Working on the bike of a friend of my son's. Twenty year old Savoy...whatever that is. Made in Taiwan, flatbar 18 speed Shimano SIS. Showing him how to clean and repack the bearings (all in good shape)....and then I got to the crankset, an Ashtabula TRIPLE, riveted together. IT had a bad case of chain suck...as in the chain got sucked in between the middle and big ring....apparently repeatedly. I tried some "adjusting" with a large pair of vice-grips, squeezing and twisting the ring back to where it should be. Got it kind of working....NEVER seen an Ashtabula triple....probably for good reason. NOT a good idea. Short of the dumpster, any good ways to fix? It is Not worth a conversion kit and decent crankset.

I'd look for a double chainring set off of an old Schwinn, and call it good.

Cheers,
Chris

I may do that, hit the parts bins at the LBSs and see what I can get for $5....Hate to put much into a bike that the family can't afford to really fix....and it has steel rims...NOT even chromed, just painted black...They just had put $50 in tires on it (LBS), so we went through it this afternoon and I did what I could. Took it out, and broke the chain...a link cracked! So I threw on a used, but better chain....CHEAP bikes really annoy me!

Toss it and get the kid a Varsity, at least.

Yeah, bending them back into alignment as best you can is about all you can do. Maybe get a replacement out of a dumpster or set the derailler stop so that it can't get as far as the big ring.

I was sort of hoping you'd found a chrome triple for my old Continental.

I never did care for either Astabula cranks or riveted-together steel chainrings.

These are very common on modern, X-mart ATBs. New replacement Ashatubula triple chainrings will cost about $15 at your LBS. Used should be $5 or less. If the LBS doesn't have any, hit the local bicycle CO-OP or dump.

Guess I've been lucky in NOT working on too many X-mart products....at least I got him rolling....spent the afternoon doing it....very frustrating to work on. Wheels would not true, brakes would not adjust....At least the SIS Shimano's with friction thumb shifters worked up to par. Stiff, but predictable. Will have to hit the LBS, the one with BINS of greasy bits for cheap, and see what I can score for him. Plucked out a Sakae SA Double, up there last week for $10, along with a pair of SR SP-150 pedals for $5(missing one dust cap)