Hello Jon, Don't remember the crank number of the Stronlight crank that uses TA style rings but if that's the one you're using for your compact double, I'll mention that I'm using a TA compact doubles in 52/30 with a 14-32 7speed cogset for some low touring gears, and a 50/31 with a 13-28 7speed cogset. I've used a 52/28 TA compact TA double that shifted fine with the Huret front I'm using that is a version of an LJ Simplex front and using a Duopar in the rear. That's the front that shifts the 52/30 just fine and I think your Simplex will do well if it has the kind of long cage I usually see on Simplex fronts. My 50/31 is shifted just fine, surprisingly, with a Huret Jubilee and chain take up is ok with the Jubilee rear which shifts well to the 28. These chainsets would also do fine with a N.Record front because I've tried them.
For the doubles I used the regular double spacer/bolt set from Velo-Orange, and I used a narrow bb spindle because I like an inboard chain line, lined up to the left of the center of the cogset if possible. This chainline allows me to run the large/large combination with good efficiency and I set up the chain long enough to accommodate this. This means I use the large ring for most of my riding on the flats, rollers and shorter climbs. I use the small ring only for the steep canyon climbing I have here in the mountains (I live in a little canyon with a 20% climb home). My gears on the large 52 ring run from 52x14, 98" down to 52x32, 43" so pretty much the range of a standard N.Record (42x26 low) climbing range over 7 gears.
On a third bike I have a compact 110 double with 50/34 and 13-28 cogset with early Mavic derailleurs and shifters.
Both these TAs on these bikes used to be triples but I found I couldn't use the large ring with more than three cogs due to chainline, so I had 3 gears on the large ring, used 6 on the middle, and 2 or 3 on the small ring for only 11 or 12 total I was willing to use on the triple. With the double I get 7 gears on the large and 4 gears on the small ring for the same number of usable gears. More importantly, my most useful gears have the best chainline, with good cruising gears in the middle of the cogset with the large ring. Front shifting was always fine with the triples but did take some attention and the chain like to go from the smallest to the largest ring requiring me to shift back down the the middle. With the double the chain goes bang one way and bang the other. Very simple shifting. I use narrow cage derailleurs so I have to trim them as the chain uses all the cogs in back but that easy compared to shifting from one ring to another.
Since I switched these to doubles I've been very happy with them and don't miss the triples at all.
--Mitch Harris
On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 12:05 AM, Jon Spangler
<hudsonspangler@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Dear listers,
>
> I have purchased and will soon pick up and build up my long-awaited
> mid-1970s Allegro (Swiss) road frame (52 c-c seat x 55 TT), thanks to Craig
> Griffith. It is a sizing experiment, and, if I keep it, it will be a rider,
> not a show or "restoration" bike. (I plan on using used parts, which are
> fine if they work decently. I am on a budget, so NOS parts may be too
> expensive.) Here are some questions I have so far. Any and all assistance is
> deeply appreciated.
>
> 1) Are there any Stronglight A-9 needle-bearing headsets out there in FR
> threading any more, or is this a futile search?
>
> 2) I once had a complete set of TA racing pedals like the ones Hilary Stone
> just had for sale, but (don't ask why) I need just the right pedal body for
> these iconic 1970s-80s road pedals. (Everything else is fine.) Is finding
> just a pedal body going to be possible?
>
> 3) I have both my 1973-4 Campi NR sidepulls and 2 sets of Mafac Racer
> centerpulls in my parts collection. All of them would need new gum hoods. I
> am curious: which NOS or reproduction hoods work better, in your opinion(s)?
> Fit and durability are really the only issues here: I like the look of
> "natural" gum rubber hoods, but want to know which type(s) are of better
> quality or are more durable, if there is a difference.
>
> This also leads me to ask: which brakes will really stop better? Both Mafac
> and Campi are period-correct and appeared on Allegros at the time. I want to
> optimize (dare I say "modernize"?) and update their performance with more
> modern brake blocks, but the once-available Mathauser pads for the NR brakes
> seem to have disappeared. Has anyone in CR land had good luck using the
> currently-available more modern pads on either of these brakes?
>
> 4) I have my wife's Stronglight 99 crank set (formerly a 30-44-52 triple),
> which I plan to set up as a compact double on a Phil Wood #3 BB. (I have a
> new and fine 52t outer ring, so I'm looking for a 38 or 40T ring for an
> inner. I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this. (I have set up
> Stronglight 93 and Campi NR 144 double cranks, as well as Campi 9-spd racing
> Triples, but never a 99 as a compact double.) Any and all advice/suggestions
> welcomed regarding gearing, assembly, etc.
>
> 5) How well do the Simplex top-of-BB-shell Delrin cable guides work for
> folks? (I have a full Super LJ derailleur and DT shifter set ready to
> install.)
>
>
> Please email me off-list if you have any suggestions, unless the knowledge
> is new to and belongs in the communal sphere.
>
> Thanks very much,
>
> Jon Spangler
> Alameda, CA USA