[CR]cotters & such ...

(Example: Framebuilders:Tony Beek)

From: "Hillery" <rhillery@hawksi.org>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sensitivity: Normal
Date: Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:51:28 +0000
Subject: [CR]cotters & such ...

As this has come up before, Mark Stonich may still have some of his "cran k cotter press" units available -- Previously I had: 1. stripped the threads trying to tighten enough to evade the wobblies 2. whacked thumbs both removing & installing -- hammers only go where the y're aimed 80% of the time ... 3. pinched fingers trying to hold over-tight c-clamps steady 4. and developed a nasty pain in the left IT band after one looked OK but started that ol' 15 degree flop after being 20 miles out on a 40 miles r ide.

this gadget (http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/index.html) is the to ol for removal AND assembly. and yes, shameless plug: I have no connection to Mark other than being a satisfied customer.

I've since rebuilt 4 cotter cranked bikes and refurbed my own favorite ri der (a simple Garlatti from Parma) by returning it to its original cotter ed crank (I had replaced it with an older Campagnolo tapered square spind le & cranks when I couldn't get the cotter pins to not wobble & round out ).

YMMV, but I found it an essential tool.

Bob Hillery Stratham, New Hampshire, USA (whose shipboard mechanical engineering memories suggest that any widget that is stopped from slipping 'round a shaft is "pinned" and the kind tha t goes all the way through is called a cotter ... pin ... and how it's ke pt from slipping back out (bending, nuts, whatever) was a separate concep t - but I also never heard anyone get worked up over it on either side of
   the "pond")