Re: [CR]Block Chain , When ? was Block chain still available?

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

From: "Pete Rutledge" <prutledge1@comcast.net>
To: "classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <C6A2BD336CDA184094AB3C07FB5A88E603B7241E@NYMAILCL> <007501c34871$6684f640$e64efea9@oemcomputer>
Subject: Re: [CR]Block Chain , When ? was Block chain still available?
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:17:52 -0400


If I remember correctly, my Schwinn Paramount track bike, vintage 1963 or 64, came new with one-inch pitch Reynolds block chain. Around '65, the "cool thing" to do, at least in the mid-Atlantic region, was to convert your track bike to half-inch pitch, as it was smoother feeling and quieter than the one-inch block chain. In retrospect, the rough feel and noise of the block chain would be kind of neat to experience again.

Pete Rutledge
Woodbridge, VA


----- Original Message -----
From: Raoul Delmare
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org


<BruceCumberland@comcast.net> Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 8:30 AM Subject: [CR]Block Chain , When ? was Block chain still available?


> I'm extremely interested .
>
> And I know I should not have stated things so firmly , without research .
> Sorry about that .
>
> Also , I knew that Mr. Renold was one of the first . I didn't know that
> he was THE first !
>
> Wow , I had no idea that "bush roller chain" went back to 1880 . I
> would have guessed more like 1895 .
>
> Also , I'm surprised that it took so long to penetrate the bicycle
> marketplace . I realize that chains were a component which suffered from
> far too many confusing choices . There was the standard one inch pitch
> block chain , and then there were all sorts of amazing designs . But ,
> if the "bush roller chain" was actually available in the early 1880's ,
> I'm very surprised that it took so long to dominate the bicycle market !
>
> If true roller-chain was available in the early 1880's , and required 15
> to 20 years to dominate the bicycle industry , I'm disappointed that
> bicycles didn't lead the way with this technology . I've always bragged
> about how important bicycles were in leading the development of ;
> pneumatic tyres , ball bearings , seamless steel tubing , etc. , etc .
> I'll be disappointed if bicycles were behind the times when it came to
> roller bushing chain !
>
> And of course Campagnolo and Stronglight and T.A. and many others , all
> made one-inch-pitch components , for the track racers , certainly in the
> 1950's , and right up into the 1960's .
>
> But , about block chain being used by sprinters up into the 1960's , and
> big name chain manufacturers actually making block chain in "fairly modern"
> times . . .
>
> Are we talking about the same thing ?
>
> Solid steel blocks of metal , connected by side-plates , and held together
> with steel pins ? Solid steel blocks ?
>
> Normally , almost always , almost every time , when someone is talking
> about "skip-tooth" chain , they are talking about
> one-inch-pitch-roller-chain . And just to be clear , although you can
> use a normal "half-inch" chain on "skip-tooth" cogs and ainwheels -
> you can NOT use a one-inch-pitch-roller-chain on "half-inch" cogs and
> chainwheels .
>
> Block chain and one-inch-pitch-roller-chain can be used interchangeably
> ( assuming that they are roughly the same width ) . But block chain is
> made up of solid steel blocks , connected by steel side-plates .
>
> And major manufacturers were making actual block chain , not only well into
> the 20th Century , but even after World War II ?? ??
>
> I'm very interested . Thanks !
>
> Raoul Delmare
> Marysville Kansas
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bender-Zanoni, Joseph" <JBender-Zanoni@fishneave.com>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Cc: <Raoul.L.Delmare@worldnet.att.net>
> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 11:49 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Block chain still available?
>
>
> > Raoul said:
> > Block chain is another story .
> >
> > It is ancient , antique , and much more expensive .
> >
> > Block chain was the original chain .
> >
> > The rollers were developed later .
> >
> > I don't think anyone has reproduced any block chain .
> >
> > And if you have any block chain , save it for use on genuine 1890's
> safety
> > bicycles .
> > _________________________
> >
> > That's not quite the right story. Roller chain is very old. An excerpt
> from
> > the Renold website:
> >
> > In 1873 at the age of 21Hans Renold, son of a burgher family in Aarau,
> > Switzerland, came to England and found work in Manchester with a firm of
> > machinery exporters. His independent and inventive spirit soon found
> > expression in the purchase, in 1879, of a small textile-chain making
> > business in Salford. In 1880 he invented bush roller chain ......and an
> > industry is born Thus began the enterprise of which The Institution of
> > Mechanical Engineers was to say in a memoir: "Few realise how extensive is
> > the influence of Renold's inventiveness on both civil and industrial life
> > throughout the world. Hans Renold's vision was not restricted to the
> > prospects in UK industry. By 1915 he had already established selling
> > arrangements in nine overseas countries. Sales subsidiaries were formed in
> > Canada in 1920 and in the USA in 1921. These were followed by others aimed
> > at developing the French, Belgian and Dutch markets and in 1928 a selling
> > operation was set up in Germany. The first acquisition of a major
> > competitor came in 1925, when Brampton Brothers Limited, with its French
> > manufacturing subsidiary at Calais, was purchased and the operation merged
> > with the manufacturing facility previously established in Coventry.
> >
> > As to block chain, it was used by sprinters up into the 1960's, I think
> > mostly for reasons of tradition. Regina, Renold, Brampton and Wipperman
> made
> > fairly modern block chain.