At 09:47 AM 09/12/2007 -0800, Fred Rednor wrote:
> > http://i14.tinypic.com/
>Interesting!
>Now I have to ask: did other aspects of the right side
>chainstay and seatstay have to specially constructed to
>actually use a Porta Catena?
>
>Here's why I ask: in my experience, a typical Italian frame
>from the 1960s and early '70s had no extra space between the
>outside rear sprocket and the chain stay. In fact, if you
>tried to use a Suntour freewheel - which is slightly wider than
>a Regina - the chain wpuld rub the seatstay as you shifted to
>the next smallest sprocket. So if you were to mount a Porta
>Catena piece, where did you find the extra space?
The inside of the chainstay of my 126mm spaced Nishiki is flattened for about 1" up. However. I don't think the Porta Catena feature was intended to be used; Nishiki probably just had a stack of these dropouts in stock. I expect that the Porta Catena was a trade-off for an extra cog. Kind of strange settling for 5 cogs back then to expedite wheel changes when nowdays everyone had to have 10 cogs.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada