If you try to tighten them just by turning the nut, either you won't get them tight enough, or you will strip the threads.
O YA REALLY? THX SHELDON BROWN
_iJunes01.13.09 - 3:01 pm
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this has nothing to do with gears.
_iJunes01.13.09 - 3:02 pm
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do a barrel roll
Purp01.13.09 - 3:03 pm
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Take up skateboarding
User101.13.09 - 3:13 pm
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...or you can slot the cotter pin back into the hole and wrap that shit in so much electrical tape that it ain't fallin' out fer nuthin!
...or you can take up skateboarding.
later.means.never01.13.09 - 3:17 pm
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Dude there are tons of old 3 piece MTB cranksets lying around, see if you can get one of those.
JB01.13.09 - 3:24 pm
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if your using cottered cranks for a fixed gear, your probably going to be fixing that all the time, since said cranks were probably not designed with fixed gear hipster duty in mind.
hence...
get some gears.
if its for a road bike, you might wanna shoot for a frame made after the 1960s (when cottered cranks started to get phased out) cuz your going to be dealing with that shit all the time.
ipsofatso01.13.09 - 3:24 pm
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my 1968 raleigh has cottered cranks.
OLD PEOPLE - whats a good gruppo to install on that frame if you want to do a period restore that looks good, but also not break every 100 miles.
ruinedbyidiots01.13.09 - 4:01 pm
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my cranks right now are not 180 of each other. maybe about 130 degrees. its terrible. and my left crank has a 40 degree float.. yeeahhh
not to mention cotter pin is broken
and possibly bent
this is going to be fun tonight.
_iJunes01.13.09 - 4:05 pm
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most bike shops sell the blank pins. but you have to file them down so they fit where they are supposed to.
ruinedbyidiots01.13.09 - 4:05 pm
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Just one pedal it all night.
If you have cages its not that difficult.
stillline01.13.09 - 4:37 pm
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you sure you don't want to try skateboarding?
I think cottered cranks is wiped out dinosaurs. I could be wrong.
User101.13.09 - 4:44 pm
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take the cranks off and do it flintstones style
/thread
ipsofatso01.13.09 - 4:46 pm
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To ruinedbyidiots;
The Raleigh Professional, Campagnolo Record Equiped,best bike.
Popular upgrades for that time period are;
Anything Campagnolo. even the old shit is bulllet proof.
T/A cranks.
Mafac racer center pull brakes
Brooks Professional saddle
Sew Ups/ Tubulars
cloth bar tape
Binda toe straps
Clothing:
wool shorts, black only was the rule as not to show oil butt
silk jerseys
leather hairnet helmet
crochet gloves
Beta touring shoes
also: check out Richards bicycle book
Dedicated81801.13.09 - 8:44 pm
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its a british racing green raleigh grand prix and its in terrible condition. BUT everything on it is still original, except for the seat and the bar tape. it still has the badge from the bike shop my dad bought it at in hattiesburg mississippi.
ruinedbyidiots01.13.09 - 11:25 pm
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iJunes- I suggest you stand on the cranks and pedal them in opposite directions until you bust the already floaty left cotter entirely. That way at least you can pull the crank off and can work with the fucked up cotter more easily. Once it's off, bring it to the Bike Kitchen, so you can use a cotter press rather than dealing with that hammer nonsense.
If the bolt is stripped and won't come off, get the cotter press on there and force it in the WRONG direction and hacksaw off the threaded part, then you can press it out in the right direction and replace it.
I have a tandem with cottered cranks, the non-drive stoker cotter is particularly troublesome, I've stripped the fucker out twice.
dokydoky01.14.09 - 2:02 am
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i got it off, the problem is not with the cotter itself. its the fact that i am running on outdated tech
_iJunes01.14.09 - 9:06 am
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Seriously, you are whining about cottered cranks?
Stop being a little bitch, and read up on Sheldon Brown's web-site on how to work with this "out dated tech":
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html
If you need help, or need cotters, I can provide both. I have worked on dozen and dozens of cottered crank sets. I have special tools for the job (a vise grip, punch, and claw hammer as well as a cotter press). I have a small stack of cotters with the following diameters: 8.0 mm, 9.0mm, 9.0mm Deep Mil for Peugots, 9.5mm.
ubrayj02 @ yahoo.com
I own the Flying Pigeon shop and that is why I have no fear of the cotter crank set anymore - it is what I work with on a daily basis. If people worked on them regularly, you wouldn't see all the clueless tips and whining online.
They work, they're cheap. Cottered cranks: here to stay.
ubrayj0201.14.09 - 5:23 pm
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hey hey hey hey HEY!
I'll whine if i want to,
and even if i am a bitch you have no right to call me that.
yadigg?
_iJunes01.14.09 - 5:40 pm
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TO BIKE PEGEON
JOIN THE 21st century
Cottered cranks are old tech
If they were so great they would be on all the bikes.
Cottered steel cranks are great, if you like to work and ride on junk.
Dedicated81801.14.09 - 6:43 pm
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Outdated technology tends to be the most simplest.
Henceforth when it comes to owning a vehicle, I'd pick something like a cold-blooded, '68 F-100.
I had a bike a long time ago that had these on them.
I took great pride in tinkering with my own equipment.
Out there at the high-school bike-rack wrenching and lubing those sets up!!!
While everyone else lazily rolled around on their BMX's like posh supa-stars!!!
Stick to your guns kid, and make it another extension of your body.
bentstrider01.14.09 - 6:56 pm
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My folding bike had cotter cranks and they worked great until they got loose. I took apart an old square taper BB and replaced the cotter spindle with the square taper. Somehow the bearings and everything fit properly. I think that's the best solution. Good thing I'm such a packrat.
Velocipede01.14.09 - 7:22 pm
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I had cotter cranks on my 60' raleigh fixie conversion.
they got lots of compliments and they worked well for a while.
eventually they completely gave out and at the bottom of a steep hill.
if I didn't have brakes that day it would have been a pretty rough stop.
i had to replace the cotter cranks
O20 set me up with some pake cranks and an iro bottom bracket ... the whole thing was about $100 with labor.
trickmilla01.15.09 - 9:50 am
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turns out this frame i have is pretty much incompatible with EVEYRTHING
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html
*sigh*
_iJunes01.15.09 - 10:05 am
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Dump it and start over with something less than 20 years old from craigslist.
A $50 no-suspension MTB with road slicks would work, would be an awesome no-drama backup bike when you get a decent road bike, and you can easily convert it to a single-speed if you hate maintenance (and/or want to resell it).
JB01.15.09 - 10:38 am
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Do the spindle swap like sheldon suggests. Some folks on bikeforums have done it, and it's pretty easy.
dokydoky01.15.09 - 3:47 pm
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i cant find a spindle that will be long enough. its not the standard 68mm.. its like 71. something...
_iJunes01.15.09 - 4:03 pm
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With all the time and money you're putting in on this, seems like there should be a completely functional bike on CL for $50? Hell I got a sweet ass Dahon with extras extras and extras for $75! The thing was practically new!
I know I know, you dont want a foldie. That's not my point.
User101.15.09 - 4:23 pm
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I wasn't on CL for more than a minute and look at this,
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/994393280.html
User101.15.09 - 4:44 pm
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im selling this for 80 on CL
_iJunes01.15.09 - 4:47 pm
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i have a bike lined up
im just short on funds.
i'm going to go pay half today. we'll see where it goes.
_iJunes01.15.09 - 4:48 pm
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lol why am i explaining to a CL potential buyer what the difference between a fixie and a fixie conversion is?
_iJunes01.15.09 - 5:21 pm
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this bike is being sold for 100
_iJunes01.16.09 - 11:47 am
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Give it to me, it's obviously such a piece of shit, no one can possibly ride such a thing.
the reverend dak01.16.09 - 3:37 pm
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eye sold teh bike for 90. whoop.
_iJunes01.16.09 - 11:46 pm
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Where is CryBaby to complain about cotters?
BTW, I've had square tapered and splined bottom brackets (and their precious high tech crank arms) loosen and fail. This is not limited to cottered cranks.
It is an imprecise technology, but it does work. I should have called you a cry baby, but I was sorta kidding.
COTTERS. FTW.
ubrayj0201.17.09 - 10:05 am
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Meant to say, "SHOULDN"T have caled you a cry baby."
ubrayj0201.17.09 - 6:12 pm
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