Hi Brandon-- Two things come to mind: One, it's been so long now at 22 years, my recollection of such detailed technical conversations are growing pretty dim. But I seem to recall that maybe he did? We talked a lot every day, while we worked. I was very cognizant that I was working with a living legend and tried to learn as much as possible. In particular, he wanted to discuss the shop's history with regard to bike part evolution and other mechanical/service topics, so it may well have come up. Probably more than the Alpine, Spence was, IMHO, especially proud about making tubular tires in the shop in the late 1950s and walked me through making one. But like the Alpine, better products eventually became available and those were soon sold instead.
Two, Spence did all the design work on the Alpine Mod long before I came along. So, the sort of thing you are asking about might have taken place. But later on, with me, Spence pretty much just spoke about how to assemble and service them since the new changers were so much better. He clearly felt they were passe by that point. I do, however, recall us talking at length about wide-ratio derailleurs and this might have come up. But right now, I can't recall what was said with regard to specific dimensions vis-a-vis the top pulley/pivot bolt. I do know he made sure we moved the wheel all the way back in the drop-put to better clear the cog, so that is sort of the same thing. I think I also recall him saying that without this extra distance, the Alpine didn't work very well. So, virtually all were put onto bikes (frequently Cinellis) with standard Campagnolo 1010-A road drop-outs. Bikes with vertical d/o's didn't work the same.
If any other relevant recollections return to my 'dusty attic', I'll write back. Good luck with your plans, sounds interesting.
Cheers, Bill Bryant Santa Cruz by the Sea
on 4/18/03 10:42 AM, Brandon Ives at monkeylad@mac.com wrote:
> On Friday, April 18, 2003, at 10:05AM, Bill Bryant <bill_bryant@prodigy.net>
> wrote:
>> I worked with Spence at CBS and did some Alpine conversions/service in the
>> early '80s-- but only to keep some of them on the road. Spence would be the
>> first guy to tell you, as he did me, that his Alpine mods were in response
>> to a lack of any other alternatives at that time
>
> Maybe this would be a good time for me to ask a question I've been
> contemplating for a while. Did Spence ever move the top pulley in relation
> the the cage pivot to allow for a wider range FW to be used? I've been
> working on some sketches on the cage movement and find no reason you couldn't
> do this and still get good chain wrap on both the small and large cogs.
> thanks,
> Brandon"monkeywrench"Ives
> SB, CA
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++
> Nobody can do everything,
> but if everybody did something
> everything would get done.
> --Gil Scott-Heron--
> ++++++++++++++++++++