Tom Dalton wrote:
>
(snip)
> The question is, did this item ever see use by
> professional riders when it was current? I would bet
> that it was not considered servicable in that
> environment where cogs and chains must all be
> relatively new so that they can be interchanged
> without concerns over proper meshing.
I talked with a TdF mechanic in the 1980s and he told me they were given gratis a crate of Sedis sport chains to use and a nice wood box (Service Course) with Maillard 700 freewheels and cogs. For about a ten year span the TdF winner was on Sedis and Maillard regardless of the country of origin of the bike (France, Italy, England, US). They used a new chain every day and I guess freewheel too.
Using a new Campagnolo aluminum alloy freewheel every day in the TdF would be a small amount of money for a professional racing team compared to the overall costs of fielding a team.
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, California
http://www.velo-retro.com (reprints and T-shirts)