I have a 1968 Raleigh Super Course in close to excellent condition that I have converted. I bought new Velocity wheels and changed it into a Fixer. I kept the original cotter crankset and now I'm having problems. I have been warned about keeping my beautiful crankset when going fixed, but being suborn,I kept them on anyway. This crankset is the original cotter Stronglight that came with the bike... I love 'em. Now they are slipping. Ugh.

I need to change them out now, and here comes my question...

does anyone know about these threads for the lower bracket? Are these bikes hard to convert the crankset? Any suggestions on which lower bracket to use?

Any imput will help...

Thank you!

go to a lbs. i had cottered cranks on my 1973 gazelle. and they removed the cottered cranks/bottom bracket and installed a bottom bracket and cranks that i provided.

Thanks for the input, SolBro. I will start saving my pennies and soon I will be riding smooth again!

haha my BB was like $30, cranks were about $30 and install was like $15. keep your eye on ebay. good ass deals can be found there

+1 regarding Ebay

Good deals can be had for sure.

if you haven't already, ask in C&V for the spec for your bottom bracket and see what those folks recommend.

unless it's some uncommon set up, it's gonna be english threaded 68mm by ??? (depending on your desired chainline.)

Thanks for all your help! I always get discouraged on Ebay. I have not had too much luck with bidding. Always at the last min. I get out bid!

\m/ Nice PENTAGRAM "shout out" MetalJim! \m/

also dude, slowly accruing various bike tools is the way to go. the cost of shop labor can get out of hand.

pick up a multi-tool (various allen keys, phillips head, etc), a chainring bolt spanner, a 15mm wrench (if you don't already have one), and a standard Shimano BB socket attachment. This $50 or so will save mucho dough in the future.

Given the year of your super course it could have an older style bottom bracket threading. Ask the classic and vintage guys as somebody suggested, but if you have 26tpi threading you will have some messing around to do getting a cotterless crank on there.

You can read what Sheldon has to say about it here:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html

Basically you need to keep the cups and get a square taper spindle that fits, or get some Phil Wood BB retaining cups. Alternatively you could keep the cool cottered crank. What do you mean it is slipping? As long as the spindle is fine some new cotters might fix your problem.

Danny,

I may have a crank and BB you can use to keep you rolling. It won't be as pretty. I have all the tools too. Let me know.

Chris (from Saturdays ride)

I am pretty sure that your bb has 26 tpi unlike the standard 24 tpi. I have a 1975 Raleigh Grand Prix that I just converted recently as well but had converted to cotterless a couple of months before i actually converted. Also you will want to keep in mind the width of your bb shell as well. It might be a non-standard size (something else besides 68 mm) as on mine the bb with is 71mm. So having a non-standard width and threading can make replacing the bb expensive.

One route that you could go which is what i did, would be to take apart your bb,and replace the cottered spindle with a cotterless one. I got one for like 5 bucks from an lbs and had them install it for me (i didn't have a cotter-pin press). I am running a 70mm spindle and it works for now, it is just that the clearances between my drive-side crank and the frame are a little tight. So I am trying to find a 71mm spindle so that I can have a little more clearance.

If you were to go my route, I would recommend repacking the bb with new grease and ball bearings (assuming that you have a cup and cone bb).

But yeah I would check with the C&V guys and Sheldon Browns website to make sure of what the specs of your bb are.

QBP will have a number of spindles to choose from; you need to know the three measurements: drive side, middle, non-drive side. I was going to go the replace the spindle route then lost one of my cups. I had the LBS retap the bb and install a Shimano bb cartridge. Worked! Don't think I'd do that on a nicer frame like yours, just replace the spindle.

My LBS had a box of spindles they let me rummage through to find a suitable replacement. I've still got four of them. My frame was a '70 Raleigh Sprite so the spindles might work for you, too. If you want them, let me know.

Hey Chris! Dude, that would be totally cool. My cranks are getting worse each ride. It's so f****** annying! I don't think I can get to it until later on Sunday or early next week!

Thanks for all yall's help!

Cottered cranks are a pain in the ass if you don't know how to maintain them. I have Williams cranks on my 1950's Higgins...

So tell me, what do you to to maintain your cotters? Do you just replace the pins? I LOVE my cranks and chainring. I would hate to have to get another set.

By the way, your chainring is really nice looking too!

watch out, most raleighs have proprietary threading for their BB's. my friend and i both ran into this problem and overall its cheaper just getting a frame that has ISO BB threading... retapping is expensive, and finding correct cotterless spindles and cups are difficult. so unless you are attached to this bike, i suggest getting a new frame.

johnprolly - how do toe straps work when theyre not connected to the pedals?