Stronglight cotterless cranks
I only had one bike with cottered cranks, but they impressed me as being a crude and problematic design quite quickly. When I upgraded to the still humble Sugino Maxy crank with the square taper axle, it was such a joy! Later I moved on to a Raleigh Gran Sport with the classy Stronglight 93 crankset. I had no idea that it was Stronglight that came up with the square taper that was used to fit the axle and crank together. Stronglight came up with this wonderful idea back in the 1930's, and it has managed to still be useful nearly 100 years later!
edit: I thought I'd add this Bicycle Guide article by David Herlihy, well known cycle historian. It provides another perspective on Stronglight and its history.
Steve in Peoria