By the early 1950s, Rebour wrote the Pros preferred steel cranks because of the low Q factor. That is all I know and read, plus the previous post from 1962, once again referring to a preference of lower Q for pros.
The 49D cranks came out in 1932, not the late 1940s. They were advertised in La Pedale Touristique that year...
You wrote that you read the pros were afraid of crank breakages. I
really, honestly am interested where you read that... because this is
an issue of interest to me. Rather than subscribing to myths, I want
to know why the pros rode what they rode, preferably from the pen or
mouth of somebody who was there at the time.
>Jan, is it your contention (or did D. Rebour write) that the pros didn't
>use the Stronglight 49D aluminum crank when it came out in the late
>1940s (or earlier?) because they were concerned with Q factor and not
>because they didn't have any faith that an aluminum crank wouldn't break
>when used in one of the big Tours?
>
>Chuck Schmidt
>South Pasadena, Southern California
--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
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