This may be sacreligious, but this collector/restorer is finding it increasingly difficult to find and restore older drivetrains. My experience has been that old freewheels clean up nicely and because of the durability of steel cogs and pawls, an old freewheel is virtually perfect and ready for mounting as soon as it is soaked/dried/lubricated. New chains are easy and inexpensive to purchase and soon restore liquid shifting, better than original chains in some cases. The problem occurs when one tries to reuse old chainrings or even worse when one attempts to switch cranks to another size (like 170 to 172.5 for anatomic reasons). Old chainrings, even venerable models like Campagnolo or Dura Ace or Superbe simply are loud, and hesitant, or clunky when pressed into service with a new chain and restored freewheel. This seems the case, even when wear seems minimal. Ebay prices are outrageous for NOS rings and dealers' stock seems to have been depleted over the last 5 years. Stated simply, these things wear out and are no longer even available in some cases.
Older cranksets often are in such horrible condition when you receive them, that they simply can not be placed back into service without being stripped of their anodizing and then refinished with polishing routines making them un-original to say the least.
Do listmembers ever use new cranksets from distributors which sometimes are available in a square taper and sometimes even come complete with rings for $75 or even $50? Are modern square tapers the same as were available for Shimano and Suntour (but not Campy)?
Jack Farns
New York, N.Y.