Durax Service Courses Crankset
05-04-22, 08:04 PM
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Durax Service Courses Crankset
These lovely, apparently unused cranks have come my way. I'm looking for any information:
Years of manufacture. 1940s? '50s?
Which makes of bikes might have worn such cranks?
Did Durax also make bottom brackets, other components?
Did Durax make other chainring configurations for these cranks a la TA and Stronglight?
My thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Brent
Years of manufacture. 1940s? '50s?
Which makes of bikes might have worn such cranks?
Did Durax also make bottom brackets, other components?
Did Durax make other chainring configurations for these cranks a la TA and Stronglight?
My thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Brent
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05-04-22, 09:16 PM
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I don't know anything about this but it does have some of the same characteristics as the Stronglight 49 that came on the Stella I had for awhile.
Man I'd love to see those in person after a round of metal polish, I bet they'll gleam!!
Man I'd love to see those in person after a round of metal polish, I bet they'll gleam!!
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05-04-22, 11:59 PM
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Durax Cranks
Durax steel cottered cranks were high quality, made in France and date back to the 1930's.
I have a set of 3 arm Durax "Special Courses" cranks on my 1965 Swiss made Tigra. The chainrings are Simplex aluminum alloy mounted on 116mm steel carriers. It has a Campagnolo cottered BB. They have thicker arms like your 50.4mm BCD "Service Courses" cranks vs. the lighter ones listed on velobase.com.
There are 3 versions of the earlier models with lighter arms on velobase.com:
https://velobase.com/ListComponents....9-0aa62d6abeab
Your cranks probably date back to the 1950's - mid 1960's. The chainrings are stamped LV.492 - 'LV' refers to Louis Verot who started Stronglight. The 50.4mm BCD mount is an industry standard so you can use Stronglight 49 chainrings, T.A. chainrings and a slew of others.
There's a high probability the they are threaded for Metric 14mm x 1.25mm pedals.
verktyg
I have a set of 3 arm Durax "Special Courses" cranks on my 1965 Swiss made Tigra. The chainrings are Simplex aluminum alloy mounted on 116mm steel carriers. It has a Campagnolo cottered BB. They have thicker arms like your 50.4mm BCD "Service Courses" cranks vs. the lighter ones listed on velobase.com.
There are 3 versions of the earlier models with lighter arms on velobase.com:
https://velobase.com/ListComponents....9-0aa62d6abeab
Your cranks probably date back to the 1950's - mid 1960's. The chainrings are stamped LV.492 - 'LV' refers to Louis Verot who started Stronglight. The 50.4mm BCD mount is an industry standard so you can use Stronglight 49 chainrings, T.A. chainrings and a slew of others.
There's a high probability the they are threaded for Metric 14mm x 1.25mm pedals.
verktyg
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Last edited by verktyg; 05-05-22 at 12:07 AM.
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05-06-22, 07:28 AM
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@verktyg thank you for the Durax lesson!
That Tigra is fabulous. I am one who loves the wild Swiss paint jobs. (Tigra, Mondia, Allegro "smoke")
Brent
That Tigra is fabulous. I am one who loves the wild Swiss paint jobs. (Tigra, Mondia, Allegro "smoke")
Brent
05-06-22, 01:58 PM
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1965 Tigra
@verktyg thank you for the Durax lesson!
That Tigra is fabulous. I am one who loves the wild Swiss paint jobs. (Tigra, Mondia, Allegro "smoke")
Brent
That Tigra is fabulous. I am one who loves the wild Swiss paint jobs. (Tigra, Mondia, Allegro "smoke")
Brent
A maroon fade Mondia or an all red Allegro had been on my list since the 70's. I started shopping for one of them in 2009 when I spotted my Swiss made 1965 Tigra on eBay. I'd never heard of that marque but as soon as I saw photo spread I was sold. All period correct components and so on, even a 1965 Brooks Pro!
The bike came from Stefan Schäfter at Speed Bicycles in Basel, Switzerland - https://www.speedbicycles.ch/ ... I highly recommend him. One of the best bike packing jobs I've ever seen.
verktyg
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Don't believe everything you think! History is written by those who weren't there....
Chas. ;-)
Don't believe everything you think! History is written by those who weren't there....
Chas. ;-)
05-06-22, 04:37 PM
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I think Durax just made the crank arms, and you could put on whatever chainrings you wanted, such as the Stronglight and Simplex shown. I have some Durax 5-pin fluted cranks with an Automoto chainring, from the late 40's. That's a really nice set you have, "service courses" would indicate that it's for racing.
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05-06-22, 07:08 PM
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These lovely, apparently unused cranks have come my way. I'm looking for any information:
Years of manufacture. 1940s? '50s?
Which makes of bikes might have worn such cranks?
Did Durax also make bottom brackets, other components?
Did Durax make other chainring configurations for these cranks a la TA and Stronglight?
My thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Brent
Years of manufacture. 1940s? '50s?
Which makes of bikes might have worn such cranks?
Did Durax also make bottom brackets, other components?
Did Durax make other chainring configurations for these cranks a la TA and Stronglight?
My thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Brent
Last edited by zukahn1; 05-06-22 at 07:18 PM.
05-06-22, 09:31 PM
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I think Durax just made the crank arms, and you could put on whatever chainrings you wanted, such as the Stronglight and Simplex shown. I have some Durax 5-pin fluted cranks with an Automoto chainring, from the late 40's. That's a really nice set you have, "service courses" would indicate that it's for racing.
This is also my understanding. Durax made the crank arms, and rider would select whatever chainring they wanted.
Beautiful example OP! Very nice. What do you plan to use it on?
05-07-22, 09:42 AM
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Brent
05-07-22, 12:30 PM
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These would look sweet on a British bike from the 50s/early 60s as well; just sayin.
05-07-22, 10:42 PM
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