PalmettoUpstate 

No, not implying that you sed that at all. Yeah, good stuff. If you have a HF around get one. Works a helluva lot better for a cotter press than a chain breaker IMO - LOL!

PalmettoUpstate 

DEARTH THE BARBARIAN SEZ:

Yea, they be $14.99 at HF rat now!

Heavy Duty Chain Breaker

arex

Pics, as VV requested. I still need to put on the chain, run cables, and do the bar tape.

El Segundo

@arex Really nice bike. Could you share some details on the crank and bottom bracket set-up, such as model and size? Did you use the Velo-Orange threadless? Did you do the paint?

Thanks

BigChief

Crank pins can sometimes fall right out but sometimes they put up a real fight. I've been able to reuse them even if they were very tight if I pressed them out. If you ever need new ones, 9.5mm is the diameter you need. Most of the time the wedge angle will need some adjustment on a bench grinder or a sharp file to get the right fit. Don't know if the Raleigh cap nuts would fit on the modern pins or not. Never tried them

arex

1. The crank is a 175mm Lasco crank, with a 46T FSA chainring. JIS square taper, supposedly single-speed, but the crank is machined so that you could probably put a second ring on there if you wanted.

2. The bottom bracket consists of the original Raleigh cups and a used 73mm Shimano spindle with 6mm ball bearings, per Sheldon. Seemed like it'd be a crapshoot whether all the disparate pieces would work together, but it all went together very well, and spins very smooth with no play.

3. The paint is powdercoat. Brilliant metallic green out in the sun, muddy brown indoors...it doesn't photograph well. I was trying to match the original paint, but that didn't really happen. This is the place that did the excellent work: PowderTek, LLC

michaelz28

thats what im hoping ..

El Segundo

Thanks for the info, your bike looks really good. Reason I was asking is that I am about ready to rework my Superbe since the recent completion of the Sports. I have wanted to change to more modern cranks but have been reluctant to take a chance on fiddling with spindles and cranksets. I will revisit the Sheldon site. My Sports is powder coated black metallic with clear coat and it looks blue/gray under interior light and does not photograph well outdoors either. In person the metallic looks good. Attached is indoor photo.

desconhecido 

I don't think that the threading on any new cotters will match the threads of the "R" nuts. Dollars to doughnuts, as they say, the threads will be some variety of metric (maybe 8mm X 1 or 6mm X 1). The "R" nuts are without doubt some variety of Imperial -- Whitworth or something else. The Bikesmith guy says that they're not available. I think if it were easy, he would be doing it.

If you can figure out what the threads on the original cotters are, you might be able to find a suitable die to reform the threads on the new cotters. Any solution is likely, in my opinion, more trouble than it's worth. I guess it just depends on how much you like trouble (with a capital T and that rhymes with P and you know the rest.)

Velocivixen

@arex - I get first dibs if you sell that baby. Not my size, but it sure is fantastic. Giving me interesting ideas.

JohnDThompson 

In my experience, no. The Raleigh cotters are Whitworth thread and not compatible with other cotter threads.

arex

Thank you. Like I've said before, there's things I would've done differently, knowing what I know now. This has been a real learning experience. In retrospect, I should've tried to find a fairly complete bike to rebuild, like you did, instead of a bare frame...I've spent too much money on it, and I can't help but feel that I've deviated from the purity of an English bike.

arex

I think someone posted a link a while back for an outfit selling cotter pins in all diameters, lengths, and threads. I think there was an issue expressed, though, about quality or price or something. I could be blowing it out my arse, too.

noglider 

Interesting! I never heard of 6mm balls and had to look it up. I also found the page where Sheldon mentioned needing to use them.

blart

Really cool. I'd definitely grab a robin hood if it was priced right.

arex

I had trouble finding 6mm balls that were hard enough.

JohnDThompson 

FWIW, on my daughter's frankenbike I was able to use 26tpi Hercules cups and a Stronglight 122 spindle with standard 1/4" balls to mount an SR Apex crank:

arex

Threading/interchangeability Issues for Older Raleigh Bicycles

That's what I was going by...it worked out very well. Adjusting the BB was mildly tricky, but no trickier than any other BB, just a bit of trial and error.

This is what the powdercoat looked like indoors under normal, overhead, incandescent lights:

El Segundo

Nice bike! Cranks look right at home on the bike.

arex

That crank looks awesome on that bike.

Velocivixen

@arex - I can't understand why the color changes in different light. Does it have to do with the iridescence?

arex

I guess...I dunno. It took me a couple of days to get my head around what was happening. In the future when I try to colormatch, I'll take the color samples outside to judge them accurately.

I saw something similar years ago at my parents' carpet shop...there was a carpet that changed colors, from olive green to eggplant purple, depending on the direction of the lighting in relation to the "grain" of the carpet. It was pretty weird, and led to some complaints.

teaboy

Whatever the colour you have created a thing of beauty there mate

noglider 

What colors is that dress? (ducks and covers)

Velocivixen

I think you are trying to be playfully funny, but it's early and I don't get it.