Greetings List,
Please allow me to preface this post with the following:
I am going to swallow my pride and reveal a bit of a serious loophole in my knowledge of vintage lightweights: I have never owned, built (or admittedly paid much attention to) bikes fr om the inch pitch era. Sure, I have owned or sold a number of pre-1960's track parts (bars, cogs, etc.), but have not until very recently mad e my own attempt at a build. In short, I am a "noob" or a "newbie" and wi ll likely ask a number of seemingly silly or obvious questions to The List , as I am about to embark on a journey into personally uncharted waters.. .
While my recently purchased mid-50's Italian track machine is close to comp letion, I also have a buddy who is encountering some problems with his mi d-50's build. I am hoping that the help of The List will both help my frie nd trouble shoot but also increase my knowledge of a branch of the world of vintage lightweights that I have little experience with. Here it goes:
My buddy has tried a number of 9T cogs on his bike but has had difficulty s etting up a drivetrain in which there is no interference between the chain and hub flange. It seems that most of the cogs he has obtained lack the of fset typical to a modern track cog. Is it possible that he has been trying cogs intended for use on old balloon tire bikes rather than track bikes? Or are inch pitch track cogs occasionally symmetrical? Was it a common prac tice to use some sort of spacer on the hub to allow the chain to avoid hitt ing the hub flanges?
I pulled a big assortment of inch pitch cogs from a closing shop and it was my assumption that they were all, in fact, track cogs. Pictured here:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
They range from 6T to 9T and thread onto the track hubs I have around. Mos t are unmarked though many say "Magistroni" or "Made In England". I have b een selling them as track cogs and would like to know I am mistaken. With the exception of the 9T cogs, most seem to have the offset. So in t he case of the 9T, what have I got here? Am I missing a piece of the puzz le?
Matthew Bowne confused in Brooklyn, NY
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