Hilary Stone wrote:
>These were made from at least 1935 onwards* though I don't think there's any
>evidence that they were made as early as 1923. The earlier ones had a
>different style pedal cap with light knurling. Lyotard pedal models were all
>numbered - 460D were the double sided aluminium pedals so favoured by
>cyclo-crossers for many years. The numbers don't have as far as I can see
>anything to do with dates unlike some other French bits of kit.
One bit of "code". Lyotard pedal models ending int "D" have
alumin(i)um bodies, "A" for steel. ("D" for "Dural" and "A" for
"acier" respectively.)
>The allen bolt/hexagon axles were a pretty late mod - probably from
>the early 80s. The
>earlier style of axle had two lengths of thread introduced sometime I think
>in the 70s to be used with either steel cranks (short) or aluminium cranks
>(long).
The latest models required a 17 mm wrench, rather than the usual 15.
In the '70s, Schwinn was distributing these pedals with 1/2"
thread...could have bought a whole raft of these cheap a few years
ago, but let the opportunity slip.
> One problem that arose quite often in use was the top flat plate
>becoming loose or detached from the rest of the body due to the riveting
>being a bit duff.
This is true. Despite that, I consider the Lyotard #23 to be one of the most nearly perfect designs I've ever encountered. Even though they were steel, they were lighter than anything Campagnolo made. I always found them much more comfortable than anything else, and far easier of entry than any other toe-clip type pedal.
Sheldon "Vingt-Trois" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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