Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 14:47:33 -0700 From: "henox" <henox@icycle.net> To: "Fred Rafael Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: Re: [CR]Continental Oval vs. Imperial Oval
Fred asked:
> During the recent discussion of Reynolds fork blades, the older
> style blades were called "Continental Oval". In other
> discussions, I've seen the older Reynolds blades identified as
> "Imperial Oval".
>
> Are these actually one in the same? Or were there two,
> slightly different profiles of fork blades available from
> Reynolds at that time?
To which Hugh replied:
Original Reynold blades, at least circa 1961 when I began using them, were relatively long ( front to back) and narrow (side to side).
The Continental Oval blades were more nearly round and would fit the same crowns as Columbus blades.
Hugh Enox La Honda
The early, Continental Oval Reynolds blades are 29 x 16 mm. The NCO* Reynolds blades are 27.5 x 20 mm. Columbus blades are 28 x 19 (interchangeable with NCO blades). There was no third size of Reynolds road blade AFAIK. In track blades, the typical early ones are 22 mm in diameter. There are also 24 mm ones. Greg Parker Ann Arbor, Michigan *New Continental Oval