My best friend, Doug, is passing on his dad's bicycle, to his son. The bike was made by a one man shop in Palo Alto in 1970's, but Doug doesn't remember the name. His son rode the bike around Bay Area and riders there recognized the bike maker, but that was years ago. Doug's dad road this bike cross country several times.
We are striping down the bike for painting and rebuild.

The crank has me flummoxed. Standard crank pulling tool only threads in 2-3 threads. While I know about Stronglight (this is not marked as a stronglight) and then something called another less common size crank thread size, that uses a "TA" puller? I knew enough not to try and pull the crank with a barely seated puller.
Does anyone know what this crank is? There are minimal makings. Rings large ring is engraved and made in France. The ring sizes are 26, 45, 52 (I have never seen that in a road bike either) The crank arm is a 5 sided arm.
What do I need to use to pull this baby? I don't have a TA puller (23.0) but if we need to get one, we will.
Thanks for your help.
Nubra




French engraving?

Inner ring stamped with "W" and 161

Amazing 26-48 jump in the chainring

TA Pro 5 Vis cranks, 50.4 bcd. Also known as TA "Cyclotouriste" cranks because, unlike the majority of cranks on the market, TA actually offered the rings in a large range of sizes, including small chainrings suitable for touring and long-distance riding. And they could easily be converted from single to double to triple plateu and back with the right rings and spacers/chainring bolts. You need a TA-specific puller. I would recommend buying a Stein puller.

New rings are available from TA, which is still around. Velo Orange and SunXCD also have replacement 50.4 bcd rings, but in more limited tooth counts. If you want to add the original TA decal that is long gone off your crank, high quality foil replacements are available from Cyclomondo in Australia.

I have a spare Park CCP-1 puller that has a TA threaded side on it. PM me if you're interested.

You have a genuine "half-step plus granny" setup. The idea was that with a wide-range 5 or 6-speed freewheel the difference between the cogs would be too large to be comfortable. The small difference between the middle and large chainrings allowed for fine-tuning. The extra-small granny chainring allowed seated climbing on steep slopes with a touring load. Your set looks to be in really good shape aside from needing a good cleaning.

Peter White is one source for Spécialités TA Pro 5 Vis chainrings: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tach.php#pro5
Bikerecyclery has a few NOS items: DRIVETRAIN - Cranks - Chainrings - Page 1 - Bike Recyclery

Yes, definitely a TA crank, so get the TA puller.


Inner ring stamped with "W" and 161[/quote]

IIRC, "W" indicates English-thread pedal eyes. The number is "167.5" not 161, and refers to the arm length in millimeters.

TA pro bis 5 were Very popular for touring and tandems as you could get rings from 26 to 56
but they were one of the softest alloys ever used for crank arms. as far as I know it was the
only crank ever to come supplied with washers to fit between the pedal and crank so the pedal
wouldn't "gouge" to much when fully tight. I would fit some washers if I were to use these.

PM sent to jeirvine (assuming nubra declines the Park tool)

IIRC, "W" indicates English-thread pedal eyes. The number is "167.5" not 161, and refers to the arm length in millimeters.[/QUOTE]

Thanks so much Jeirvine. Unfortunatly I ordered one from Ebay, USA maker, before I saw your post. Really appreciate!
Cheers,
Nubra

Thanks Steve! DO you know if there are special washers and any idea where we can get some?
Cheers
Nubra

THANKS a million Jeff. Will check out the sites you mentioned. It seems that Dougs dad had a collection of rings, and routinely changed them depending on the type of ride he was going to do. Unfortunately, the spares and the tool were disappeared after his dad died. But this is a really sentimental project, and all the info youse guys are providing is fabulous. Cheers, Nubra

Just want to say thats my favorite crank of all time. Many similar but few as versatile or with as narrow a q factor.

Nubra

I have had several Stronglight and TA cranks over the years that had what I believe to be kludged threads from the wrong thread being used, the two are so close that many butchers seem to force one on the other.

I have a Stronglight on a PX-10 that had ended up being TA threads.

I always inspect and clean them including chasing the threads with a right angle pick before installing the tool.

This one seemed ok but neither tool would thread in well.

I will always try to restore them to original but on this one it would have compromised them too much.

The Stronglight tool worked much better and pulled the crank just fine once I got the threads clean and straightened out.

In the end, depending on tool variances and what the threads have been subjected to, you may have to compromise in some way.

Patience is key, I don't hesitate to use anti-seize and make sure the threads on the puller are smooth so they don't run afoul in the process for being rough or jagged.

Those Park CCP-1 pullers were standard equipment in every bike shop I worked in. It's funny because when I started the 'French' (TA 23.0) side got used pretty often. As time went on it became less and less frequent. By the time I quit, must have used it a couple or 3 times a year maybe. Must be a few of those fullers floating around still.

OP: Pedal washers are pretty widely available. You don't need anything special. A few online retailers carry them: Ben's Cycle, Rivendell, etc.

Those cranks are not anodized, so with enough elbow grease and metal polish, they'll look like chrome.

Thanks Salamandrine! Not a single shop that I contacted had a TA puller. I know from about 2 months back that they didn't have Stronglights.

Thanks, Merziac!
I would not have thought about using ante-seize. I will now have both Stronglight and TA pullers and good thing, since I am running into them more often with my bike scavenging.
Cheers!

Doug's son will be very happy to hear that! Many Thanks 52 thanks to be exact!
Cheers,
Nubra

You're welcome, you still need to be careful as the anti seize can also go the wrong way if the threads are that messed up, that's why I hand chase with the pick anytime they are compromised, same for BB's but I have dedicated chasers I made for that. I plan to make chasers for the puller threads but haven't got there yet so the pick is used for that.

Velo Orange sell these pedal washers, bless 'em... https://velo-orange.com/products/ped...89ac91b5&_ss=r

Nubra, please post photos of the complete bike -- I'm sure that someone here can identify the framebuilder; and even if they can't we like to see such work.

Hey Charles,
I will try to get some photos on board soon. There is no headbadge and no distinctive marks anywhere on the frame, that I can see anyway.
Cheers

I now have both a TA and Stronglight puller and guess what, neither one will fit in. On close inspection it looks like someone has forced a standard puller on these cranks. OH NO! Yep, that is why I was able to thread in a standard puller for about 2 threads before meeting strong resistance. I did not force the standard puller at all, so I know it wasn't me.
Is there anyway to chase these threads? Make them whole again? What kind of "compromise" can I make? It looks like about half of the threads are saved, deep in the crank, but I don't know if this is salvageable. Any suggestions?

IIRC, "W" indicates English-thread pedal eyes. The number is "167.5" not 161, and refers to the arm length in millimeters.[/QUOTE]

Hey John and Ten Grain,
Turns out that my cranks have been compromised. I now have brand new TA and Stronglight pullers and they don't fit! Seems that someone must have tried to force a standard crank puller on the crank. That would explain why I can get a standard puller in about 2-3 threads and then hit a hard stop. On close inspection, I can see intact finer threading about 1/2 way into the threads of the crank. Do you guys know of a thread chaser that can help me restore the old threads, or are these cranks now trashed? This restoration is not a "no holds barred" thing and funds are somewhat limited.
THANKS
Nubra

Sent you a PM, never seen a chaser for these but you can make one now that you have the puller.

You will need one of these for my method and I will walk you through this if you want.

A Dremel with a small cutoff wheel works best to make the slots for the chaser like the pedal spindle, they need to be sharp, a triangle file can be used too.

There are crank thread chasers for 22mm extractor thread, but I'm not aware of one for 23mm TA extractor thread. Some people claim to have made a thread chaser from a TA metal dustcap by grinding debris channels across the threads in a couple places, but I have not tried this myself. There are thread repair kits from VAR and Stein that cut fresh threads of a larger diameter into which a self-extractor bolt is threaded. The kits are expensive and probably too much for a one-off job, but perhaps a bike shop near you might already have the kit?

https://www.bikeparts.com/BPC115021/...tractor-system