Buellster

I bought this TA chainring with the intention of attaching it to a internally geared hub set up. I'm currently building up a winter beater bike out of a supercourse frame I've got. The paint is bad and I made it worse touching up some rust spots. I'll be riding it to a college campus that's notorious for bike theft(psu) so I dont want it to be pretty. For this reason I also dont want to use my $250 IGH hub in the build. Instead I'm opting to use a standard 5 speed rear freewheel with a suntour VX RD with the TA chainring.
A worker at my LBS was looking over the chainring as I told him my plan for a 1x5 and he said I may bend the chainring. He suggested attaching another gear to it even if I dont intend to use it, as doing so would reinforce the outer ring. I've seen quite a few of you lovley people using the TA chainring+crank and even some using it on various 1x etc. options so I wanted to ask your thoughts.
I was planning on putting a FD on and just never touching the position of the DT shifter on the lefthand side to keep the chain in place on the front chainring. Would this be enough to fight the bends? Is it a concern at all? Should I take his advice and attach another ring to it?

jyl

JaccoW

1x6 drive train when I didn't have a wide enough bottom bracket.
52T, they are more flexy than modern chainraings but that is only an issue on track conditions with 68T rings or 52T sprinters.

Worst case scenario you break it and buy a VO singlespeed ring

Feldman

I"ll join the choir here--that used to be very commonly done for time trial, criterium, and commuting bikes when TA cranks were more common. You won't have any problem as long as the chain line is right. You for sure won't warp or bend the chainring!

JohnDThompson 

I wouldn't anticipate any problems. I've been running a single ring on my fixed gear bike and it has been fine.

63rickert

verktyg 

Bull pucky! Was he even a gleam when this stuff was made?

I built my first rough stuff bike in 1976. Lugged Vitus 172 frame, 700c clincher wheels for gravel and cyclocross sewups for softer dirt trails. Brazed the frame together Saturday afternoon and rode it Sunday. The red primer was still tacky.

Started off with a very light weight steel Zeus cottered crankset with a 46T alloy chain ring, a 14-34T Shimano FW and a Suntour V-GT RD.

I bent one of the crank arms horsing the bike over an obstacle. Changed to Stronglight cottered steel cranks and did the same thing the following week.

TA Cyclotouriste cranks didn't inspire a lot of confidence but I put one on with a 46T large chainring and a 26T small one. I foot shifted off the 46 when I needed to go small and manually changed to the "big one". Rode that combo for years. I ovalized at least 3 of the 26T chainrings but never had a problem with the 46T. Rarely had the chain jump off the rings from bouncing off road.

The FD would be a good idea if you're concerned about the chain coming off.

That bike got stolen and I replaced it with frame that I built in 1992. It has the same geometry as the original bike but with a lugged butted heavy duty Reynolds 531 frame and nicer components and an FD.




The last time I ovalized the 26T I switched to a Shimaono Deore XT 48-38-28T triple.



I wouldn't worry about bending a TA chainring unless you're an animal. They've been in use for over 70 years!

verktyg

crank_addict

No issue or concerns of breakage.

This on a steel cottered crank. I've played with various cogs on this bike, used both for flats and club riding to area where climbing becomes a serious dig in grind. Though if you decide a derailleur vs. IGH, highly suggest a front chain keeper.

clubman 

Ran a 48 tooth for years with an IGH. Will use it again when knee recovers.

Buellster

Thanks all pretty much what I thought.

i was surprised when he said that but these guys, though very helpful and wonderful, are constantly trying to get me to *upgrade* away from my *outdated* gear.
As a note I will be using this with a rear freewheel with 5 gears not the IGH. He had no concerns with the IGH plan but raised his eyebrow at the 5 speed combo. I will likley us the FD just to keep the chain in check but it sounds like the TA wont need any extra support other than that.

noglider 

You need to stop getting advice from those folks.

Buellster

nah they are a lovley bunch. They appriciate old parts that are good quality or even just an old part that works still. It's just when something breaks they dont get why I wouldnt replace it with something newer.
in a town full of bike snobs these guys were understanding and didnt treat me like a fool for not knowing everything about my bike while I was(am) learning.
They can go ahead and upsell me every now and then. I think they've earned it.

noglider 

Still, treat their advice with skepticism. They distrust old stuff because they don't know, as well as their interest in making sales. They may be nice, but this kind of advice isn't helpful.

fietsbob

No 2nd chainring , fill bolt holes with bolts and washers then.. if the empty holes worry you..

Reynolds 531 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a young bike mechanic, being concerned about a problem with your bike. And don't get me wrong, rotational stress on an unhardened aluminum structure that has holes drilled in it IS a problem.

So does that mean we can chastize and scoff at the young man all we want, because he overestimated the amount of watts we can generate?

We should instead be thankful for two things:
He thinks we are strong.
We didn't have some grumpy old man making fun of us on the internet when we were young bike mechanics.

Peace.

verktyg 

No, they did it to our face!

I have to confess, I had 3 derailleur bikes between 1964 and 1973 before I finally understood out how they worked (not just how to make them shift).

There was no one to teach us bike repairs back then. We figured it out on our own - trial and error - making mistakes. We shared info amongst ourselves.

verktyg

Lascauxcaveman 

Another 1x user here: I have not been able to bend/destroy my big ol' single chainring even though I am enormously strong fat. I even have mine mounted backwards to enhance the Q-factor for my chain guard. No worries!

Buellster

that's a beauty! Could we get the whole bike in a pic?
Is it an IGH or are you running multiple gears in the rear?

PS
love to see another Lambert of England with the TA chainring! Same as mine. Is your crank sqaure tapered? I've heard some of them were not made with the taper.

Buellster

haha exactly!
did you find you had any issues not having a front derailur? I prefer the clean look of it without but I dont know if the chain will be unhappy in the highest and lowest gears...

Lascauxcaveman 

I've splattered this one all over the forums for the last couple years, but here it is again:



1972 Lambert Grand Prix that was pretty beat up when I got it in 1982, and got really beat up over the subsequent 20 years. Now sporting a Shimano Alfine-8 out back (the guy I'd bought it from had the hub built into disc 29er rims for his MTB), J-Tek shifter, NOS English chain guard from eBay, misc bits and pieces from the parts bin. The frame is is one of the early Lamberts with lugs and a conventional bottom bracket. Or it's possible the guy I got the frame from in '82 had had it tapped out to a conventional bottom bracket thread; I'm not really sure.

More history on the various permutations of the bike on this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ert-again.html

crank_addict

ok, not 1x5 but still going strong

Buellster

that's phenomenal! I had a chance to pick up an early lugged Lambert but so many people here talk trash about them I was dissuaded. That bike makes me rethink that perspective haha
I've actually got an Alfine 8 I was thinking of putting in but am concerned it would be more thief bait than a standard 5 speed freewheel. How does the Jtek bar end shifter work? I've been considering buying one but the reviews on them are mixed. It has some trigger shifters right now and they work wonderfully I'd just like the option to do bars other than road.

clubman 

I'm befuddled. (what's new?)

It looks like the timing chain from a tandem. Or is it a fixed gear mounted on the left side of a frame? Then why 2 cables? Aero tubes?

Lascauxcaveman 

The J-Tek is a little finicky, compared to the stock trigger shifter. Mostly it's slightly 'vague' on the clicks. Not as bad as, say, Campy Synchro of the mid 80s, but more vague than SIS of the same era. If you look at the pic above, you can see I've routed the shift cable as cleanly as possible, no sharp curves and minimal cable housing, but it still has to be adjusted EXACTLY right to get clean shifts consistently. Inline cable adjuster is an absolute must.

Jeff Wills

Yes, front BB on a tandem. Ovalized bottom tube, one cable to each of the derailleurs. and an eccentric BB. OTOH, we're all a little eccentric here.