katzenfinch

Recently I got a 1972 (I think) Peugeot UO8 that had been the victim of an unsuccessful attempt to hammer out the crank cotters. A friend with a torch managed to get them out, but now I need to replace the crankset.

I’d like to go to a cotterless square-taper spindle and use a vintage Stronglight or TA crankset. My immediate problem is that I don’t know what size spindle to get — 115mm, 118mm, or something else. Any advice?

TenGrainBread 

Spindle size depends on the crank you're using. Each crank has its own spindle size recommendation, although you can vary it slightly depending on the chainline and chainstay clearance. So choose a crank first and then choose your bottom bracket. VeloBase is a good resource for crank manufacturer recommendations on spindle size, although it doesn't have everything. You can also ask here once you get your crank if you can't find the BB length info online.

bikemig 

French cups are available on Amazon for all of $12:

https://www.amazon.com/Action-Bottom...gateway&sr=8-1

But then you still need to track down a spindle. You might be able to get away with using the existing cups.

Here is a thread on this:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...otterless.html

Moe Zhoost

Find yourself a copy of Sutherland's Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics. There is a chapter on bottom brackets that has a comprehensive discussion of spindle parameters and spindle/cup interchangeability. I can say that using your old cups with a new spindle may be complicated because spindles are designed for a certain cup thickness (which, no surprise, is not universal). There is way more info in Sutherland's than can be easily posted here.

BikeWonder

If you want to avoid the hassle, look into Velo Orange's French bottom bracket or threadless bottom bracket + spindle.
It's sealed and I would say affordable. Then all you would have to do is look for a crankset to match it.
But measure the spindle first.

markk900

My AO-8 is my experiment bike - I swap stuff around on it all the time for fun. I first converted to cotterless in 1974 using a Sugino Mighty Comp crank. I still have the Sugino cups (marked P1x35), but found it easy to use the original cups. The spindle I use for cotterless is marked 3S2 and it measures 125mm from end of square taper to end of square taper, 53mm between bearing faces. Worked fine for decades.

Moe Zhoost

@katzenfinch: If you could measure your current spindle to get the dimension shown as "B" in the drawing below, I could look at my reference books and give you some ideas about what might work for you.




One thing to consider is that vintage TA and Stronglight cranks may not fit well on spindles of other manufacturers. The taper angle is the same, but the taper end size and the taper length may be different enough cause problems.

katzenfinch

@Moe Zhoost: Thanks! It’s 55mm.

Moe Zhoost

I found a reference for the Peugeot U08 spindle: 145 total length, 55 center, 43 left side, 47 right so that matches what you have. I found some spindles with a center measurement close to yours: Nervar 117 or 121, TA 344 or 373, or Stronglight 118/120/121/or 123; however there will be some issues using your same cups. First, the Peugeot spindles are slightly smaller in diameter at the shoulder of the bearing race. Second, the cup bearing races are smaller in diameter than other manufacturers. This will force the bearing balls to run on a different track on the spindle race. Certainly not optimum, though you may be able to get away with it.

The bottom line is that I'd recommend that you pick your crank first and then select a complete BB by the same manufacturer (though Stronglight cranks will work on TA axles). Proper spindle length will very between manufacturers since cranks don't mount a uniform distance on the taper. All of the spindle numbers I referenced above are for double cranks. The Stronglight 121 is specific to Peugeot with 5 arm cranks.

Hope this helps. Also, stay away from JIS spec bottom brackets if you plan to use TA or Stronglight Cranks, they just won't work.

Let us know how it goes.

dddd

I've never had any problem using a BB with JIS spindle with an old Stronglight crank, though the bigger taper will result in the spindle acting longer than it is to the tune of 2.5mm per side. Not always a bad thing when an older crankset's square taper holes may have enlarged very slightly from years of use.

However, typical aftermarket bottom brackets are symmetrical, unlike the original French ones which typically are offset slightly to the right side.

With all of this factored in, I got a perfect chainline fit with an old Stronglight 93 double crank using a 115mm Shimano bottom bracket, which was symmetrical.
Most cartridge bottom brackets allow for slight offsetting using a fixed-cup spacer of 1-2mm, so no need to err on the long side when selecting a bb, especially when the chainstays of the old UO8's have clearancing features pressed into them.

Insidious C. 

If you could find them, the Stronglight TS crankset and bottom bracket from a uo10 should work on your uo8.

katzenfinch

Here’s how it turned out. I guess the wingnuts make it an AO-8? In any case, it’s a nice ride.

OTS 

Looks good too ! Nice work and Congrats

zukahn1 

If the cups are good you can use a JIS offset spindle and crank set with a loose ball just fine. You can find these on most 70's Japanese bikes which can be had cheap or or cranksets with BB ebay or here on the BF about $30.

ryansu

Looks good OP! the lack of chrome on the fork is also a tell that its an A series and not a U or something higher. If you haven'r already check out Bike boom Peugeot as a reference I did a conversion once on a UO-8 with a JIS spindle after reading an article on Sheldon Brown's site, if I was to do another one I would take the Velo Orance sealed bb route.