Didn't a Mod. 80 (w/ 86mm BCD) precede the Mod. 99? I believe there was also a Mod. 100 with the same BCD. I would like to know how to distinguish one from another.
The only distinction that I have noted (small sample size) in the ones I have is the presence/absence of indents in the spider arms. I assumed that those are present in the newer cranksets.
I'm fond of all of the Stronglight cranks made within the timeline. Don't expect ever to own a mod. 57 or 53 though...
Charlie Young
Honey Brook, Pennsylvania USA
<walawalaoxenfree@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:05 PM Subject: Re: [CR] Stronglight Timeline Needed
>
> Chuck Schmidt has some repro Stronglight catalogs, though maybe not a
> complete timeline.
>
> 49 was a Stronglight model number, the actual circle is the same as TA
> Cyclotourist, 50.4mm. There is an urban legend that the model 49 was
> introduced in 1949, but I believe it was actually available before WWII.
> There was actually a model 49D (Dural) and 49A (Acier=Steel), both
> cotterless, but the the 49A was steel. The 49D continued to be made well
> into the 80's. Many classic constructeur randonneurs used 49D crank arms
> with TA rings. The first 122 BCD Stronglight (I think) was the model 57
> followed by the model 63. These may or may not have been the years of
> introduction. The most famous Stronglight model was the mod 93,
> introduced sometime in the mid to late 60's. In the early to mid 70's
> almost every highend French racing bike that didn't use Campy cranks used
> the Stronglight 93. The 122 BCD mod 93 was followed by mod 105 and 104,
> among others, with this circle. In the early 80's Stronglight switched to
> the Campy 144 BCD circle about the
> same time Campy was abandoning this circle. The models 106 and 107 were
> 144 BCD. Stronglight cranks are still made, but most recent ones are 130
> BCD. Also in the early 80's (1982 I think) Stronglight switched from
> their own unique crank extractor thread to the Campy-compatible 22mm
> thread. Several Stronglight models were made both before and after the
> switch, which can lead to some interesting cranks with mismatched arms,
> each requiring a different extractor. Especially so since the arms can
> also have either French or English pedal thread.
>
> The best known Stronglight touring model (not counting the 49D with TA
> rings) was the 5-arm 86 BCD Model 99, introduced in the early 70's or
> maybe the late 60's. It was often configured as a triple. The mod 99
> survived into the 80's and there are examples with the later 22mm
> extractor thread.
>
> 116 BCD was more or less the standard circle for old 3-arm steel cranks.
> Stronglight made some very elegant fluted and logoed one, which I think
> perhaps were called Competition. As you have noted, these are infinitely
> more elegant than the much cruder (and heavier) Stronglight cottered steel
> cranks found on UO-8's and the like. I don't know if Stronglight always
> made cheap steel cranks, or only started doing so after high end stuff
> switched to alloy cotterless. Also not sure how the nice fluted steel
> Stronglights were made so surprisingly light. The arms are definitely
> more slender than a typical alloy crank, but some highend French-made
> steel cranks also had hollow or partially hollow arms. I have not read
> that the Stromglight steel arms were hollow, but it is possible. Anyone
> know? I'm not about to saw mine in half to find out.
>
> Note that before and just after WWII, the 116 BCD steel arms typically
> used large BCD rings (greater than 150 BCD) with "ring carrier" brackets
> attaching the larger BCD rings to the 116 BCD arms. Many of the rings
> were steel, but Simplex and others made alloy rings for this setup. Rings
> were typically 6-hole. At some point, perhaps after WWII, Stronglight, TA
> and others began making 3-hole 116 BCD alloy rings that attached directly
> to the 116 BCD 3-arm crankarms, including Stronglight steel arms, without
> the need for the "ring carriers". Later, alloy cotterless 3-arm 116
> BCD cranks would appear using rings larely interchangeable with those
> originally used on the 116 BCD steel crankarms. Such alloy 116 BCD 3-arm
> cranks included Stronglight, Nervar, TA Professional, and one version of
> the Campy Gran Sport. I think the Stronglight model was the TS.
>
> One puzzling ring that one sees from time to time on eBay is a 6-hole 116
> BCD alloy Stronglight ring. I first I couldn't figure out what crank this
> ring was made for, but now I'm convinced it was actually made to fit the
> old steel Stronglight Competition. One clue is that this ring is usually
> seen in 48T or larger, suggesting an outer ring. The extra three holes
> were used for mounting the 3-hole inner ring to the 6-hole outer ring.
> The original bolts on the Stronglight steel arms were only single length,
> designed to attach the old "ring carriers" or later a single outer 6-hole
> alloy ring. They also threaded into a threaded hole in the crankarm from
> behind. Of course one could find longer bolts and spacers to allow the
> inner and outer rings to both attach with a single set of bolts, but I'm
> convinced the more typical setup was to use the original bolts to attach
> the 6-hole outer to the arms, then use the remaining 3 holes to attach a
> 3-hole inner
> ring to the outer. One more strong clue to this is that the Stronglight
> 3-hole inners have their web cut away midway between holes, exactly where
> the extra hole would fall in the 6-hole outer rings. This was pretty
> obviously to alloy the old exposed (non-recessed) hex head bolts attaching
> the outer rings from behind the arms to clear the webbing of the inner
> ring. I have several sets of the old fluted steel Stronglight crankarms
> fitted with these 6-hole/3-hole sets of 116 BCD Stronglight alloy rings.
> This makes an elegant and surprisingly light setup.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, Texas, USA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Tue, 8/4/09, Amir Avitzur <walawalaoxenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Amir Avitzur <walawalaoxenfree@gmail.com>
>> Subject: [CR] Stronglight Timeline Needed
>> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>> Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 9:01 AM
>> I've got half a dozen Stronglight
>> cranks at home.
>>
>> Some are 3 arm steel 116 BCD
>>
>> While others are 5 arm aluminum with 122 BCD & 49 BCD.
>>
>> Does anyone have a timeline for Stronglight cranks?
>>
>> I'm trying to allocate them to some old frames and would
>> really like to know
>> during what years each was produced.
>>
>>
>> Another thing I'd like to know is how many variations of
>> the 116 BCD steel
>> 3-arm crank there were.
>> Mine range from crude (as found on Peugeot UO-8s) to very
>> refined (radiused
>> edges and fluted arms).
>> All 116 steel cranks look like they came off the same
>> production line but
>> the nice ones look like they got special treatment.
>>
>>
>> Amir Avitzur
>> Ramat-Gan, Israel