Dear Mr. L:
Why quibble about the quaint quantity called the Q? It's quite Quixotic.
Quell your qualms lest you cause a quarrel.
George
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA
>
> 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
> unsuspecting 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
> efficiently, 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..=0A=0A=0A
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA