TA Alize crank comments

I was thinking of buying a TA Alize crankset from Peter White Cycles because I think they are a good
deal considering I would like chainring sizes different than 52-42-30 (I would like 50-40-28), and
they look nice. However, I have to wonder why it appears that the only distributor in the Western
Hemisphere is a single guy in New Hampshire (nothing against Peter, nice guy, let me ride his
Rambouillet once). Why does noone else carry these? He now posted the weight on his site and they
are comparable to Ultegra. The only negative I can see is that they require either an expensive Phil
or TA bottom bracket (although Shimano is probably pretty close). Any comments on these cranksets?

Thanks,

Kyle

 

KBH wrote:
>
> I was thinking of buying a TA Alize crankset from Peter White Cycles because I think they are a
> good deal considering I would like chainring sizes different than 52-42-30 (I would like
> 50-40-28), and they look nice. However, I have to wonder why it appears that the only distributor
> in the Western Hemisphere is a single guy in New Hampshire (nothing against Peter, nice guy, let
> me ride his Rambouillet once). Why does noone else carry these? He now posted the weight on his
> site and they are comparable to Ultegra. The only negative I can see is that they require either
> an expensive Phil or TA bottom bracket (although Shimano is probably pretty close). Any comments
> on these cranksets?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kyle

http://www.bicycleclassics.com/cranks.html
--
Regards, Gene Tolli

 

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "KBH" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > I was thinking of buying a TA Alize crankset from Peter White Cycles
> because
> > I think they are a good deal considering I would like chainring sizes different than 52-42-30 (I
> > would like 50-40-28), and they look nice. However, I have to wonder why it appears that the only
> > distributor in the Western Hemisphere is a single guy in New Hampshire (nothing against
> Peter,
> > nice guy, let me ride his Rambouillet once). Why does noone else carry these? He now posted the
> > weight on his site and they are comparable to Ultegra. The only negative I can see is that they
> > require either an expensive Phil or TA bottom bracket (although Shimano is probably pretty
> > close). Any comments on these cranksets?
>
>
> It's a fine product. And one I would sell if it were a simple proposition. But it isn't. Peter
> makes a commitment to stocking lengths and has garnered a nice business in them. In the days when
> I imported TA cranks we enjoyed a larger volume of business overall and it was a nice project.
> Today I, for one, am unwilling to make such an investment that would sell slowly and I don't see a
> crying need for another outlet in USA. Peter's prices are fair - I could do no better.
>
> Oh, and here we would use a 30-40-50 Campagnolo crank, which we have on the shelf.
Agree. The one problem I see with TA or any other mfr that is not Campy or Shimano is how many
people are really going to buy one of these cranks? How much better or cheaper is a TA crank than a
Campy? Sure, Campy "stock"/OE chainrings are 52/42/30, but I believe it would be cheaper to just
substitute chainrings. You can get a Campy Racing Triple/Centaur/Daytona crank with 30/40/50
chainrings from mail order places for $100 or less. Further, you could buy another inner chainring
for the Campy for like $20-30 and with the 135/74 bcd, you can go as low as a 24t for the Campy. In
contrast, a TA Alize triple crank from Peter is around $150. The one advantage of buying from Peter
is it appears you can customize the chainrings you want so that you could get something like a
48/38/24 for that price....

 

On 1/8/03 12:43, in article [email protected], "Jeff Wills"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "KBH" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>> I was thinking of buying a TA Alize crankset from Peter White Cycles because I think they are a
>> good deal considering I would like chainring sizes different than 52-42-30 (I would like
>> 50-40-28), and they look nice. However, I have to wonder why it appears that the only distributor
>> in the Western Hemisphere is a single guy in New Hampshire (nothing against Peter, nice guy, let
>> me ride his Rambouillet once). Why does noone else carry these? He now posted the weight on his
>> site and they are comparable to Ultegra. The only negative I can see is that they require either
>> an expensive Phil or TA bottom bracket (although Shimano is probably pretty close). Any comments
>> on these cranksets?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Kyle
>
> No comments on the Alize crankset (aside from "I want one, too!"), but if you're leary of the BB
> compatibility, why not put the Alize chainrings on a Shimano crank? Also, FSA shows 50 tooth outer
> and 39 tooth (I think) "middle" chainrings for 130mm bolt circle.
>
> Jeff

According to the latest from Peter White, TA has switched their BB taper to match Shimano's
non-splined taper. If you can get a hold of one of these new cranks, stamped "J" on the back
according to Peter, then you can use something like a Shimano UN-72 or -52, which are quite cheap
these days.

Baird

 

> However, I have to wonder why it appears that the only distributor in the Western Hemisphere is a
> single guy in New Hampshire (nothing against Peter, nice guy, let me ride his Rambouillet once).
> Why does noone else carry these?

Don't. The TA cranks are exceptionally nice, though I think the Zephyr might suit you even better,
given the ring sizes you're thinking about.

Oh, and your LBS can get the TA cranks, but

1. dealing with Peter is a pleasure.
2. his prices on TA stuff is very good.
3. you get to pick your rings at no upcharge.

I like to support my LBS, but I got my Rambouillet + kit from Peter. No other connection.

- Christian

 

Be warned - despite what others will claim, TA rings do not shift remotely as well as Shimano ones
with Shimano FDs. With Campy Ergo you can overshift and then trim back to work around this, but STI
relies on those ramps and hooks to grab the chain for you and TA's rings have very tiny pick-up
hooks and not much by way of ramps.

I have a TA Zephyr with various rings, plus Shimano UN-72 (fits perfectly) that I would be happy to
take offers on (I got so sick of the poor shifting of the TA rings that I swapped to a Shimano 105
triple crank, despite the resulting non-optimal ratios - probably I should have gone Ergo instead).

 

Peter Headland wrote:

> Be warned - despite what others will claim, TA rings do not shift remotely as well as Shimano ones
> with Shimano FDs. With Campy Ergo you can overshift and then trim back to work around this, but
> STI relies on those ramps and hooks to grab the chain for you and TA's rings have very tiny
> pick-up hooks and not much by way of ramps.

You can also overshift with STI, just push the lever a little past the detent and hold it there 'til
the shift is complete. Once the chain settles down, release the lever and it will settle down to the
"trimmed" position automatically.

I own 3 bikes with STI, none of which has ramped/pinned chairnings, and they all shift OK with
a little bit of technique--not nearly as much technique as was required by 20 year old
systems, though.

Sheldon "I Don't Expect To Be Able To Upshift Under Load, But I Never Need To Do So" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------+
| A government that robs Peter to pay Paul | can always depend upon the support of Paul. | --George
| Bernard Shaw |
+-----------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

 

On 23 Jan 2003 14:10:10 -0800, [email protected] (Peter Headland) wrote:

>Be warned - despite what others will claim, TA rings do not shift remotely as well as Shimano ones
>with Shimano FDs. With Campy Ergo you can overshift and then trim back to work around this, but STI
>relies on those ramps and hooks to grab the chain for you and TA's rings have very tiny pick-up
>hooks and not much by way of ramps.
>
>I have a TA Zephyr with various rings, plus Shimano UN-72 (fits perfectly) that I would be happy to
>take offers on (I got so sick of the poor shifting of the TA rings that I swapped to a Shimano 105
>triple crank, despite the resulting non-optimal ratios - probably I should have gone Ergo instead).

I've got TA rings (39/49) and a Shimano FD-1050 which shifts real sweet. Of course, this is good old
fashioned non-indexed, shift levers on the downtube stuff, for real men who can actually operate
their own gears without Shimano holding their hand.

Kinky Cowboy

*Your milage may vary Batteries not included May contain traces of nuts.