Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 15:18:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> To: Dan Kehew <dan.kehew@gmail.com> Cc: RB <2wheelseal@earthlink.net> Cc: CR <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]Viscount Forks and Campy Death Cranks
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I do find one great irony in all the "Death __" stuff. Campy NR/SR cranks are well known to have failed, both at the crank spider and at the pedal hole, at a higher rate than many competitors, Including Stronglight and TA. In the case of the spider, this was clearly a design defect, and even in the case of the pedal hole, one could argue this was a design defect, as Campy used a harder alloy that was more brittle. So why aren't these called CAMPY DEATH CRANKS? Why does everyone hasten to point out that the failures weren't really all that frequent or normally catastrophic? That's true enough, but also true about AVA/Vitus/ALAN. But only Campy gets the benefit of sanity as opposed to hysteria. Why? Simple. There is, long has been, and probably always will be, a double standard, one set of rules for Campy, and another set for everyone else. Personally I think "Campy Death Cranks" has a nice ring.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
That reminds me - as a continuing non-profit service to the greater vintage lightweight cycling community Worldwide, I am still willing to receive all of your extremely dangerous 1958-1987 R/SR cranksets and arms, that are all surely unsafe to ride even one more meter. I will see that they are properly recycled, and that no one need suffer the horrible consequences of riding such obvious death traps. This is a very serious issue. Please send them postage pre-paid to my shop. You may wish to insure them for liability, just in case someone is accidentally killed by them while they are in-transit. Ideally, I would prefer that you send only mint to NOS 175 mm Strada ones, with matching date codes, and with like-condition 42- and 52- or 53-tooth chainrings. In a pinch, however, I can recycle almost any version longer than 170, Strada or Pista, even just (dare I say it?) bare nekkid single arms, if need be. We should not have to live in a state of panic one moment longer over these nasty, nasty cranks. Free the cranks!!! Thank you for your time in regards to this very grave matter. Greg Parker Ann Arbor, Michigan http://www.bicycleclassics.com