jdawginsc 

Is that a "Schwinn approved" front derailleur? Former owner must have used whatever they could to make it operate...

Would Mercier have specified a stem shifter?

What are the rims and hubs PJ Steve, just out of curiosity?

Paint Job Steve

Craigslist SF buy, The bike is real Frankenstein but the Schwinn approved is my fault. Had a Suntour 7 on the front when I bought it but I think I did some aggressive shifting because I crunched that son of a ***** into a pretzel (leaning curve I'm a new guy) The Schwinn approved came from my dad's old World Sport from 81' that hadn't been used since 82'

Front rim is old don't know, hub says Maillard. Back wheel is Weinmann lp18 and I tell no fibs that is one squirrelly wheel.

robertorolfo

There is a really nice set of Ofmega cranks in the Classic & Vintage sales section that would look nice on your bike.

Salamandrine 

It is a pretty simple job to retap cranks to English. It was done all the time when I worked in bike shops and a lot of French bikes were still in use. Then again, there are some troglodytes that can screw up anything.

I probably wouldn't retap a crank that was original equipment on some complete cool bike these days, but for an ebay find it only makes sense.

FWIW a 93 crank will fit a modern JIS taper BB just fine.

Mad Honk 

I would wager that a helicoil install would be less than e-bay and be stronger. JMHO, MH

Paint Job Steve

$80 aint gonna break me think I'm going Stronglight 93. Pedals tho, I apprentice all the help so far bike community. I'm thinking tap it English but what are good pedals? I've been looking for 2 hours and I still don't know.

Piff 

Can't go wrong with MKS. There's a bunch of different types, make sure to look for something a bit wider if you've got big feet.

Narhay

You'll want the stronglight spindle or bottom bracket to go with the stronglight 93. We don't know what cups you have right now. Maybe you already have the stronglight bottom bracket and this silstar is sitting on it. Who knows.

There are some helpful suggestions but french bikes with french threading and thin french cups can complicate things a bit more than you might want.

Paint Job Steve

One more question I'm thinking about, what is the $ amount a bike shop is going to charge for swapping out a crankset? Don't mind paying for good labor but don't want to get screwed.

Paint Job Steve

Got the order in for the Stronglight 93 and a retap job. Got these Lyotard pedals also. Anybody have an onion on these? I'm second guessing maybe I should have gone rat traps. Time to cancel if no good.


These were my 2nd pedal choice probably should have been first.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Lyo...EAAOSwDnleTV6U

Thanks again to all for the help,

Paint Job Steve

I'm feeling like the ugly girl at the prom and nobody likes my pedals. Come on fellas, last draw I take from the well. Are these pedals bunk and what should I have got??? Clock is ticking on ebay I can still cancel.

ramzilla

I've actually been hunting for a "vintage style" crankset lately and, I found these items:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunrace-C...ll&athena=true

https://www.ebay.com/i/264345936149?chn=ps

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/chainset...170mm/?geoc=US

https://thebikeshopstore.com/categor...riceasc&page=4

SuperLJ

Those pedals are fine, but not top-of-the-line or anything. If you’re looking to stay with top-end French, look for Maillard 700 (sometimes labeled Atom 700) or Atom 600. Lyotard Berthet platform pedals were popular too. Great looking bike!

Here you go - https://www.ebay.com/itm/atom-600-bi...cAAOSwM1deqE7J

Salamandrine 

Just FYI, the 93 needs a special Stronglight 23.3mm puller to remove it, in case you didn't know. If you have a shop do the work, make sure they know this.

Those pedals look like a good match to me. I guess those are semi rat trap. Maybe the idea was they could work with regular pedals, or toe clips and cleats, though getting toe clips on there might be a challenge. I remember one of my friends had those pedals on his bike when I was in junior high.

I think the other ones are a small notch up. Both of these were pretty inexpensive BITD to be honest, but the second are nicer because the pedal bodies don't have a big open slot for dirt to get in.

I suggest you overhaul those before using. They are pretty easy to repack. Sometimes Lytotard pedal cages loosen up a little. You can solve that by lightly peening the rivets. I hope they don't turn out to have French threads after your crank got re-tapped for 9/16"... That would be annoying.

Paint Job Steve

Thanks guys. I tell you there are a few forums I go on just to make dick and fart jokes but if I ever got banned from this one I'd move to another apartment just for the new ip address so I could make another account. This place is great..

CroManganMan

Greatest compliment ever!
The knowledge and helpfulness of the people here is amazing. I sometimes feel bad that I get help here because I can't offer much help in return. The knowledge here just blows away what little I know.
​​​​

Paint Job Steve

^ Feel the same. We're freeloading.

Alright so I'm a fickle little ***** and I cancelled the original pedals and got these.



Pretty sure these are the same pedals and with the reflectors off they look kinda bad ass.



I'm pretty happy on the pedal front and now I'm thinking about that dumb seat I've got it looks terrible. Swear on a bible, if you guys give me a couple ebay saddle suggestions I'll leave you alone for 6 months. Please.

evwxxx

Just make for double sure those Lyotards are 9/16 thread since you are rethreading the cranks to 9/16, as for good saddle of course Ideal 80 would be perfect, but not cheap. Norex is a cheaper Ideal offshoot, but not as nice. If not sticking with French made, then any classic Brooks you can find (B17, B15, Professional) would do nicely,,,

Paint Job Steve

^ Pedal threads are good to go. I see there's a lot of Brooks b17 options on ebay I think that is my ticket. Big thanks.

Paint Job Steve

I rolled snake eyes on my ebay upgrades. The pedals look like they'd be a good fit for a French 4th grader with a size 5 shoe and I was holding up the Stonglight crank to the old Silstar one and all of a sudden all the chainring talk in here snapped into focus. I wouldn't be breezing up too many hills with 52/44 so that thing is going back. Buyer pays return shipping live and learn.

Paint Job Steve

I'm taking a hard look at this guy. Same cranks here with dustcaps and returns can I get a ruling???
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR-Sakae-Ri...gAAOSwbbNey3fR

natterberry 

Sorry, that’s not the same crank as the 86 bcd Apex.

Paint Job Steve

Which one would you get???

tricky 

So, back to square one? And don't worry about asking lots of questions. It's a big reason this forum exists. We pretty much just buy and sell vintage stuff, show off vintage stuff or ask and answer questions about vintage stuff.

A couple things that I think got lost in the shuffle that you should pay attention to:

1. Different cranksets require different bottom bracket spindle lengths so that you get a good chainline and so the small ring doesn't rub against the chainstay. You can generally find the correct length by googling "[bottom bracket name] bottom bracket spindle length", e.g. "Stronglight 93 bottom bracket spindle length." You may need to buy a new spindle that works with your bottom bracket or a whole new bottom bracket.

2. Your bottom bracket threading is most likely French. If you end up needing to purchase a whole new bottom bracket because you can't find the right spindle length or you just want to modernize and go with a catridge style BB then you will need to buy a special bottom bracket. Velo Orange and a handful of other companies sell new cartridge French bottom brackets in various spindle lengths: https://velo-orange.com/products/gra...e-alloy-cups-1

Paint Job Steve

Good info, I appreciate. I just want a crank that is going to fit the bottom bracket I have on there now and I'm thinking going Japanese is a safe bet to match the Silstar fit.