I think that may be off a Schwinn, perhaps Sports Tourer. My own Sports Tourer has a TA CycloTourist crank, but that also has a guard for the inner ring as well as the outer. Probably not a pants guard, more likely intended to prevent the chain falling between the rings. Maybe this was a Schwinn thing, as they used both the TA and the Nervar cranks. They also made a habit of using a 54T outer ring on touring bikes, either paired with a 40T inner on a double, or as the outer on a triple. It wasn't so bad on a touring Paramount with a 54-49-36 Campy NR triple, where one probably rode the middle ring most of the time, but a 54T outer on a touring double makes no sense. The only time most tourists would use a 54T would be on a downhill steep enough they would probably coast anyway. I changed out the 54-40 on my Sports Tourer for 50-36. Unfortunately the replacement rings aren't drilled for those interesting, though strange, chain guards.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
Doug Van Cleve <dvancleve@gmail.com> wrote: Howdy folks.
I just bought a Nervar crank, really for the arms as I want to do a TA chainringed triple. The chainrings on it, that I am pretty sure are original, are strange. Here is a picture: . The big ring is a 54 (!) and the small ring a 40, an odd combo. The weird part, in case you can't see it very well, is that there is what looks like a pants guard for the small ring sandwiched between the big ring and the small ring. It (of course) serves no purpose whatsoever in there. Anybody know what is going on with this? Is it mis assembled?
Doug Van Cleve
Chandler, AZ USA