[CR]Illegal derailleur on a 1910 TDF bike??

(Example: Production Builders:Pogliaghi)

Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 14:44:04 -0800 (PST)
From: "Neill Currie" <neill1234@yahoo.com>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Illegal derailleur on a 1910 TDF bike??

Anyone else got a copy of Tour de France/Tour de Force, by James Startt? If so, open to page 28, and look carefully at the picture of Octave Lapize as he pushes his bike up a pass in the Pyrenees in 1910. (Look at the road condition, too........cart track would be a kind description).

Anyway, his right calf hides some of the drivetrain, but from the chain angles it seems that he has either: A derailleur on the back, or A VERY large rear cog.......if the front chainring is about a 44, then the cog must be about a 30 to 32'er.

Do others see this the same way, or is there some other explanation? Back in those days, riders would often have a different size cog on each side of the rear hub and flip the wheel around, but does anyone know if they were both fixed cogs, both freewheel cogs, or a combination of both?

To aid people without a copy of this book, I scanned the page/pic, and uploadedit to the web: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292022731&p=4259177999&idx=2

===== The Bicyclist formerly known as Neill Currie, Portland, Me 04102, USA. The Mountain Goat website is at: http://www.geocities.com/neill1234/index.html?1011568933040 Mountain Goat Frameset or complete bike still wanted, 20 to 21.5 inches c to t, other goatish stuff also wanted. Mountain Goat Mailing list is at: http://www.topica.com/lists/mountain.goat I have repro Mountain Goat decal sets for sale.

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