Tom,
Cotterless Campi NR cranks (with a cyclocross chain guard on the outer and a 44T single CR on the inner plateau) look and work just fine on my Peugeot UO-18 mixte. You could do the same thing with Stronglight or any other cotterless crank set and be freed from the madness of cotter pins forever.
if your goal is to return the Gitane mixte to original condition this "mod" may not meet your standards, but it sure looks really classy--and it sure makes regular maintenance easier.
I put up with cottered cranks for years back in the day, but now I'm "free at last...Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last" (borrowed from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was addressing a slightly more socially significant topic at the time).
Regards,
Jon Spangler grateful that he does not "need" Campi Con Denti pedals in Alameda, CA --yet...
Jon Spangler
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Message: 6 Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:11:08 -0400 From: Tom Martin <tom@voimports.com> Subject: [CR] Cottered crank advice To: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Message-ID: <AANLkTikaxWRm_O9-n6pSfD7YPJgSFB8ImsMogPeUF6hg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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