Another bottom bracket one I'm afraid...
Please excuse me if this has been covered before, I am new so I will blame it on that!
Feel free to skip this bit of background...
I recently acquired a Lenton frame (1950/51... probably 1951 based on the date on the SA hub) from eBay for a decent enough price. The bike was in bits but the tyres and tubes were new so I assume that it was a stalled restoration: the woman I bought it off acquired it through a general sale so I guess it came from a house clearance etc.
Anyway, it went back together no problem despite a slight wobble on the chain ring which I straightened out without issue. During the first ride though and rather embarrassingly the drive pedal fell off, luckily at low speed so fairly funny... in a way. Probably then the chain ring wobble was due to a cracked a deformed spindle, which I did check for straightness but clearly not well enough.
There had clearly been a failure of the spindle itself, probably not helped by the cotter pins being disturbed.
Under a magnifying glass though it was clear that there had been a long standing crack in the spindle as at least half of thickness was corroded. A classic case of fatigue it would seem starting at the sharp edge left by Raleigh on the cotter pin flats during manufacturing.
So here is the problem...
I clearly need a new spindle but cannot find one for! The Lentons of this era used a shorter than standard spindle it would seem (A-16 G rather than the more common A-16 GC) totalling about 125mm or 5" end to end. The spindles I've seen for sale, both second hand or pattern parts are all at least 10 mm longer, which I reckon will position the chain ring far to the right of where it needs to be.
Does anyone know where I might acquire a replacement A-16 G (not a GC) axle for a Lenton? Is there a bloke in a shed somewhere stockpiling these things or do i need to keep checking eBay and and hoping?
Any / all help greatfully received!
Please excuse me if this has been covered before, I am new so I will blame it on that!
Feel free to skip this bit of background...
I recently acquired a Lenton frame (1950/51... probably 1951 based on the date on the SA hub) from eBay for a decent enough price. The bike was in bits but the tyres and tubes were new so I assume that it was a stalled restoration: the woman I bought it off acquired it through a general sale so I guess it came from a house clearance etc.
Anyway, it went back together no problem despite a slight wobble on the chain ring which I straightened out without issue. During the first ride though and rather embarrassingly the drive pedal fell off, luckily at low speed so fairly funny... in a way. Probably then the chain ring wobble was due to a cracked a deformed spindle, which I did check for straightness but clearly not well enough.
There had clearly been a failure of the spindle itself, probably not helped by the cotter pins being disturbed.
Under a magnifying glass though it was clear that there had been a long standing crack in the spindle as at least half of thickness was corroded. A classic case of fatigue it would seem starting at the sharp edge left by Raleigh on the cotter pin flats during manufacturing.
So here is the problem...
I clearly need a new spindle but cannot find one for! The Lentons of this era used a shorter than standard spindle it would seem (A-16 G rather than the more common A-16 GC) totalling about 125mm or 5" end to end. The spindles I've seen for sale, both second hand or pattern parts are all at least 10 mm longer, which I reckon will position the chain ring far to the right of where it needs to be.
Does anyone know where I might acquire a replacement A-16 G (not a GC) axle for a Lenton? Is there a bloke in a shed somewhere stockpiling these things or do i need to keep checking eBay and and hoping?
Any / all help greatfully received!
