IRD Defiant crank set and fluted Shimano seat post Part 2

After aquiring the cranks and seat post I fitted them pretty quickly because I wanted to ride the bike on the Perth Freeway bike ride last month. 

The parts fitted quite easily, the only challenge was removing the old 113mm bottom bracket that was originally fitted as OEM on the bike. The bottom bracket threading and grease had been contaminated with quite alot of metal shavings. The shavings had wedged between the inside of the bracket housing and the bottom bracket itself which caused a few problems removing the old one. Obviously Pashley had not cleaned out the steel from within the bottom bracket housing prior to fitting the aluminium bottom bracket cups.

I needed to replace the old 113mm bracket because it was too wide to accommodate the IRD cranks. I measured the frame and bought a new 110mm bottom bracket. Once fitted I measured the chainline and all was correct...it's amazing what a couple of millimetres can do to the chainline.   

Here are the before and afters for the new parts:

Before: Sugino XD-2 crankset.

 

After: IRD Defiant crankset.

The original Sugino XD-2 cranks aren't too bad, they do have the chain guard attached to the spider but this makes for a very clunky and unattractive set up. The chainwheel itself is 42 tooth for a 3/32 chain and so the fit on both counts isn't quite right either.

The new IRD Defiant cranks are fantastic - neat and stylish looks that are reminiscent of the early Campagnolo and Gipiemme track cranks of the 1960's. The IRD Defiant cranks come standard with a 46 tooth 1/8 chainwheel which is a far better combination for my liking. The fluting of the crank arms is also a nice feature. The X-factor is also narrower so the ride feels better.



Standard UNO branded 27.0mm seat post.

 

Shimano fluted 27.0mm seat post.

The new Shimano seat post looks great, although it has less impact on the overall looks and performance of the bike compared to the new cranks. I love the seat post because of the fluted styling, again a feature of early posts of the 1960's. The fluting perfectly matches the fluting on the new IRD cranks.

New cranks and seat post....very nice, and so the decision was made to add a new chain into the mix. Here are some images below...





IRD Defiant cranks with a new 1/2 x 1/8 inch chain.



Happy pedalling!!

 

James @ perthvintagecycles.