Reverse engineering splines?

[Marburg]

In general I'm all about being an early adopter and trying out new technical ideas. But I always wonder if I'll be left holding the bag when technology moves on.

Case in point, I like the idea of splined track cogs ala White Ind, Phil, Victoire etc. But what happens when Victoire folds? How hard would it be to "reverse engineer" their spline and (say) get a stash of 16 and 17 tooth cogs machined to last till the end times... or pass on others through the usual underground channels.

Same argument for crank splines. Think we'll all be trolling ebay for SiSl spiders in 20 years, just as we do now for Campy rebuild parts?

[Louis]

How quickly do you plan on wearing them out? ;)

Just buy a few extra and put them in a safe place.

I'd think that it would be pretty tough to get a machine shop to make some special, just for you. An existing bike parts manufacturer could do it, but it would have to worth their while, and they would have to have a significantly different cost structure than the original manufacturer, because if Original Maker didn't think it was worth it (and they've already gone up the learning curve) then odds are, most other guys out there will come to the same conclusion. I'm not saying it won't happen (e.g. KMC makes lots of old-style chains) but for something as niche as that, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[avalonracing]

Think we'll all be trolling ebay for SiSl spiders in 20 years, just as we do now for Campy rebuild parts?


Or we could just accept that nothing is forever and just bite the bullet and replace parts with something that is current in 2033.

[oldpotatoe]

In general I'm all about being an early adopter and trying out new technical ideas. But I always wonder if I'll be left holding the bag when technology moves on.

Case in point, I like the idea of splined track cogs ala White Ind, Phil, Victoire etc. But what happens when Victoire folds? How hard would it be to "reverse engineer" their spline and (say) get a stash of 16 and 17 tooth cogs machined to last till the end times... or pass on others through the usual underground channels.

Same argument for crank splines. Think we'll all be trolling ebay for SiSl spiders in 20 years, just as we do now for Campy rebuild parts?

What are you looking for? Very little about 8s Campagnolo has been orphaned. 8s cogsets are still available, shifter innards, rear ders, use a 'modern' one w/o modification, cranks, etc..

email direct if you wish.

[Marburg]

What are you looking for? Very little about 8s Campagnolo has been orphaned. 8s cogsets are still available, shifter innards, rear ders, use a 'modern' one w/o modification, cranks, etc..

email direct if you wish.

Ha, ha. No, nothing specific, though I am thinking about cornering the worldwide supply of 9-speed and 10-speed shift discs.

I suppose the flip side is "how hard is it for someone like Hombrewed (http://homebrewedcomponents.com/) to support an ever-expanding array of cranks and splines. Can't be that hard, because he's bothered to do it.