You are reading a single comment by @clubman and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@clubman
There's no reason why you should not use an old cotter pin on on side and a new one on the other, it's just a question of the angle of the flat on each cotter - they must match. It's not difficult to adjust the angle of the flat by filing.
When I fit cotters (and you may well have realised that I do this more often than most modern people) I'm careful to check that the cranks are straight, although I doubt that mine are really, absolutely 100% at exactly 180 degrees, but they are near enough to be acceptable - tiny errors aren't worth worrying about.
I notice in the photo that Falconvitesse has not followed the English rule for cotters, which is 'crank forward, nut upwards'. The continental practice is the opposite way round.
Crank Length
I've written about this before on the forum, and I believe it's a subject which still needs exploration.
There ought to be, one would have thought, a formula which would guide a rider to find his ideal crank length; so far as I know there is no such thing. For myself, I have found that I am much happier with 6.75" (170mm) than anything else. I don't like being fussy, but that's how it is - I've tried both 6.5" and 7" (165 & 175mm) and I really notice a difference (which I don't like).
As Falconvitesse has a bout of knee ache it may well be helpful to use short cranks for the time being since this will reduce the amount he has to bend his knee at the top of each pedal stroke. The seven inch cranks used for this long ride could have been a factor in causing the problem in the first place.
I think the main thing to take away from this is that it's important to use equipment that actually suits you, branding is far less important than people seem to imagine. Yes, Chater Lea cranks are very good quality, but if they're the wrong length you would be better off with Willliams of the correct size.
Really the most important part of this story is that Falconvitesse did manage to get round what was clearly a hard ride, and he did this with kit that wasn't ideally suited to the job in hand. There's only one word that fits here:
Congratulations!