Reclaiming a Community's Pedal Identity

junk box parts

Who's got a good junk box? I need a 165 mm left-side crank arm for an old Motobecane I plucked from the trash. No luck so far at bike shops.

Chris Campbell

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Permalink Reply by Matt Baranski on December 17, 2008 at 5:05pm: As a owner of a older Motobecane myself I have no clue where to get replacement crank arms. You may find the bottom bracket is what they call french threaded and that means it is even harder to to find a replacement then the crank set.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chris Campbell on December 17, 2008 at 6:14pm: Matt Baranski said:
As a owner of a older Motobecane myself I have no clue where to get replacement crank arms. You may find the bottom bracket is what they call french threaded and that means it is even harder to to find a replacement then the crank set.

Actually, this is the standard non-cottered bottom bracket device, and since the Motobecane was built in Taiwan, it's likely that the set was Asian anyway. It's got the tapered, square-section shaft that the crank arm fits onto. The bike shop (Harris Cyclery) has 'em but they told me I'd be stupid to pay them $30 for one when I could find a used bike cheaper than that and scavenge an arm.

My first ten-speed is a French frame (Stella, imported by Arctic, the snowmobile company) so I know about the weirdness of French and English makers. Thank goodness for the Asians and the concept of standardization! The Arctic bike also taught me the true perspective on right of way rules as I was flying over the car that pulled out in front of it. Then I reset the frame with a car jack and it was my loaded touring bike for years. Now I marvel at what a crude device it is compared with pricier and newer models.

Chris Campbell; ▶ Reply to This