Pat asks:
> In a recent post, Steven Maasland listed for sale a 'Stronglight 49D chainset'
> from the 50's.
>
> I bought a bike at a thrift store about a year ago, and the chainset is a 49D.
> The bike is an Astro Daimler, and from the rest of the components, which seem to
> be original, I'm sure it is not a 50's bike--more than likely a 70's bike. How
> can one tell a '50's chainset from a '70's chainset, or is this just another
> pointless question? Are they all the same?
I am far from an expert on Stronglight cranks, but I can tell you what I have observed. To get a better feel of what I am writing, you may want to compare the auction photos here
http://ebay.com/<blah>
and compare them to your own bike's cranks.
I too have a few newer Stronglight 49D chainsets. You will see that there are many differences: the logos on the crank arms on the newer ones seem to always say Marque - Stronglight - Deposee (on three lines), whereas the older ones simply say Stronglight - Depose (with only one 'e' in déposé and written in two lines only). The fluting on the cranks that I have on ebay are much narrower than the later ones. The newest cranks have both the size as well as pedal threading marked on the arm and the marking 'made in france' and modèle déposée as well as an apparent date code on the crank head where it fits onto the BB axle. The previous generation has the length and made in France marked on the crank head and nothing on the arm part. The ones I have on ebay only give the crank length (and then only on one crank at that). The crank arms I have on ebay are also finely radiused, whereas all the other ones I have ever seen came with a more chunky almost square shape. The ones on ebay are also quite a bit lighter than the subsequent ones. There are also differences in the chainring bolts, the the Stronglight logos on the chainrings...
--
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ