At the Cirque swap, I picked up a Gitane Mixte. It was in good shape and looked like it just needed a good washing, bearings adjusted, and the cotters tightened or replaced, etc. I have a bit of experience with cottered cranks, mostly British Raleighs and janky American/ Taiwanese/ Japanese bikes and thought this would be a quick repair/rehab, and maybe add fenders and a rack for a nice ride for DC excursions. I was hoping I could get it done for the upcoming DC Seersucker Social, but that's not gonna happen....
I removed the cotters, cleaned the spindle and crank cotter holes. The cotters look new. I re-installed the original cotters, as I didn't have any new cotters in the correct dia.They just slide right through. They don't wedge the crank arms to the BB spindle. The original cotters, as far as I can tell are 9mm. I understand there are 2 different 9mm French style cotters- Peugeot, and 'everything else'. What are the differences between the 2? The flat angle? the length of the cotter?? Bikesmith Designs and Harris both list 'French' cotters but don;t specify whether it's Peugeot or the other type. Although it's only 3-6 bucks for new pins, I'm loathe to spend that, plus shipping only to have the same problem.I'm also not sure whether the cotters are the issue. Could it be the crankarm/ BB spindle interface- are all cottered BB spindles the same, with the only difference being the crank cotter bore?
What do you all think I should do?
Tom Martin
Washington DC