Vintage Velo

Spécialités T.A. 130-Tooth Chainwheel

There’s a 130-tooth chainring on the wall at the Mariposa Bicycles shop in Toronto. For Michael Barry, it’s a component that’s always been around. During the 1970s and ’80s, Barry’s father, Mike Barry Sr., ran the Bicyclesport shop. He was a big fan of the French component maker Spécialités T.A., which still makes cranksets and bottle cages. Sometime in the early years of the shop, Barry Sr. acquired the monstrous chainring. “I think he got the chainwheel in the ’70s because I remember it being on the wall at all the shops that he had over the years,” Michael says.

The 130-tooth ring is a replica of the one used by José Meiffret during his record-setting ride in 1962. The French rider reached a speed of 204.778 km/h while drafting behind a car. When Michael Barry speaks about the component, he uses the British term chainwheel instead of chainring. It seems appropriate. The chainwheel is almost the same diameter as the front wheel of Meiffret’s bike. That front hoop was smaller than the rear wheel and the front fork was curved inward so that Meiffret could get as close as possible to the car he was drafting behind. The frame had a high bottom bracket to accommodate the chainwheel, which cleared the ground by little more than the thickness of a finger.

The largest chainring Spécialités T.A. makes currently is a 60-tooth. Michael Barry put one on a customer’s bike not too long ago.—Matthew Pioro