mountaindave 

I acquired a Stronglight 99 a while back without the bolts. It’s an 86 bcd crank that SR copied with the Apex and Super Custom. I happen to have all three. I just started exploring putting together a triple on the Stronglight for a Peugeot build and noticed something very different compared to the SR versions - the inner side of the chainring has bolt recesses for the head of a chainring nut and no shelf for the ring to sit on. It’s as if it’s built to be used as a single speed. Was that a thing with 99’s? Photos with the Stronglight on left:



I can make it work with the bolts from the SR, but then I need more bolts for the SR. Am I missing something or was this normal? According to photos from a Stronglight catalog, the 99 should look like the SR. It’s my first Stronglight so I have no comparisons.

Thanks for any insight.
David

nlerner

Hmm, that’s a later model 99, might even take a standard puller. I’ve had plenty of those and have never seen the single plateau type.

mountaindave 

Kinda weird, right?

oneclick 

I think you have have a track crank; or one modified to be so.

Here's a 99 triple, pulled from the mystery peugeot tourer - you can see the ledges inboard of the middle ring:





However, go ahead and run a double if you like, it'll all fit and the ledge does nothing other than locate the ring, the bolts transmit all the torque.

mountaindave 

So without the ledges, my crank is even lighter!

It sure is interesting. I know the bolts do the work, but makes me wonder if I don’t want to save if for a single speed build. Or let someone else use it for such a build.

Paralysis by analysis.

JohnDThompson 

Note the "L" on the left arm in the picture:



That's a tandem crank arm for the timing chain, with left hand pedal thread, so only a single ring would be expected to mount there.

noobinsf 

This feels like an Encyclopedia Brown solve. Nicely done.

nlerner

I think L is the symbol for "piste" in archaic French.

mountaindave 

Holy bucket of merde, Batman - that is it!! I was wondering why it had an L. I mean, I knew that the French were weird about their bike stuff (like thumbing their noses at threading standards), but they don’t just randomly stamp stuff in their gear.

I checked the threads with a right pedal - it went in half way by hand before it got stiff. Then I checked a left pedal and it did the same thing! The threads are crossed, I can see it looking close up. But the left arm is a legit left arm.

And of course the lack of an inner shelf is because this was for the single ring of a timing chain only. Why waste material with that extra shelf?

However, this all makes me a little nervous - I don’t know if I’d want to use that as a single speed crank now that I know that it has be re-tapped for a right pedal.

BF members for the win!
Nice job, Encyclopedia Brown!

verktyg 

JohnDThompson BINGO! I was thinking pista/track crank arm at first but 86mm BCD wouldn't make sense.

I don't recall ever seeing these tandem cranks in any Stronglight catalog.




The Stronglight 99 cranks were introduced in 1971 for cyclotouring. They could be fitted with a chainring as small as 28T and easily made into a triple. The original version 99 cranks were handsome forgings with square sides, non-anodized with a highly polished finish like the model 93 cranks.



Started seeing these in 1973-74 on some Peugeot PX-10s and Bertin C37s. We suspected that they had been substituted for Stronglight 93 cranks because of bike boom availability problems. By 1975 both of those models were coming with Stronglight 105 cranks.

Never felt real comfortable selling those SL 99 cranks because we though that they might flex a lot due to the small 86mm BCD. Turns out that was never an issue.

Unfortunately these elegant cranks never caught on... They were a product ahead of their time. When the cyclotouring craze hit the US in 1975-76 they would have been a perfect choice. Much more robust than the ever popular TA Cyclotouriste cranks.

Around 1978 SR Sakae Ringyo introduced their SAX-5TG Super Apex 5 Touring cranks which were a knock off of the Stronglight 99 86mm BCD design. They were available as doubles and triples and their catalog even states that they were interchangeable with the Stronglight 99.




Around the same time Stronglight brought out their second generation model 99 cranks. They had rounded edges and a satin anodized finish, they looked just like the SR cranks. The new 99 crank arms appear to have been "melt forged", the Japanese euphemism for injection molded/pressure cast rather than forged like earlier Stronglight cranks.

I put a set of those on my Moto touring bike with 50-46-32T chainrings. They worked great but I sold the bike because is was a little to big for me.




verktyg

jonwvara 

I have said it before, but I love this forum.

JohnDThompson 

A helicoil insert would fix that, better than new.

JohnDThompson 

I have a set of those Stronglight cranks on my Gitane tandem.

T-Mar

Here's the page from a Stronglight catalogue that mentions the the availability of the ""99" tandem crankset.

scarlson 

They don't?? I beg to differ..
The double-G and the F on my TAs are still a mystery to me.

The Golden Boy 

And just for those that stumble upon this thread in the future- You can tell because of the little decorative indents/depressions in the spider arms. That generally means it'll take a standard puller.

And, my goodness, does a 99BIS crankset look stunning.

droppedandlost 

Yes, but I cringe at the thought of cleaning it after a dirty ride

scarlson 

It's true. I have always wondered how much of the weight savings of drillium are offset once the holes fill up with crud.

JohnDThompson 

Yes, they are. Here are some 99bis rings on a Sakae Ringyo crank:

verktyg 

The 1983 & 1984 Gitane catalogs show the Ralley tandems with Stronglight 99 cranks. I was out of the bike business by then so I never saw one:





T-Mar, thinks for pointing that out, That's from the 1978 Stronglight Catalog # 24. I have a copy because we imported Stronglight and TA cranks in the late 80's. I remember seeing that "chart" in the catalog but I guess that I ignored it because there were no part numbers or parts breakdown like all of the other items in their catalogs. On closer examination they offered tandem sets in both 49 and 99 models - perhaps on special order? The chart was in the 1980 # 25 and 1982 # 26 catalogs too.

Changed orientation in the 1982 # 26 catalog:



Is it wrong... or just French!

verktyg

bboy314

While we’re on the subject! Our Gitane tandem (heavily modified, a couple incarnations). Also the Stronglight Crank when we pushed off to go for a ride one day… crankarm had already been gouged from a bent pedal cage ridden by previous owner. This was the day it decided to give up.

JohnDThompson 

My Rallye tandem is an '83. As noted by @The Golden Boy above, the cast arms and recesses on the crank spider indicate standard 22 x 1mm extractor thread.

JohnDThompson 

The Rallye was kind of an odd-duck, spec-wise. It had some nice tandem-appropriate features like oversize fork blades and hubs axles, a 4-pawl tandem freewheel, and 40-spoke wheels, but then was awfully cheap in other areas. The stock Hutchison tires barely lasted a month, and the P3 headset barely one season. I put Specialized "tandem" tires on, which served well, and a Stronglight "Delta" roller bearing headset, which is still going strong to this day.

I put a "kid-back" attachment on when my children were small, and used it to ride them to school. Always a hit with the other kids!

verktyg 

Not necessarily all of the 2nd generation 99 cranks???

The 1982 Stronglight catalog # 25 lists a model 99 bis "NM" crank - bis chainrings are "drillium" but they came non-drillium too.

In the tool section of the 1982 catalog they list 2 different crank extractors, the original 23.35mm and a new style 22mm for 104, 106 and 99 NM model cranks. The 1984 catalog only lists the 22mm extractor.

Old style 23.35mm extractors



New 22mm extractor - 2 pages behind the 23.35 extractors in the 1982 catalog...


Reason that I mention this is there's been some confusion over the correct extractor for the second generation 99 cranks. The original ones that came out ~1978 may have - probably did use a 23.35mm extractor. When Stronglight introduced their next generation cranks in the 1982 catalog. The new models all used 22mm extractors. That included the Campy knockoff 106 model.

To muddy the water further, 1982 was the last hurrah for the venerable Stronglight 49 cranks. I've seen some discussions where some of the last model 49 cranks also used 22mm extractors???



I pulled the 99 cranks off of my Moto when I sold it. I'll check the threads on that one.

verktyg "50"

madpogue 

Obviously intended for a French girl named Gigi.