Just wondering what cranks people run on their PKs that have the straight chainstays. Tried some 180mm 401 flights and they just touch the frame. Tried some 170mm alloy ones and they did the same. Tried a set of one piece 180mm and they did the same.

With a bit of fiddling I might be able to get one of the above to work but the further out I space the drive side, the more out of line the chain becomes.

So, for those that have one of these frames, what, including brand of cranks and bottom bracket, plus length, are you running?

Is this the reason this style was short lived and replaced with the bent chainstays?

James

To answer your last question first : yes.

I have new school redline proline 180mm on mine. With the proper spacers, they seem to work fine. I also had them professionally installed at my LBS. The gearing I have on that bike is 44/16 if that helps. And my chain isn't too far out of line. Not even noticable when I ride. But I also don't ride it very hard. Hope that helps.

I'm running a set of takagi 1 piece 175mm with a tioga beartrap unsealed BB on my straight chainstay. Any 1 piece cranks shouldn't be a problem on this frame. If the three piecers are spaced correctly, they will clear without upsetting chain drive angle, but to answer your question, yes, that is exactly why that straight chainstay only lasted one year on the second gens, was beacause of clearance problems.
Heres mine (CLICK TO ENLARGE)



[ February 19, 2006, 02:01 AM: Message edited by: BRIAN HAYS ]

I'm running SR Tubular 1 pc. with a Tioga sealed BB. I previously had a Tange loose BB installed which also worked fine. BITD I ran the same set-up on my '86 PK and changed to Sugino CTs with the matching BB.

James I have a set of Black Widows with a JR chainwheel sitting here. It has a brand new sealed BB that cost me $140 alone. That included the spindle though.

[ February 19, 2006, 04:02 AM: Message edited by: COASTVL ]

One piece Takagi 175's on mine, no problems.

Thanks everyone for your help. Glenn I'll keep them in mind however, for a change am leaning towards the inexpensive option of just putting some one piece cranks in their.

I use Redline RL180 1 pcs. and have no problem. Most 3 pcs cranks need to be shimmed out to clear. This was why they change the stay's to angled one's, you almost alway's seen 1 pcs cranks on these, or big chunks taken out of the tubes that had 3 pcs. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/SEMa...PKRipper003.jpg

Thanks SE mark. Also forgot to mention, there's some fine bikes in those pictures and almost tempting to change my planned colour scheme, yet again.

Hi James

Hold everything! Everyone seems to have missed the most obvious and easy solution here. As clued up as these boys are, sometimes they can't see the wood for the trees.

I guarantee your 180's (or any 3-pc crank, for that matter) will be absolutely fine.

Space the arms out as much as you need for them to clear, but on the drive side simply put a couple of spacers between the sprocket and the crank arm - one around where the axle goes through and one around the bolt which holds the sprocket to the arm. This will effectively move the sprocket closer to the frame without pulling the crank arm in with it too. The only thing you have to watch is that each of these spacers is exactly the same thickness or your sprocket won't stay dead true when you're pedalling. (Tip: hardware shops sell rubber washers that perfectly fit around the bolt joing the arm to the sprocket. They're great as you can easily adjust them to the thickness of your axle spacer as they can be compressed to whatever is needed.)

Then all you need to do is reduce the thickness of spacer between the bottom bracket and the sprocket so everything lines up again.

If you do it this way, you can adjust the line of the sprocket as much as you like and it won't make a bit of difference to the arms. I have to use this sytem on my Flovals and they run absolutely perfectly.

Simple as that.