I asked this question a while ago but got no real answer so I thought I'd ask folks a favour and see if something clearer comes of it.
I'm working on a couple of project bikes and noticed some minor detail differences. Both of them have chromed steel Campagnolo headsets, and they are very similar but the one that's currently on the ~'65 Frejus says: BREV. CAMPAGNOLO ITALY BREV. CAMPAGNOLO ITALY on the top and bottom cups in a slightly recessed groove around the circumference. Note the periods after BREV.
The one that's currently on the ~'72 Bevilacqua says (in a slightly recessed groove around the circumference): BREV CAMPAGNOLO ITALY BREV CAMPAGNOLO ITALY on the top and BREV CAMPAGNOLO ITALY BREV CAMPAGNOLO <C> on the bottom cup.
Notice the disappearance of the periods behind the BREV (both top and bottom), the loss of one ITALY and the introduction of the <C> (on just the bottom cup and I think on the bottom of the crown race but I haven't checked that). Otherwise the headsets look identical (in shape).
So my request; is could list members having bikes with their (believed) original Campag steel headsets with similar writing on the cups, take a moment to check these details and report what details they found (with the year of the bike/headset)?
I passed my original question on to John Barron and he reported a few things
including:
> The next gen is what most everyone knows with words circumferentially in
> a recessed path, or wide groove. These started with a <C> on the lower
> cup (early 70's) and finished without.
But I'm beginning to wonder if there were initially sets without the <C> but with the period after BREV, and then the <C> was introduced and the period got dropped (when is what I'd like to figure out), and then eventually we had sets with neither the <C> nor the period. So I'm hoping the list might be able to help uncover this bit of trivia. I'm of the opinion that this headset I have on the '65 Frejus is correct and that this style of headset dates from the early 60's.
David Bilenkey
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada