Zoot Katz said:
That crank is swaged to the spider/chainguard. It's not forged in one piece like the high end stuff.
IIRC, those chainrings are riveted into it. The oxidation visible in the pic would suggest they're not stainless.
It's a pretty and functional design but not of the same era. It was common on medium-low end bikes of the eighties.
The UO-8 came with cottered chromed steel Stronglight cranks.
I found it amazing that the OP was able to get new French threaded BB cups at all.
He's lucky it's not Swiss.
I have a period correct French Stronglight cotterless forged alloy crank with an obsolete (122mm) BCD.
I even have a proper sized and threaded removal tool. . . Good luck finding those.
The brake levers look like they're intended for V-brakes. (?)
If so, they won't have enough cable travel for the center-pull calipers and how'd you get a normal stem into a French steerer tube?
Does the bike in fact have classic French threading and tube sizes or is it a later one possibly built in Canada or Asia?
If so, consider yourself lucky.
Ohhhh, it's original French alright. Right down to the crazy chromed seatpost with a shim.
Yes, the original crank is still sitting in the box of misc. parts left over from tearing it down. As you know, the original BB spindle is about 155mm long, and cottered, with a Stronglight chromed steel crankset. The problem with me using the original crank, is I really wanted a modern 8s FlatBar road bike with a 52-42-30t triple, because I need the low end granny gears for long hills. If the batteries ever quit, I don't care if you're Jan Ullrich, you're not mashing an 80lbs bike up the hills in Western Washington with that old 42t crankset.
I found those BB cups at an online NOS parts dealer. Beautiful chromed steel cups. They are not the original French, they are Japanese Sakae cups, with thicker sidewalls. Those thicker French threaded Sakae cups allowed me to find a modern 115mm square taper spindle with a 52mm bearing race spacing, made by Specialized (vs the original 55mm spacing). I bought the spindle from the Rivendell website.
Standard caged bearings are then used. It took alot of digging and research, but those parts are out there. Not common, but they do exist, and can be had for a reasonable price.
As for the stem?
hehe, it's the original. The finish was pretty tarnished, and wouldn't polish clean, so I painted it to match the bike. I managed to get the modern MTB bars in them, with very little effort (spreading), as not to damage the clamp.
And the new shifters/brake levers are an interesting set. I got these for a specific reason. They have a little block spacer inside which allows you to shift the brake cable from use as either an MTB application for disc/V-brakes, or switch it road caliper/center-pull type brakes with more travel for better modulation.
Trust me, I've been painting and building bikes for years now, and this is one hobby I've managed to get a handle on. You'd be amazed at how you can configure things with a little know how. It can be quite the challenge, but alot of fun, none the less.
This particular project has just about every type of Bike in one machine. FB Road bike, MTB, Commuter, Vintage, Town Bike, and E-bike all rolled into one.
Gotta love Bikes, eh?
