[CR]WTB Lyotard pedal axles

(Example: Framebuilding)

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 06:35:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <071820050352.15694.42DB2764000E2E6800003D4E22070206530207010C0C03D206@comcast.net>
Subject: [CR]WTB Lyotard pedal axles

I'm loooking to buy Lyotard pedal axles. Any usable condition. My most immediate need is an English threaded right for a mod 460D, 118mm overall length, 95 mm from inner bearing race to end. But I'll buy any Lyotard axles if the price is reasonable.

BTW, Jan (I think) was mentioning that for a period of time Lyotard pedals were considered a "throwaway" item one kept for a season or two, then discarded. I just found an example that helps me understand what he meant. A while back I bought several NIB model 36 Lyotards from a list member. This is an older model, track style, all chromed steel. I was thinking about robbing an axle from a mod 36 for the mod 460D, but the dustcap didn't want to thread off. I realized that in fact the dustcap was pressed on. I needed vice-grip plyers to remove it. I then discovered that the outer bearing race was pressed onto the end of the axle, rather than threaded. This would surely encourage the throwaway mode, as the bearings cannot be changed, and are difficult to grease.

Oddly, I have another pair of mod 36, from the same batch purchase, with the familiar thread-on dustcap and serviceable bearings. I think this is another example of the French component makers keeping models in production for decades, pushing one model to a lower price point when a newer one came out. I think the mod 36 probably originated in the 50's or even late 40's as the top model or close to it. I suspect the ones with the press-on race and dustcap are probably 70's production, by which time the mod 36 had been pushed to a low price point below the 45D, 45A and even 460D. Comparing the two versions I have, they seem identical except for the dustcap, whether the end of the barrel is threaded to receive it, and the outer race and whether the axle is threaded to receive it. At first this seems bizarre, as the use of non-serviceable bearings can't have saved more than a couple of Francs per pedal, but I guess the mod 36 had been pushed to such a low price point that a couple of Francs mattered.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Houston, TX