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To bluntly expand on 3alarmer's gentle words, you will never be able to keep the cranks tight on the spindle if the diameters don't match, no matter how hard you pound in the cotters. .1mm-.2mm is way too much clearance. Chances are you wouldn't go a mile before they got all floppy.

Even more generally, the tolerances between spindles and BB's and cotterpins are fussy even when they're from the same country. Try to use an Bayliss axle in Raleigh cups?

Some enterprising shop rats mechanics do surprise, crossing odd standards with filed and forced cottered shears capped with queer continental cups and it works. Too rarely.

When I tried to install a Stronglight cottered crank on my Legnano Gran Premio I, the Legnano spindle was just a tad too big. Though it took a while, I managed to clean it up enough to get it to work and work it does. This is how I got that old crank to fit and work like a charm on the Legnano. When I got a second Legnano GP frame, one that actually fits me, I moved the crank over and it is still working perfectly...

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe..._Measure_2.jpg

Here is the Legnano as it is today. I decided to not paint and just ride the bicycle. I love it!

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Posted these cottered crank pics before but what the heck, 5-pin Magistroni "Senior"

What's the weight penalty for a steel cottered crank vs. alloy? For example, if I went to the trouble and expense of replacing the cottered crank on a 70"s U0-8 with an 80's alloy Sugino crankset, how much weight would I save?

I'm not sure I really understand the question but I'll give it a shot. Clearances are good for the set up I have. This is a 48T TA ring and I have about a pinky amount of space between the chain ring and the chain stay. As for a chain case, dunno. This frame has a boss for one but it's never had one on my watch.

BTW, French Durax arms were bored to fit the Raleigh spindle and 9.5 cotters.

nothing cottered in my collection right now...which sorta makes me sad...
cottered cranks are the coolest

I struggled mightily trying to keep cottered cranks on my bikes tight on their spindles when I was a kid....After all the smashed, mushroomed and stripped and stuck cotters I went through (yes, I was just a kid that had only hammers, flat bladed screwdrivers and a big adjustable wrenches available for tools after all....:rolleyes:), I never want to ever deal with them again since I discovered non-cottered cranks in college....

Chombi

Contrary to popular opinion, cottered cranks are beautiful, easy to work on, and almost indestructable!


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I'm not sure what you mean, did the Durax arms came like that, or did you drill them out?

The Durex arms were set up for 9mm cotters and were slightly under sized to fit the Raleigh spindle. I drilled them to take 9.5mm cotters and reamed the big hole to fit the spindle. The real aggravating thing was that I found out that the drive side arm was originally a timing crank for a tandem and had left hand French pedal threads after doing the above.:twitchy: Spark plug tap took care of that.:thumb:

This may be a dumb question, but from reading between the lines on this thread, it seems that cottered cranks were thinner because they were steel, not aluminum, is that right? Is it not possible to make elegant, slender steel cranks with a square taper/crank bolt interface to get the best of both worlds?

Cottered CCM cranks are not a common thing...

I have a set of square taper cranks that are solid steel but they are nothing ornamental. They just came off a lower end bike. So yes it would be possible but I don't think companies are in the market to manufacture steel square taper cranks that weight significantly more than alloy ones.

Either way I think cottered cranks have there place. I definitely can not agree that they are the best looking but that is all personal opinion.

-Aron

Double the vintage charm of cottered cranks! Our 1975-6 Raleigh Sprites in that beautiful metallic emerald green. M'Ladys bike still retains the "R" nut on the pin.


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The original Campagnolo "Gran Sport" crank was a steel, square-taper, cotterless crank:

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...l_crankset.jpg

Beautiful photos.

Steel is real.