sort of a 6/half dozen thing. If you want to service the BB and you ever intend to go in there again, you should either get a cotter press or replace the BB and crank, if reasonably possible. It should be in your case as you're dealing with either an Italian or BSC bottom bracket (probably Italian). You can find older, lesser level, Campagnolo cranks for a very reasonable (in my opinion) price and a decent square taper bottom bracket to go along isn't that expensive. Cheaper than a cotter press and a couple cotters, I think. And, those Campy cranks don't look bad on an older bike, unlike the $20 Shimano 105 cranks you can find.

Great, you think you can link me to such a crank? thanks

Watch ebay. Triomphe and Victory cranksets, which would look good with your bike, in my opinion, come up from time to time. Veloce cranksets, too. Other brands of cranks that would work (Ofmega, Nervar, and the like) also come up.

Your talking about the '66 you posted in another thread? The cottered crank suits that bike perfectly. Don't change it. Buy a cotter press and learn how to use it. None of the cranks mentioned above belongs on a mid sixties bike.

+1 Ditto.

That Bottechia is a beauty. Those cottered cranks are really quite nice. I'd keep 'em. I always liked the cottered cranks on my Peugeot UO-8. Very solid feeling when your crankin out of the saddle.

These are the cranks I had in mind. I don't think any of these cranks would look bad on that bike, but I'm outvoted:


Nervar Star -- I have a set just like this:



I think these are Mavic:




Then there is the Campagnolo Gran Sport -- I have one of these, too. Would keep the weight of the bike from falling dangerously low:



Triomphe from the mid 80s. This is getting a touch modern in appearance, I agree:


Ofmega currently on ebay:



Here's a Shimano 105 crank that can be had for as little as $22 new (at least up till a couple months ago). This is what I think would not look good with that bike:

Mid sixties lightweights are becoming very rare. I wish I could find a nice one like yours for my small collection. Please try to appreciate the bike for what it is. A cotterless aluminum crank will reduce the weight, but it won't be an upgrade. That last one would be an abomination.

If those are Simplex adapters and rings I see in that rather fuzzy picture, that crank is fairly valuable.

If there is nothing wrong with the existing crank, then keep it on there until there is a reason to change it. You might want to get/make a cotter press and a few spare cotters that fit though......

I'm with Grand Bois - keep the cottered crank and learn to service it. Once the bearing are smooth, clean, and slippery, it will spin nearly as well as a perfect restored Campy Record (well, those ARE awfully nice ... ). The message of that bike is not "look how modern I can get" but "look how great I was in my day, and how well I can perform today, even with my old heavier gear - and my steel crank might rust but it will never fatigue and fail catastrophically!" And if that old Italian style was good for classic powerful racers in the '50s and '60s, are we really stronger today than say, Coppi and young Eddie Merkcx?

If you want a light, hot classic bike that has less history, get a Nishiki, Univega, or Centurion frame and lighten it up, for a really fine go-fast bike. If you're a good rider, you can really surprise some carbonistas on a bike like that.

I'll add my vote to this.

I wonder why no one has made a cartridge replacement BB that will allow you to keep your original cottered cranks.

Thanks for all the input, after looking at the crank and chainrings they seem to be in very good shape, and given all the reasons you've all stated here I've decided to keep it. (And after gazing at it for a while it looks pretty charming) Anyway, It doesn't seem to have any markings on it, so I have no idea of what make it is. Any way I can distinguish the make?

Keep it. Until you buy a cotter press (which, for $50 is a steal - building my own cost me $150 in "man hour price"), drop some 30 weight oil down the seat tube and let it go. It'll be fine with just oil for a long, long time.