Re: [CR]CPSC and a sanity check

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From: <GPVB1@cs.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]CPSC and a sanity check
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 13:17:35 EST

Harvey:

I wrote it (in a hurry, unfortunately... Mea culpa). I also wrote it off-list, and it wasn't intended for list-wide distribution. Sorry if it struck a nerve.

Please remove "part" from "American Bicycle part manufacturers" in my comments below and then I stand by them 99.94%. It was the ABMA (American Bicycle Manufacturer's Association - the Huffys, et al - remember those little yellow stickers on gaspipe seat tubes?) that lobbied the CPSC. They had plenty o' power, controlling 2/3 of the market and all....

Was Shimano forced to change? Suntour? Huret? I think not....

Oliver Stone is working on a movie about it from what I understand :-) ("Apocolypse: Huffman" is the working title...).

Regards,

Greg "Conspiracy Theorist" Parker A2 MI USA


> Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 21:40:49 -0500
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> From: "H.M. &S.S. Sachs" <sachs@erols.com>
> Subject: [CR]CPSC and a sanity check
>
> It's not clear to me who wrote <snip> :
>
> GPVB1@cs.com wrote:The RH 1958-1977 arms [inside of Campy cranks] have a
> larger "bump" on the back where the spindle enters the spider. The later
> arms have a much smaller "bump." That's the easiest way to tell them apart.
> The change was made to accomodate the "lip" on the front derailleur cage
> that was added at the insistence of our fine Consumer Product Safety
> Comission (CPSC). They forced Campagnolo to change several "protrusions" in
>
> mid-1977. This was done because the American Bike part manufacturers were
> jealous of Campy's success, and lobbied our fine Government into hassling
> Campy and costing them much money for no good reason IMHO." <snip>
>

To which Harvey Sachs added:


> CPSC may have overestimated the probability of injury from getting pants
> caught or whatever, but I would doubt very much that this was done to
> protect any American part manufacturers. At that time (and remember the
> lead time for CPSC regs is years), there were none that I can recall. I
> believe this was before either Specialized, Ritchey, or Avocet -- and these
>
> fine firms were largely marketers of parts made in other
> countries. Leaving out wonderful innovators like HiE and Phil Wood,
> neither of whom had measurable market share, I don't think there were any
> US manufacturers of sport, touring, or racing calibre bicycle parts. Yes,
> there was Ward and there were others supplying Huffy and Columbia with
> Ashtabula crank parts, but...
>
> For full disclosure, in "other life" I work at an NGO, on energy efficiency
>
> <www.aceee.org>. I occasionally see CPSC folks at hearings (as on furnace
> flues). Although none has ever talked about it to me, I assume they
> occasionally feel some political intrusions. But, I really doubt that my
> esteemed colleague's hypothesis fits this case. But, I could be wrong.

>

> thanks

> harvey sachs

> mcLean va