Thread: My first Merz
View Single Post
Old 03-05-24, 04:33 PM
  #69  
jPrichard10 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Portland, Cascadia
Posts: 524
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 229 Post(s)
Liked 280 Times in 118 Posts
Originally Posted by bulgie
It's not too hard to make yourself a 30t granny to fit the 100 mm BCD. A few people I know have done it, by starting with an existing 74 mm BCD ring and adding 5 new holes. Here's a little Flickr album showing how I made mine. I also made one at 29t once, but that's a bit impractical, stick to 30t minimum.

I also drill Campy cranks to take 86 mm BCD Stronglight 99 granny rings. Only goes down to 28t but that's as low as I want on a Record triple anyway. For the older bikes I have put them on, I like that it uses only parts that were available in the early '70s, could plausibly have been done then ("period correct"), tho I'm not a slave to PC-ness.

For the granny "stand-off" bolts, yes the real Campy #818 bolts are expensive when you can find them but there are lots of alternatives, such as Stornglight 'Mygal' bolts which are either still made or at least still in the retail pipeline. You might need to go to a Euro or UK seller to find them. Normal industrial shoulder bolts such as from McMaster-Carr can also be made to work with a little modification, ask for more detail if interested.

If you want your crank drilled at 74 mm, Bob Freeman of North Bend WA has a drilling jig that makes that mod pretty easy and very precise. I don't know what he charges but it's probably reasonable. He knows all about which McMaster shoulder bolts and spacers to buy, and how to make them work, so he's your one-stop shopping for Campy Triplizing.

And let's not forget BF's own Jon Vara who makes the Red Clover triplizer for 144, way simpler than drilling your crank and searching for stand-off bolts/spacers. And it's a fully-reversible mod, the crank is not harmed!
Good to know about the chain getting stuck on 26t and 24t.

merziac, I wasn't meaning the factory drilled triples, but either a triplizer ring or having it custom tapped for 86bcd or 74bcd.

86 is my favorite bcd (why I love the Stronglight 99) and chainrings are still being made by Stronglight last I checked. 74bcd only tempts me as possibly more future-proof. I don't think I've ever seen an 86bcd drilled Record crankset though; do you have pictures? And since it sounds like you might have some experience here, any guesses on a good spindle length for a Record 45/42/28? I know it does depend somewhat on my chainstays here.

​​​​​

​​​​​
jPrichard10 is offline  
Likes For jPrichard10: