I visited lots of the better bike and/or frame shops in England in the late 60's and early 70's. I heard all the time the fear of buying Campagnolo alloy cranks because of the chance they would break. I even remember reading a quote from Eddy Merckx in an advertisement for Campy in some British cycling magazine that their cranks never broke on him (or something like that). In my American mind I figured this was really about the frugal British not wanting to spend so much on a single component. The weird thing to me was that a Campy crank was about the same price as a frame at that time.
Doug Fattic Niles, Michigan USA
Steve Chambers wrote:
> It has to be said that there was definately a 'fear' of alloy components in
> the early days, I know of several older clubman cyclists who wouldn't use
> alloy at all for stressed components.