kernal42

I'm working on rebuilding an old Free Spirit bike into something I can love to ride. This means, among other things, replacing the cottered cranks because they weigh about three pounds each, because cotters make me want to cry, and because the front chainrings are permanently affixed to the right crank.

Unfortunately, I know little to nothing about reasonably-priced options for cranks, so I'm looking for some advice from those in the know.

I'd like to replace the spindle, both cranks, and the front chainring on the bicycle. The whole bottom bracket can go if necessary for compatibility. I'm not worried about chainline because I plan to run this as a singlespeed and can adjust the rear sprocket. The bottom bracket shell is English-threaded but 70mm wide, which I understand is unusual. I can't reface it down to 68mm because I have already repainted the bicycle.

Ideally, I'm looking for something lighter than the solid blocks of steel that I already have for cranks, that looks nice (although I'm not too particular about style), and that I can get for around $40 or less.

Thanks,
Kernal

TejanoTrackie 

My advice is if you only want to spend $40 or less, then just polish up those nice classic cottered cranks and you'll have a nice vintage SS. Unless you can find some suitable used alloy cotterless cranks and bottom bracket spindle on CL, there's no way you'll get the job done on that budget. Also, the 70mm BB width means you need to find on old square taper spindle that will fit your bearing cups. English threaded 70mm bottom brackets are rare these days.

GENESTARWIND

wow i like that, would love it even more if the rack was removed and fenders. not big on them and in vegas there is no need lol

kernal42

Thanks for the advice Tejano.
I ended up looking on eBay and found a JIS spindle from an Italian-threaded BB (70mm wide) and an older square taper JIS crankset. It took a week of checking but the end cost was just over $30. I'll post some pics when they arrive and I finish assembly (or post some tears if it turns out to not fit together right).

Cheers,
Kernal

Angelis

Italian-threaded BB into an English threaded frame? One side might not work as well as you hope.

TejanoTrackie 

The OP is just replacing the spindle, not the entire BB. The BB is 70mm wide, which is the same as Italian.

Angelis

My bad. Should be good then.

kernal42

I'm still tweaking it up, but the bike's together and rides great!
Thanks again for the advice.



Cheers,
Kernal

europa

Some bugga's nicked half your spokes