>>> Group -- I have one of the old TA cranksets that has the strange axle
>>> that
>>>>> is half round and half right-angle square, with the unique cotters.
>>>>> Does a nybody know what dates this would be from? No, I'm not
>>>>> fishing and I don't want to sell it... :-) Thanks for your help.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nelson Miller Seattle, WA
>>>> USA
>
> The timeline is in the TA history, Bicycle Quarterly Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 8.
>
> The TA cranks were introduced in 1960 with the pear-shaped axle. In 1962,
> they were replaced with the square-taper cranks (standard design). The
> earlier model was not a success,
Can anyone elaborate more on why these cranks were not "successful"? Were they less durable or harder to set up than their successors? Were they just more expensive?
While having absolutely no personal experience with using these cranks, I find the design to be very appealing - cranks can be removed with an hex key, have variable tread (q-factor), and look nice - what was the down-side?
regards,
Jack Fortune
Eugene, Oregon USA