• Chater Bottom Brackets

    Those Phil Wood adapters look like the answer - as long as you want to use a modern sealed bearing, which I guess would exclude the use of cottered cranks. My bikes certainly have anachronisms, but not everyone else is so liberal about this and I think it's true to say that square taper cranks would be anachronistic on any frame with a Chater BB.

    If you want to use cottered cranks, I think you will still need a Chater spindle as well as the cups and the 5/16th balls. In the photo below you will note that the Chater spindle (top) has narrower shoulders than the other one (TDC) which is the standard ancient British size and which, incidentally, is interchangeable with TA and Stronglight.


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  • I can't remember who might need one of these, but if anyone needs one of those narrow shouldered Chater Lea axles I'm sure I have one somewhere

  • @clubman I take different approaches depending on whether it is a cycle that gets used regularly and put away wet or brought out on sunny Sunday afternoons for ceremonial purposes. The first is whatever works well and doesn’t look too bad. The second is trying to match the original to the maximum extent possible.

    After all, any old bike in regular use over decades has had worn components replaced, usually by anachronistic items. Its components reflects its own history. My bike custom-built for PBP99 and used for lots of long brevets since has had almost every component changed over the last quarter century.

    If you want to keep using cottered cranks and you can’t find Chater-Lea bottom brackets components anymore, your best option is to sleeve the bottom bracket like the Tandem Club used to do, letting you use easily available BSA-threaded BB cups and cottered axles.

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