Virtues of the Cottered Crank...
 

Though I can certainly appreciate a high end racing or touring bicycle, I find some of the Vintage Velo world's offerings pretty interesting and even fun to ride. With that in mind, I have learned to appreciate the mechanical and cosmetic virtues or vices of the cottered crank set. I find them to work just fine, when properly installed, and they can be a visual treat, in my opinion...

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I agree. A cottered crank can just about always be completely reconditioned with the replacement of two simple cotters.
Are there any current production bikes with cottered cranks?

I'm with you Randy. Some of the nicest looking cranks are those with cotters to my eye. Some of the really nice ones, such as those on my Norman, are quite light besides.

I agree, some are quite nice and I've only really had issues with a couple of the dozens I've worked with.

Italian city bikes.

Randy, looks great. I plan on putting a nice set of cottered cranks on the maino I got from you

I like them quite a bit, the main difficulty until recently has been the dearth
of sources for decent cotters. But what's his name has now filled that need
pretty nicely, if you're willing to go through the mail.

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

Sadly, they go in and out of stock. Does anyone else have
a favorite source they are willing to share ??

Welcome back cotters :)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5093/5...d3480b9c_z.jpg


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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m...00/PHX50_7.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMG_5589.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...0/IMG_5579.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T...udButler10.jpg

They are very elegant; it's the slender crankarms that really sell it, IMO.

Query: what year was the last TDF won on cottered cranks? I've asked this before, but never did get an answer. I'd love to find out; I'm willing to bet it was with those hollow-arm DuPrats as well.

I like cottered cranks, I really like seeing fixed gears with cottered cranks for whatever reason.

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Get your magnifying glass out!

(I will post larger pictures as soon as I can)

Aaron :)

As far as I understand, cotters come in different sizes, 9.5mm is the usual English size, and French cotters come in 9mm. So on the main, a French crank is drilled to take French cotters, and an English crank takes English cotters. Is this the case?

My question is, are the spindles are all the same, English, French, Italian? Can I take a french crank with a french cotter, and mount it on an English spindle?

I see in this thread some very handsome cranks, like that 5 pin Durax. As far as I know, Durax is a French crank supposedly taking French cotters, can I mount it on say my Raleigh?

I think it was Charly Gaul in 1958. This is based on looking at race photos and nothing else. I'll check on it this AM.

I'm with you Randy.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...00/RRacer5.jpg
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"Steel is Real"ly nice for slender and custom cranks and ring gears. Interface with spindles have come a long way since and are much better today.

After seeing the cranks Neil posted, I'm not the only one with this setup.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...er/DuraxTA.jpg

I'm interested in the answer to this question but I think the spindles are all the same diameter...

My 'fear' with cottered cranks is the difficulty in getting the pins out. I use a small vise (vice?) and a socket but with one pin I had to use an extension bar on the vice arm and it bent...

[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8...79a52b356d.jpg IMG_6167 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

That Thanet is unreal.

How much clearance does the chainring give you compared to the original Raleigh cranks? I want to do something similar with my Raleigh Sports, in order to have replaceable chainrings but keep the cottered crank clearances that thus far have worked well with the chaincase.

For me, the major appeal of cottered cranks is the diversity and originality of chainring designs, which has more to do with the era than the crankest style itself. Over time this diversity slowly disappeared so that by the time the boom had rolled around even the cottered designs were all beginning to look mundane.

No, the spindles are not all the same. There are charts in Sutherland's4th and 5th editions
that list this information in a handy format, which i cannot find to cut and paste right now.

ISO, French, Italian are all nominally 16mm in diameter, 15.9mm actual
English is smaller.....5/8 " diameter, 15.8mm actual

Sometimes you might be able to get away with a swap like this if you use
the correct crank to go with the same spindle.

By far the most vexing thing in swapping these is the various incompatibilities
between cups and spindles, and the different (and seemingly endless) positioning
of the cone shoulders and the flats, as well as the lengths and offsets.

If you can find a copy of Sutherland's to look at (4th, 5th editions) online or
at a bike shop, it explains a lot of this very nicely.

Or you can just measure and experiment. It's unlikely the swap you have in
mind will work, though anything is possible. You'd have to use your Raleigh
cups if they are Raleigh threaded, and the chances of the French spindle and
crank to fit it going in there properly are pretty slender.

Speaking of cottered cranks.....anyone have a 3 arm alloy Campy crankset they wanna unload ???? Hit me with a PM, if it's reasonable....no need for mint condition ! (early cotterless) Or a nice condition Magistroni cottered ??

Cheers,

Joe

I wonder if solid CF would be stiff enough to get a crankarm that slender.