Okay, just a quick question. I was wondering what kind of project I'm getting myself into by swapping my 1 piece cranks on my 1966 Schwinn beach cruiser over to a 3 piece setup? Are there adapter kits? Am I going to have to do any welding? Anything helps. Thank you.
Swapping 1 piece Cranks for 3 piece Cranks??
- Thread starter '66_Rat_Schwinn
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i am pretty sure u can get a kit 2 change it over ... no expert ..just sayin ...mike
I'm terrible at trying to explain things in few words because I don't know the correct bicycle parts lingo but I just did this on my old Monark this past weekend and I don't mind trying to explain the process, if you can tolerate a biography! Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can polish what I'm trying to say in better terms, kinda like a wiki post!
Truvativ makes a conversion kit that got high marks on the forums i researched on the topic and that's the one I wanted, but my LBS ordered a different one for me and I honestly can't tell the difference. The one we put in is made by BlackOps. The "kit" is not much more than two cups that are held together by three long skinny screws that go all the way through your bottom bracket and when tightened pull the two cups together, butting them up against the edges of your bottom bracket, kinda like the way the old bearing cups did.
Those two new cups are threaded on their inside and you screw in a cartridge that holds the sealed bearings. It's all one unit basically. There's a tapered spindle that your cranks screw onto. My LBS had a Shimano cartridge in stock that fit my cranks so that's the one I went with. It will seem unorthodox because there's no bearings to pack with grease or anything to do. They're amazing! They don't make any noise at all when the cranks are spun. I mean it, unless I've suddenly gone deaf, these things are silent and seem frictionless! I can't wait to get a chain on them!
If there's a drawback, or a trade off for getting that increased smoothness/performance, it's that they seem to stick out further than what I'm used to with a one piece crank. The crank arm on the left side, or side without the sprocket, where the crank arm screws into the BB just seems unfinished to me, and appears to stick out too far. They make me want to shorten that spindle a bit to get the crank arms to snug up closer to the BB. The mechanics at the LBS assured me it was normal and had me look at others on new bikes in the shop and they were right; all of them protruded out the side like mine! I'll get used to it, or add a cup to finish it off better. Anyway, here's mine. Peace.
Truvativ makes a conversion kit that got high marks on the forums i researched on the topic and that's the one I wanted, but my LBS ordered a different one for me and I honestly can't tell the difference. The one we put in is made by BlackOps. The "kit" is not much more than two cups that are held together by three long skinny screws that go all the way through your bottom bracket and when tightened pull the two cups together, butting them up against the edges of your bottom bracket, kinda like the way the old bearing cups did.
Those two new cups are threaded on their inside and you screw in a cartridge that holds the sealed bearings. It's all one unit basically. There's a tapered spindle that your cranks screw onto. My LBS had a Shimano cartridge in stock that fit my cranks so that's the one I went with. It will seem unorthodox because there's no bearings to pack with grease or anything to do. They're amazing! They don't make any noise at all when the cranks are spun. I mean it, unless I've suddenly gone deaf, these things are silent and seem frictionless! I can't wait to get a chain on them!
If there's a drawback, or a trade off for getting that increased smoothness/performance, it's that they seem to stick out further than what I'm used to with a one piece crank. The crank arm on the left side, or side without the sprocket, where the crank arm screws into the BB just seems unfinished to me, and appears to stick out too far. They make me want to shorten that spindle a bit to get the crank arms to snug up closer to the BB. The mechanics at the LBS assured me it was normal and had me look at others on new bikes in the shop and they were right; all of them protruded out the side like mine! I'll get used to it, or add a cup to finish it off better. Anyway, here's mine. Peace.
I like this. Maybe folks can post up links to all the options they've dealt with. I'd like to do this with an old Collegiate I have. Theres another thread on here where a similar question was asked. It was something like "New parts on old bikes?" I recall someone posting a pic of a similar crank and bottom bracket set up...
Thank you everybody for the advise. This is one of the only major modifications I want to do to my bike. I used to ride BMX when I was younger and really learned the benefits of three piece cranks. All the info and links have solved my question. I think I will be going with the "BlackOps" brand, not because of any superior qualities, just because the overall theme to my bike is gonna be guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare...black ops...just kinda fits. Thanks again everybody.
I suppose this is where I'd start. The ad says its for "converting American BMX shell into threaded BB assembly shell" - My question is: How common are BB shell sizes? Would this work on my Schwinn Collegiate? And how do I know what size bottom bracket to get? 108mm, 110mm..??
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping ... tegory=268
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping ... tegory=268
I like this type. http://www.bikeworldusa.com/product_inf ... cts_id/942
