A few recent acquisitions have forced me to attempt to educate myself on cottered steel cranks. Previously, my only experience with cottered cranks was with the one on the UO-8 I bought in 1972 and sold a couple of years later when I moved up the a 531 LeJeune and a Windsor Pro.
I recently acquired an early 60's Hetchins, an early 60's Epgrave, a pre-WWII Bates and a 60's Rixie. The Rixie came with a Stronglight cottered steel crank. The others are framesets. I've bought a Williams cottered crank as I'm told these were common on early 60's British bikes.
Can someone educate me on Williams? Were there several models? If so, how does distinguish the top models from the lesser ones? How did Williams rate compared to Stronglight or Chaterlea cottered cranks? Would a Stronglight cottered crank be appropriate on an early 60's or earlier British bike?
I'm told that the current TA Cyclotourist arms were not available in the early 60's. When were they introduced? Aside from the rare "cottered" alloy arms, what did TA make before Cyclotourist? Did they make cottered steel arms like Stronglight? How far back do the Cyclotourist rings go?
How interchahgeable are cotter pins and cottered crank axles? Do these interchange between Williams, Chaterlea and Stronglight, or did each crank take different cotters pins and axles? Seems I'm venturing off into a whole new world here.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX