Stronglight quality shift? Difference between two 99 cranksets...
 

I own two different Stronglight 99 cranksets and notice a big difference in quality between them. The first is probably older and has crisp sharp edges, even stippling inside the fluted area of the crankarm and a smooth polished surface. The other one looks like it was made not from the original mold but from a second generation mold. The edges are rounded off, the stippling is very inconsistent and the entire surface is covered with little imperfections. In addition there are shaded/stippled areas on the lower quality right crankarm where the chainrings attach.

Higher quality (older?):
http://members.aol.com/satorumas/bra...ht99crank.html

Lower quality (newer?):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Was this common practice? Any idea on the range of manufacture dates for the two different versions of the 99? Is this drop in quality true of any other Stronglight cranks?

Thanks,
Greg

The newer one is a "model 100" which uses the same bolt pattern as the 99. I believe it is a cast piece rather than forged like the older 99. I have a set of these on my tandem; they seem to work fine, but don't look as nice as the older version.

NB: the newer arms also now use the standard 22mm extractor threading rather than 23.15mm like the old ones.

The 1980 Stronglight B-9 crankset which came with my Peugeot PKN-10 is beautifully made, assuming one likes factory-drilled chainrings. (Remember that era?)