Spécialités TA History: A Timeline of Key Corporate and Technical Events

From a front-wheel-drive experiment that never reached production to a crankset still made six decades after its debut, the history of Spécialités TA is the story of a tiny French workshop that chose to do a few things better than anyone else. Founded in Clamart in 1947 by Georges Navet, a cabinetmaker turned metalworker, TA built its name on the aluminum chainring and the endlessly configurable crankset, equipping cyclotouristes and Tour de France champions alike. This timeline traces the milestones of that improbably influential company, from the duralumin pioneers who preceded it to its modern home in Sissonne.

1908

Material Context

Duralumin, the light aluminum alloy at the heart of the TA story, is discovered; aviation adopts it through the 1920s.

1931

Industry Context

Stronglight, founded by Louis Vérot in the Loire, produces the first duralumin crankset, a five-bolt design on a 50.4mm bolt circle; Alfredo Binda races it at Milan–San Remo. TA would build its early business around this standard.

1942–1943

Founder’s Apprenticeship

Georges Navet, a cabinetmaker and Audax Club Parisien cyclist, becomes a fitter-assembler (ajusteur-monteur) at René Herse’s Levallois workshop, learning to work duralumin.

1943

Patent Filed

Navet files the patent for TA’s needle-bearing pedal, later one of the company’s signature products.

1947

Company Founding

Georges Navet and his brother Louis found Spécialités TA in Clamart. The name stands for “Traction Avant,” after Navet’s front-wheel-drive crankset, an idea that never reached production. The same year TA introduces its aluminum chainring.

Early 1950s

Product Strategy

TA produces a wide range of alloy chainrings to fit the dominant Stronglight 49D (50.4mm BCD), letting cyclotouristes customize gearing far beyond the factory options.

1952

Product Launch

The needle-bearing cage pedal, patented in 1943, reaches the market.

Late 1940s–1950s

Racing Pedigree

Champions including Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali compete on TA chainrings at the Tour de France, giving the cyclotouriste marque a place at the front of the peloton.

Late 1950s

First Crankset

TA launches the Criterium (reference 1500), its first crankset and the lightest on the market at the time, using a distinctive teardrop-shaped cotter and a special bottom bracket that allowed lateral chainline adjustment.

1963

Icon Introduced

The Pro 5 Vis crankset debuts. Built on the 50.4mm Cyclo-Touriste bolt circle with a dozen crankarm lengths, it will remain in production, nearly unchanged, for six decades.

1960s

Relocation

TA gradually relocates to Trucy, in the Aisne, and begins machining cranks and chainring blanks for René Herse himself, the apprentice’s company now supplying the master.

Early 1970s

Product Expansion

TA adds the three-arm Pro 3 Attaches crankset alongside dedicated track (ref 255) and tandem crossover (ref 201) variants.

c. 1976

Sub-Brand Launch

TA launches Tevano, its answer to Campagnolo’s Super Record, built on the Italian 144mm bolt circle. “Tevano” is an anagram of founder “Navet,” with an O added for Italian flavor.

c. 1980

Marketing Milestone

A print advertisement boasts of “1 million combinations, always in stock,” celebrating the near-endless mix of crankarm lengths and Cyclo-Touriste rings.

1980s

Diversification

TA moves into plastics, developing water-bottle and cage technology that will eventually account for a fifth of the company’s revenue.

2000s

Peak Output

At its height TA produces around 200,000 chainrings a year across some 550 references, roughly 60 percent of it exported.

January 2010

Relocation

The company leaves Trucy for nearby Sissonne, in the Aisne, some 30 km away.

2017

Anniversary

For its seventieth anniversary, TA issues a limited run of 200 of its classic cranksets.