Re: [CR]TA Track Crank - Bike Nerd type question

(Example: History)

Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:53:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Fred Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]TA Track Crank - Bike Nerd type question
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <C3402C34.84FB%seaneee175@gmail.com>


> Jan/group-
>
> Honestly, I'm not quite sure, but this makes sense. However,
> wouldn't the BB
> Spindle length accomplish this?
>
> As for the Catalogue, I recently sold it. Recently as in a
> couple of days
> ago it went in the mail. Definitely one of those Murphy's
> law situations-
> as it sat, unused for some time. My fatal mistake is I should
> have
> photocopied it. However, I can ask the buyer to check into
> the part numbers when it arrives.
>
> I would think though, that if there were specific pista arms,
> the cranks
> would have been marked somehow. For example, TA track
> chainrings all carry
> a "3" stamp to designate the thickness and that they were for
> track use.
>
> I have owned several pairs of both pro 5 and pro 3 cranks and
> the only
> marking on the reverse of the arms was the length.
>
> Sean Flores
> San Francisco, CA
>
>
>
>
> on 10/20/07 8:53 PM, Jan Heine at heine94@earthlink.net
> wrote:
>
> > At 11:16 AM -0700 10/20/07, Sean Flores wrote:
> >> I think the answer was pretty much covered, but just to
> add...
> >>
> >> I recently got a hold of a an old TA/Tevano catalogue. It
> does have a page
> >> titled "Pista" and somewhat 'deceivingly' lists crank arms
> for both Pro 3
> >> and Pro 5 crankarms, along with the "3" stamped
> chainwheels, "pista"
> >> chainring bolts and a BB.
> >>
> >> However as everyone else noted these are the same
> crankarms used for all the
> >> other configurations. But at first blush, it does make
> them seem 'track
> >> specific'.
> >>
> >> Sean Flores
> >> San Francisco, CA- Who currently has a set of TA 'Pista
> Cranks' for sale on
> >> ebay. :)
> >
> > Could it be that they are track-specific, even if they look
> the same?
> > In the days when tread (Q factor) was a major concern, I am
> told that
> > Stronglight offered their cranks with several different
> distances
> > between chainring and crankarm:
> >
> > - smallest for single-speed and track
> > - intermediate for front derailleurs (you need clearance
> between
> > chain and arm for the derailleur cage)
> > - large for full chainguards.
> >
> > I haven't been able to check this - does anybody have a
> 1940s
> > Stronglight catalogue or something other info?
> >
> > I do know that TA made arms with extra clearance for Alex
> Singer.
> > This was easy to do, as that gap is machined after forging.
> >
> > Of course, the standard "Pro 5 vis" arms had so little
> clearance that
> > you couldn't go much closer even for track use...
> >
> > If your catalogue lists part numbers, they will tell
> whether they are
> > the same arms or not. I'd be interested to know.

Sean, Jan and friends, My experience with TA Pro 5 VIS cranksets, is that the bottom bracket spindle really governs the "tread" of the crankset. I'm really sensitive to tread/width (I need it to be relatively low) and have found that a standard PRO 5 VIS with the #314 spindle is already so low that a special version of the crankarms would be superfluous. In fact, for certain track frames, I've had to use the spindle meant for a narrow double( i.e. the #344), and flip it over, to prevent the left side arm from striking the chainstay. Regards, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)

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