Dave Van Hook wrote:
>
> Dear list,
> I have a nice old gas pipe Bianchi with cottered cranks. When mounted the cranks do not line up perfectly (perhaps 5 degrees off) though for the life of me I cannot figure out why. The spindle does not appear damaged. The cotter pins appear identical so I don't believe they are the problem. The holes in the cranks that the cotter pins fit through do not appear particularly worn and neither crank is bent. I'm wondering if the faces on the spindle where the cotter pins seat were not ground properly when it was made.
> I am not the original owner of the bike so it seems likely that whomever owned the bike and rode it probably rode it as it is now and may not have ever noticed that the cranks didn't line up exactly. I have ridden it and It IS rideable. In fact, one hardly notices the slight crank misalignment when pedaling. It's not a valuable machine; it just neatly fills a space in my small collection so perhaps I shouldn't bother....It just 'bugs me' knowing that it's not quite right.
> If anyone has an old unused Campy cottered crank spindle or an entire Campy BB for cottered cranks lying around that they want to part with, I will be glad to take it off your hands....heck, I'll even pay money for it. Contact off list is fine.
> Dave Van Hook
> 'slightly out of line' in Hershey, PA
Only a guess, but a fairly common mistake with cotter pins. Properly installed cotter pins enter both cranks symmetrically. If each crank is pointed rearward, then the pin enters the hole from the top with the nut at the bottom. Viewing both cranks from the side, the pins will enter from opposite directions.
Hope this isn't too confusing.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
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