Chain stay stretch
 

I was informed today that a vintage Puch will be showing up on my door step this week - free of charge. It was described as having a highly raked front fork, steel lugged construction. I will have the Veloce drive train off my Simoncini - once I strip it and put the new Chorus set on it. I was thinking I might see about getting the chain stays widened on this new bike so the 9 spd campy set would fit. Any experience with this or is this a vial evil thought...? Also - I am told this bike has the old cotter pin cranks - can I put in a new bottom bracket and change it over?

I won't know what I have until I see it - but knowing where it is coming from I think I am in for a treat. Could be a source for many a pic.

Not going to keep it original, huh?

No reason why you wouldn't be able to spread the stays. You just have to make sure you spread them evenly and then bend the dropouts so they're parallel again. Maybe best done by a shop. Switching the crankset should be do-able, too; but be careful that it doesn't have some weird bb threading.

Sheldon's website has a page on setting the dropout spacing to suit newer wheel standards. If you're considering doing it yourself that would be the first place to start.

I read Sheldon's website on how to spread the chainstays as I've been thinking about this....scared the bejeezus out of me. I'd be too intimidated to do this w/a nice frame; I would take it to a shop.

I has a similar reaction to reading his site on this topic, but forged ahead anyway. The results were actually very good and what used to be a seven speed now sports the nine with ease. Just remember, you're talking about steel not carbon, and steel is relatively forgiving. Oh, one other thing. I had someone helping me with this, mostly to make sure I was thinking things through before acting.... a kind of procedure monitor, is you will.

There's no guarantee that anybody in the shop has any more experience spreading chain stays than you do. On the other hand, having done several myself, it's usually not a big deal. 126mm to 130mm is only 2mm per side.