I followed the recent exchange of views on this concept with great interest and considerable disbelief, not at the fact that it does exist, but at the fact that claims were made that it was a matter, factor, call it what yo u will, of great concern to riders in the 50s. Not wishing to launch into t he debate without first substantiating my own opinions by checking those of other cyclists who are much better qualified than myself to comment, I have had to wait until now, to pass on the distillations of conversations t hat I had, over the past weekend, with the good, the better..and the alm ost -but- not -quite -the- best.
I started cycling in 1948, was very active during the 50s and 60s, had star ted frame-building in 1954, but had not, until sometime in the 80s or was i t the 90s when mountain-biking became very popular, ever heard the term - t he Q -Factor. So I became Qcurious. In fact I believe it was around the t ime that Shimano or some other Far Eastern company who decided that we all needed some dog-legged cranks to enable us not to knock our ankle bones on the end of the bottom bracket spindle, launched the Q word on an unsuspecti ng and Qcutely innocent cycling world. What does Q stand for in any case in this context? I never really found out, but assumed that it must be Quotie nt.
During the 50s, no cyclist I ever knew or built a frame for, troubled me wi th the Q-Qestion. Certainly I was asked to show concern over GC and Non-GC (NGC) cranks and BB spindles, as these were of real concern in deciding whe ther the chain would rub on the inside of a chain-guard..and sometimes a fr ont derailleur (lever variety) cage. I recall TA cranks causing some proble ms and requiring fine adjustment of the front mech.
I think one email on the subject suggested that Pro riders in the 50s were particularly keen about their Q-factors. This being the case, I could not w ait for last Saturday night to come along, an evening that I was to spend, along with about 900 other cyclists, in the company of some of the heroe s of the Tour de France, 50s and 60 style.
The event was a charity dinner, held in the name of a former local Pro, Dav e Rayner, who was unfortunately killed by a thug of a night-club bouncer, a dozen or so years ago. The money raised is used to support young UK riders in their ambition to race on the continent of Europe and to get a place in a Pro team. The charity's efforts have had great results so far. Greats wh o have accepted invitations to join us at dinner have been no less than Edd y Merckx, Bettini, Vanderaerden, Indurain, to name but a few.
This year's Dinner was dedicated to honouring the first British Pro to win a stage in the Tour de France, none other than Brian Robinson, who won it i n 1958..just 50 years ago. Brian invited along a number of other UK riders who had also won stages, such as Chris Boardman and, more recently Mark Cav endish, he of the four stage wins in 2008,but more importantly some of thos e with whom he had also raced in the 50s and early 60s. It was Brian who co nvinced Tommy Simpson that he could make a go -of -it in Europe. And so we applauded Barry Hoban, he of twelve Tours, eleven finishes and eight stage wins, and Michael Wright, with thirteen Tours, three wins and eight second places. Not a stagewinner but a model domestique to others in the St Raphae l team there was Alan Ramsbottom, Vin Denson, Bob Maitland.. But the Guest of Honour of the Guest of Honour was none other than the Eternal Second, th e Darling of the French, Raymond Poulidor. All had won stages in bunch sprints on the flat and contested stage wins after breakaways in the mountains. I think that Brian still holds the record for the longest time between the winner and the second-place man.
In my youth I was a member of the same club as Brian and knew him well..Bar ry had been, after retirement a saleman for a competitor business to my own , Alan had been a regular visitor to my shop, and a close friend to one of my close friends..whereas I had met up with M Poulidor on business and othe r occasions.
So it came to pass that after the dinner and sufficiently lubricated with w ine and local beer, we all set about talking and I felt the time was ripe t o approach my acquaintances and ask them the all-important Q-QUESTION.
Not unsurprisingly all responded with blank stares and Raymond uttered that most French of French interjections QUOI?. When I explained the Q-factor a s being an essential element upon which they must have insisted when draw ing up the specs of their Tour frames with the artisan framebuilders of Hel yett, Gitane, Mercier...they confessed to knowing nothing at all about it, and caring even less. More important was the distance between the inside fa ce of the gear-side crank and the outside face of the large ring of the d ouble chainset. Too wide and the Simplex and Huret lever double clangers, a nd the later Campag Gransport cable operated ones would not work effici ently, too close and the outer face of the front mech's cage would strike t he crank..thereby possibly causing a delay when shifting up for the big spr int.
In confessional mood as the hands of the hotel clock reached 02.00, some ev en admitted to just riding what they were given ( and some of these were no t pretty machines, just functional ) while Brian admitted to riding his Ell is-Briggs, and Alan to relying on his trusty Harry Quinn..
I now look forward to browsing through the CR LIst until next year so that I can pick out another weird notion that I can put to next year's Guests of Honour, among whom the enfant-terrible of the bunch sprint, Andre Darri gade, has been mentioned, and just possibly the Schleck brothers from Luxem burg. It has to be admitted that these relative youngsters who have experie nce of mountain-biking in the nearby Ardennes forests might just be clued u p on the Q-Factor..but I am not holding my breath..in fact i Mjust expect a retort ofn the lines of....Quoi?..Quoi?..
Norris Lockley..Settle UK..where the only Q-Factor that is acknowledged is the one we have to wait in until the next bus comes along..