Don Gillies suggested that the following post from the VO blog might be of interest to the CR list. So I've copied it below:
Imagine that the teeth on you Rene Herse chainrings are wearing out. You could wait a few years for a set to come up on E-bay, and probably pay more than a VO frame costs, or you could have a set made by a small Japanese company named CT ("CT" stands for Cycle Tourist's. ) The rings, at $65 to $85 apiece, run a small fraction of the cost of originals. CT will even make RH-style rings to fit TA 3-pin or Shimano cranks in case you are not blessed, as I am not, with a RH crankset.
CT also makes rings in patterns for Simplex, Stronglight, CYCLO, Rene Herse, ZEUS, TA, Campagnolo, and most any other crank you can imagine.
This morning Boggy-san from Japan kindly e-mailed to tell us that Mr. Kohiyama, CT's owner, has decided to close-up his chain ring operation and sell off his machinery, though his bike shop will remain open. It is a great shame to learn of another small specialty bike manufacturing operation going out of business.
Boggy-san tells me that CT rings are very accurately machined and very hard. Mr. Kohiyama will accept orders until the end of March. So hurry and stock up on rings for all your priceless cranks.
Visit CT's site for some great photos of obscure and rare chainrings:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/
I think their e-mail address is: ct.seizen@nifty.com
Here is the e-mail form on the site:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/
Chris
http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/
Chris Kulczycki
Velo Orange
109 Colonial Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401