Retro Bob said:OK... thinking of converting one of the old bikes to a triple. This
would be with a vintage square taper axle. But, I've never worked with
triples before.Questions: Do I need a longer axle specifically designed for a triple
or do some triples handle that via the arm ?
It all depends. There is no standardization for bottom bracket lengths,
every crank set has a recommended size, but some triples use a shorter
BB than some other doubles. No general answer is possible.
Quoted message said:I'll probably be looking
at 20+ year old cranksets for this project.
Older cranks tend to want longer spindles.
Read this: http://sheldonbrown.com/chainline
and have a look at: http://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize
Quoted message said:Other than a long cage derailleur and a little more chain, is there
anything else I should be thinking about as part of this ?
You don't nneed any more chain unless you go to a bigger chainring (or a
bigger rear sprocket in back.)
You also don't necessarily need a long cage derailer, as long as you
don't abuse the granny ring by using it with the smaller rear sprockets.
You will benefit from switching to a triple-specific _front_ derailer.
Sheldon "Easier Than You Think" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| Readers of a historical bent may be interested in my |
| great-grandfather's journal of life as a sailor 1859-1869 |
| http://sheldonbrown.org/anders-junnila.html |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com