That's the part I haven't been able to check out yet. Peter White said in the previous thread that he had installed the current TA pedals, which both Jan Heine and I have measured at 13.8 mm, in a TA Zephyr crank, and they were very snug and even required a wrench. This would certainly make one think that the cranks are closer to French than English thread. If they are standard French thread, it would be very hard to install Campy pedals, and there would be a high risk of ruining the cranks.
However, it seems hard to believe that TA would sell as "BSC" a crank that would be ruined by installing standard ISO pedals. While TA cranks are not exactly mainstream here, they are still widely used in touring and Audex circles in France and UK, and even in the US, have been sold by Rivendell. Except maybe in France, most buyers would not know to use French threaded pedals or TA "BSC" pedals. So if they were standard 14 x 1.25 mm French, there would have been a rash of ruined cranks and irate customers. Even a French company could not allow such a situation to continue, and surely we would have heard of such problems on this list. Plus Grant Petersen at Rivendell is very conscientious about what be sells and would have quicky dropped TA cranks if they were routinely ruined by installing pedals.
So, there must be another explanation, I just don't yet know what it is. Perhaps the snug fit Peter reported was not typical. Or perhaps the cranks are just slightly different from a Japanese BSC crank, enough to make the TA pedals fit snugly. My experience with the pedal in a French Nervar crank suggest they are standard French diameter, but may have a thread pitch closer to English. The difference between 1.25 mm pitch and 20 TPI is very small, but by going to 20 TPI, and maybe redesigning the profile a bit, TA might make them a little snuger in BSC cranks and they would have required a bit more force to install in a French crank as I experienced with the Nervar. Perhaps the cranks are more like 1.25 mm pitch, and perhaps also a bit smaller diameter, say 14.1 mm or 14.15 mm. This combination of factors might make the TA pedals snug in the TA cranks as Peter observed. At the same time, ISO pedals might still install without crank damage, simply requiring more than the usual wrench force to install the first time, as with TA pedals and French cranks. The bottom line is, when dealing with the French, one just never knows. When I receive the Cyclotourist cranks in a few weeks, I'll check them out thoroughly, trying French Lyotards, new TA and Campy BSC pedals, and report what I find to the list. Armed with what I've learned already, I have absolutely no fear of buying TA pedals or cranks. If the cranks turn out to be essentially French thread, I'll simply use old French or new "BSC" TA pedals.
Regards,
Jerry "Who's afraid of French thread?" Moos Houston, TX
<Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 12:07 AM Subject: [CR]Was TA Pedals- now campy SL pedals on Cyclotoriste crank
> If I get a Cyclotouriste crank to replace my too high geared 53/42 SR
> crank will my campy SL pedals and the CycloT crank be compatible
> without forcing or messing up the threads of either cranks or pedals for
> future changes?
>
> Mark Cutrufelli
> Laurel,MD