I bought a new toy after selling my 29er. It’s a used Schwinn tandem. The right crank is straight, but the pedal is threaded into the crank hole at a slight angle creating an oscilating effect when I ride it. Rather than go for a helicoil fix, I thought I would search online for a match. It’s a drive side with a spider.
Turns out, I found one on Ebay for a buy it now of 10 bucks!. However, it’s supposed to be a length of 165 vs. the 170mm that is already on the tandem.
My question, would I notice the 5mm difference in cranks from the right side to the left side when rotating. Any thoughts?
JC’s solution, although viable, is somewhat simplistic. There is surgery available these days that will allow you to EASILY shorten one leg by 5mm to match your unmatched cranks. I recommend that you go this route, Rod, because I know you are a rebel.
When I first got my coker. One crank was a 125mm, and the other was 5 or 10mm larger than it. I never noticed until one day I went and wrecked and bent one crank out, and when going to buy a new rank, the sizes werent matching up.
I have ridden tandem, bicycle, fixed wheel, unicycle, trike and recumbent, and experimented with all manner of crank lengths. Trust me, you will notice it.
Eh, its only a few mm difference. I didnt notice it ever, and rode it for quite a few months, possibly a year before I bent the cranks and finally had to look at the cranks.
