I just picked up two wheels for the Dawes Galaxy at Yellow Jersey, in Madison. They built the wheels with vintage Normandy hubs and new rims which were the closest I could find to the original profile. They also convinced me that the original Nervar cottered crankset could be used, still keeping the original cups and buying a new cottered spindle to fit.

They sold me the new cotter pins, and brought out from the depths of their work shop a cotterpin press that looked a bit like a steel dinosaur. They assured me that with proper pin insertion, a cottered crankset is as good as any other. I will take the bike in for a proper installation when I am further along in this project. One thing I definitely can see in favor of the chromed steel Nervar—the teeth on this baby are practically new, with none of the hooked wear I have seen on so many used alloy cranksets. I am just as glad to be able to use this. While I had be looking for a T.A. Specialities cyclotourist crankset as befits a touring bike of this era, the ebay prices on those cranksets are sky-high. This original crankset still definitely conjures up British cycle tourists and the CTC outings, so I think it will be just fine.