Julius Naim wrote:
>It doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference as long as you
>fit them in opposite directions. I used to always fit them with the
>pin facing down with the pedal to the front as it looked neater, the
>last time I fitted them the other way and have noticed a lot more
>play after a number of hard miles. I believe that this is due to
>the predominant (driving) force being on the thin end of the cotter
That's false, I'm afraid. This is an error that is often found in older repair books/instructions too.
When the cotters are installed correctly (i.e. facing in opposite directions) _one_ of the cotters takes the load on its wide end, and the other cotter takes the load on its narrow end.
Note that all of the loading on both cotters occurs when you push on the left pedal.
Sheldon "Common Mistake" Brown
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