Time to bring back the cotter pin?

With a balloon tyred bike and a desire for a vintage-looking crankset,
I've recently taken a keen interest in the chainline of various
crankset/bottom bracket combinations, a very frustrating business as
no two bottom bracket makers, or even crank makers, make even a
standard JIS crank taper the same way. Several millimeters of shift, a
long way if you're trying for a spot-on chainline, can befall the poor
cyclist as a punishment for changing either bottom bracket or cranks.
On top of that, the bottom bracket sets deeper over time...

One advantage of the cotter pin is the chainline is fixed once and for
all time.

Andre Jute
The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

On 6 Mar, 01:19, Andre Jute wrote:

One advantage of the cotter pin is the chainline is fixed once and for
all time.

Better said: the chain (front-half) line is fixed.
Which reminds me I have to correct the chain overall alignment on my
commuter.
It has has just received a 'new' rear wheel, and things are now
downright wrong.

Not all wheels are born the same.

Sergio
Pisa

On Mar 5, 7:19*pm, Andre Jute wrote:
With a balloon tyred bike and a desire for a vintage-looking crankset,
I've recently taken a keen interest in the chainline of various
crankset/bottom bracket combinations, a very frustrating business as
no two bottom bracket makers, or even crank makers, make even a
standard JIS crank taper the same way. Several millimeters of shift, a
long way if you're trying for a spot-on chainline, can befall the poor
cyclist as a punishment for changing either bottom bracket or cranks.
On top of that, the bottom bracket sets deeper over time...

One advantage of the cotter pin is the chainline is fixed once and for
all time.

Andre Jute
*The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
*http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

And then you get into the problem we run into all the time: Too many
different sized cotters!

Vin - Menotomy Vintage Bicycles
http://OldRoads.com

On Mar 6, 7:50*am, OldRoads wrote:
On Mar 5, 7:19*pm, Andre Jute wrote:



With a balloon tyred bike and a desire for a vintage-looking crankset,
I've recently taken a keen interest in the chainline of various
crankset/bottom bracket combinations, a very frustrating business as
no two bottom bracket makers, or even crank makers, make even a
standard JIS crank taper the same way. Several millimeters of shift, a
long way if you're trying for a spot-on chainline, can befall the poor
cyclist as a punishment for changing either bottom bracket or cranks.
On top of that, the bottom bracket sets deeper over time...

One advantage of the cotter pin is the chainline is fixed once and for
all time.

Andre Jute
*The rest is magic hidden in the hub.
For rare hub gear bikes, visit Jute on Bicycles at
*http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

And then you get into the problem we run into all the time: *Too many
different sized cotters!

Nothing a file and a vise can't solve. Not that I'm a big fan of
cotters.

On 6 Mar, 15:24, landotter wrote:
Nothing a file and a vise can't solve. Not that I'm a big fan of
cotters.

We ran into another problem when I borrowed a student's bike to go off
for the week-end, from Saint Andrews.
Not long had we taken off, that the cotter started playing loose.
I tried to tighten, alas too much, the nut and so stripped the thread.

What a beautiful hammer I bought in Dundee!.
I kept hitting the cotter once every few miles, for the next couple of
days.

You can take along a file, but carrying your vise is not really
practical.

Sergio
Pisa

Op 6-3-2010 15:52, sergio schreef:
On 6 Mar, 15:24, wrote:
Nothing a file and a vise can't solve. Not that I'm a big fan of
cotters.

We ran into another problem when I borrowed a student's bike to go off
for the week-end, from Saint Andrews.
Not long had we taken off, that the cotter started playing loose.
I tried to tighten, alas too much, the nut and so stripped the thread.

What a beautiful hammer I bought in Dundee!.
I kept hitting the cotter once every few miles, for the next couple of
days.

You can take along a file, but carrying your vise is not really
practical.

Sergio
Pisa


Cotter pins are PIA. We have got rid of those. Who wants to go back to
the 'Fred Flinstone' era? Unbelievable.
Andre is your crankset worn out already? No? Leave it. Don't get that
'vintage' crap.

Lou

wrote:
Nothing a file and a vise can't solve. Not that I'm a big fan of
cotters.

sergio schreef:
We ran into another problem when I borrowed a student's bike to go off
for the week-end, from Saint Andrews.
Not long had we taken off, that the cotter started playing loose.
I tried to tighten, alas too much, the nut and so stripped the thread.
What a beautiful hammer I bought in Dundee!.
I kept hitting the cotter once every few miles, for the next couple of
days.
You can take along a file, but carrying your vise is not really
practical.

Lou Holtman wrote:
Cotter pins are PIA. We have got rid of those. Who wants to go back to
the 'Fred Flinstone' era? Unbelievable.
Andre is your crankset worn out already? No? Leave it. Don't get that
'vintage' crap.


Although certainly the home mechanic or hapless rider on
tour with a crank pin problem will likely be frustrated or
stymied, pinned cranks are not mysterious or complex. Six
sizes cover nearly all bicycles. Once installed properly,
with the appropriate VAR #7 press, they generally are as
dependable as most other systems (rivaling or even
surpassing some splined outboard designs!)

Struggling with a worn crank, a damaged pin and only a
wrench to snug the nut is a hopeless exercise, an experience
I think many posters here recall. OTOH many millions of
riders gave it not one thought after installation during
many years of service.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Mar 6, 5:47*pm, Lou Holtman wrote:
Op 6-3-2010 15:52, sergio schreef:





On 6 Mar, 15:24, *wrote:
Nothing a file and a vise can't solve. Not that I'm a big fan of
cotters.

We ran into another problem when I borrowed a student's bike to go off
for the week-end, from Saint Andrews.
Not long had we taken off, that the cotter started playing loose.
I tried to tighten, alas too much, the nut and so stripped the thread.

What a beautiful hammer I bought in Dundee!.
I kept hitting the cotter once every few miles, for the next couple of
days.

You can take along a file, but carrying your vise is not really
practical.

Sergio
Pisa

Cotter pins are PIA. We have got rid of those. Who wants to go back to
the 'Fred Flinstone' era? Unbelievable.

It wasn't a serious suggestion, merely a talking point.

Andre is your crankset worn out already? No? Leave it. Don't get that
'vintage' crap.

I'll answer this in another thread in which I'm discussing crankset
choices, called "Choosing a very special crank" but rest assured, I'm
not planning on fitting a cottered crank to a low-maintenance bike!

Andre Jute
A little mental arithmetic, a little night music

Op 7-3-2010 3:38, * Still Just Me * schreef:
On Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:01:23 -0600, wrote:

Although certainly the home mechanic or hapless rider on
tour with a crank pin problem will likely be frustrated or
stymied, pinned cranks are not mysterious or complex. Six
sizes cover nearly all bicycles. Once installed properly,
with the appropriate VAR #7 press, they generally are as
dependable as most other systems (rivaling or even
surpassing some splined outboard designs!)

Struggling with a worn crank, a damaged pin and only a
wrench to snug the nut is a hopeless exercise, an experience
I think many posters here recall. OTOH many millions of
riders gave it not one thought after installation during
many years of service.

Installation without the press was never an issue. It was removal that
was the PITA. Most of us did not have the luxury of the press, even in
shops.

At some point everyone was hammering on the bloody thing and therefore
on the bearings...

Lou