Newbie Question
 

Hey all,

I found an old Raleigh record that I would like to convert to a fixed gear. The frame seems straight and its relativley clean so it seems like a fun project. I talked to a few LBS and they all gave me different advice.

However, I am concerned about the cottered bottom bracket. I have heard these are very difficult to remove and so it seems like this could make the project a little tougher. Would it be possible to keep the cottered crank and use spacers on the front cog and a redished rear wheel to align everything?

I am very new to this and thought this could be a fun summer project.

Thoughts?

Take pictures so we can better understand your problem. Are your cranks removable at all?

Im not entirley sure. I am pretty sure that they can be though. The cranks looks pressed on with a pin through the center and a screw at the end of the pin to hold it all together.

I looks almost identical to this:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1230/...6413b1.jpg?v=0

in the interest of chainline you will more than likely want to replace the bb anyway. so yes, removing it will be necessary. pretty cheap sealed cart bbs can be had in a myriad of lengths. as for the rear wheel, re-dishing an old wheel is fun, but it can be _very_ frustrating, especially if you are "new to this." just a word of caution. i think you would get more props from people who know what they are looking at if you are strolling an old 27" wheel with a aftermarket flipflop hub that you re-dished yourself. just my opinion. everyone can pedal. only the righteous understand.

[EDIT]
yes now that i actually read your post i see you are interested in maintaining the old crankset as well. this may or may not be possible, as i said above, in the interest of chainline (fairly important for fix) and the ultimate dish of your wheel you may well need to upgrade.

awww cottered cranks...i had these and hated them, i tried dealing w/ them for awhile (one crank arm was loose so i replaced the pin, it worked for awhile but then became loose again) but couldnt stand it and finally went for some better ones

Hmmm... well since it seems like I will have to replace the BB, does anyone have any recommendations on an inexpensive BB? I always try to buy quality stuff the first go around but this is just a side project and im not too interested in sinking a ton into it.

The other thing I am curious about is how to tell whether the BB is a standard size. I have read that some of the Raleigh's had non-standard BBs.

The bottom bracket that you purchase will depend on which cranks you decide to use.

Also, I strongly suspect that your Raleigh uses a standard "English"-style bottom bracket. You shouldn't run into any problems.