There are several cheaper alternatives. First try the Shimano 600 crank. If It goes on without the inside bottoming out or the axle protruding from the outside, with an acceptable chainline, all is well. Otherwise, as I said, a Japanese JIS axle will work with mid priced Japanese cranks, Including SR and Sugino Maxy, which should be easy to pick up from the list or on eBay. A JIS axle also works with old Stronglight and TA cranks, which are plentiful on the list or eBay, especially Stronglight mod 93. The only drawback is that old TA and Stronglight take non-standard crank removers (each a different one). But these are available from Bike Tools, Etc. among other places.
If the BB is shot, French thread Japanese (JIS) cups are still available from several shop owners on the list, or at least were late last year. And Stronglight and TA loose bearing BB's can stiil be had on eBay cheaper than sealed bearing units or Phil Wood, although the Phil BB is certainly an excellent unit.
I think I may have an even cheaper alternative. Richard, I recently received in an eBay purchase what was supposed to be a Stronglight crank, but only the left arm is Stronglight. The right is in fact SR, which I have no immediate use for. If the Shimano 600 doesn't work for you, you can have the SR right arm for the cost of shipping.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Bob Hanson <theonetrueBob@webtv.net> wrote: Hi Richard,
Ouch! ~ Tough call.
Although I know Stronglight (and Speidel) DID make some French threaded cartridge bearing sets by the late '70s / early 80s these are tough to find, and very expensive, and would likely NOT fit a Japanese crankset. I'm afraid that French threaded bottom bracket cups (for the most part) have not been produced for almost 25 years.
HOWEVER, you can still buy a beautiful new Phil Woods cartridge bottom bracket and can specify French threaded lock rings for it - Sheldon Brown has these available at Harris Cyclery.
Unfortunately, it's not a cheap way to go. Figure maybe $100 - PLUS the cost of the pair of the French thread lock rings, PLUS cost of a pair of the Phil's unique splined lock-ring tools - which are similar to Shimano's splined BB socket tools... uh... only different.
And, to use your dust-gathering 600 crankset, Sheldon would probably have to know EXACTLY which model this is, as the spindle length (as with the Japanese specific tapers) for a specific Phil Wood BBs would depend on this.
If you're really wanting to replace the BB anyway, you might just want to consider a Phil Wood BB... AND, a "different" completely new crankset. Perhaps something really Kool, and one best suited to both the bike and to the type of riding you'll be doing on it.
~ Other alternatives would be [and, I'm sorry, but I can't remember now whether you'd initially said that your original BB was totally shot] :
1.) Have your frames BB shell re-threaded to accept a more common BB. It can be done by a competent framebuilder or a top notch bike shop,... BUT, would you really want to mess with this now on a newly re-painted frameset?
2.) Keep the existing BB and see if the Shimano 600 crankset will fit "adequately" on this, for now.
3.) Use the original BB and the original crankset - until the questionable crank finally just busts apart.
4.) If necessary, buy a new "TA" French threaded NON-cartridge set ~ again, from Sheldon.
5.) You can often find NOS vintage French-threaded BBs on eBay, ... or perhaps also from other List Members, as well.
~ [Sorry, I just checked - Thought I actually had spares from Stronglight, TA and/or Campy, but they now all seem to be in use on my own little French herd]
Good Luck!
Bob Hanson (a Motobecane Lover) in Albuquerque NM, USA
Richard Long Wrote:
"... I consulted the Harris section on French bikes and found the truth of the bracket. French!! Now I have a different issue :-( I checked the crank carefully and found a cracked piece inside the bolt hole of a spider. It's about a 3mm rectangle, not that it matters. I'm not really sure how to proceed at this point. I would like to replace the existing standard bearing with a cartridge. Now I have to find that and a crank. Since the crank is already Japanese (SR) I thought I might use a Shimano 600 I have collecting dust. I need help with this one, I just want to ride the bike at this point. I should be back from the painter today or tomorrow."
Sincerely,
Richard Long
Temecula, CA