John Thompson wrote: <snip>
Back in the mid-late 70s I did loaded touring on sew-ups. But when I built my new touring frame in 1981, I designed it to use 27" because that was what you'd find in the hardware stores out in the middle of nowhere. Ever try to buy a sew-up in Iron Mountain MI in 1978? +++++++++++ Well, no. But, in 1975 Beloved Spouse and I bike-camped from Cleveland OH to Atlanta GA. Her bike was equipped with Lyotard Berthet "platform" pedals which began to disassemble somewhere in the Appalachians, probably in W.VA. before we got to the VA, TN, and NC mountains. Needless to say, in my foresight I had used 14 mm. cranks. There were no bike shops on that route, and no FedEx. It would make a collector weep to see Berthets held together with radiator clamps, but it worked. Since then, I have converted more than a few sets of cranks from 14 mm to 9/16ths, and never felt guilty (all were "rider" cranks). Incidently, our son came along on that trip, too. He was born 6 months+ later...
harvey sachs
mcLean va