So, I have this bike that I've spent a longggg time restoring and it has French BB threads (right hand, 35mm x 1mm) and I can deal with that. The cups are in good shape and so is the spindle. The crank is in good shape as well and polished out very nicely. Then I examined the chain ring which I knew would have to be replaced, and it suddenly dawned on me. . . What the heck is wrong with this chain ring, it doesn't have any spiders/arms on it! The sucker measures 110mm, C-C on the large ring and 70mm, C-C on the small ring. Did I mention that it's a Japanese SR, and the spindle measures 142mm end-to-end. What a Japanese/French/Frankenstein! But I love the frame, which was just painted a beautiful red, with bright yellow decals and stunning yellow pinstripes not yet finished (damned artists), and I don't know what to do about this stinking crank and it's freakishly shaped chainrings. Sheldon Brown, are you out there? Are you listening? Can you see the pained expression on my obsessed with old bikes face? There is someone else who frequently speaks of French bikes, but I cannot recall your name, though I do recall that you are a frequent poster here. Help! Can I use different cranks on this 142mm spindle? That would be nice. Double, triple, really don't care, as long as they go around in circles at this point! Why did I ever pull this bike off of the fence where it was happily growing in the Prickly Pear cactus and Ice Plant? Help! Is that pathetic, or what? By the way, I recently rode over the mountain where I found this bike, along with many others, hanging on a fence like some strange metallic fruit, and in it's place was another, much older bike, of the sort we refer to here as "beach cruisers." I didn't stop though. No, not this time. I found myself thinking back to the day when I rang the old womans cow bell that hung from the fence gate here, and how she slipped through the mountain fog that surrounded us, chuckleing and shooing away her pack of snarling dogs. Where were the dogs anyway? And how she offered me the bike for free if I were truly interested in restoring it. But this time I frantically rode away, back down the mountain road as fast as I could go. Won't someone help me, please?
Richard Long (RIX)
Temecula, CA
USA