GPVB1@cs.com wrote: Scott and list:
I'd wager $50 this is a very late NR headset.
I offer as evidence the following, your honors:
1) The plastic holder that snaps into all the bits was used only very late in Production of NR/SR headsets.
2) The "Nuovo" sticker was also used very late when Triomphe already existed. It appears that they were using up NR inventory while they went into production with a Triomphe headset (talk about a step backwards!).
3) I've seen headsets boxed as Triomphe, but with the same "Nuovo" sticker on the box that were in fact late Nuovo Record (not drilled), but with a funky (Triomphe) fork crown race.
As always, Campy used up inventory and overlapped production of items, as we've touched upon previously.
Cheers,
Greg "those old Campy parts can be a bit confusing sometimes, but c'est la vie" Parker
Greg,
I thought this response was interesting:
My recollection agrees. I remember these as being from around the time (or after) Super Record came out.
When I think of "late NR" production I think of script logo calipers, engraved shifters, rear der's without removable springs and so forth. Apparently other people think of "late NR" as any time after the intro of SR, which is about ten years before the actual end of NR. Early SR was also not that long after the earliest NR offerings, as I recall. Wasn't the alloy rear der. the first NR part? And wasn't that from the very early '70's. Goes to show that "late NR" can have very different meanings, depending on your point of view.
While I have a similar definition of late NR to yours, I will argue that this headset is not from that period. I had my eyes wide open in the mid 80's for every tiny NR and SR variation, and I never saw one of these headsets. That, in itself, is inconclusive, but I have other reasons to think this is earlier.
Regarding comment 1: The plastic insert doesnt mean much, since that could easily have been added. I have used every one that I have to store various old headsets. They are pretty handy and make it a lot easier to keep headsets together. While the rest of the packaging is equally inconclusive, the bearings are in the older container, and it looks like the color of the box is very pale, as was the case with the earlier stuff.
Regarding comments 2 and 3: The Triomphe connection seems weak to me. If Triomphe had drilled races, Id say you had a good point. But Triomphe headsets had no parts in common with Record, except possibly the upper cone, which wasnt drilled on either. Victory was a lot closer to Record, and used the same pressed races, but again, they werent drilled. I do remember some add-on stickers for the packing in the 80s, but I dont think it was exclusive to the era.
The big question is: why would Campy start drilling cups at the end of NR production? Toward the end, NR was really starting to take on a budget alternative to SR position in the market, as opposed to the earlier time when NR was the norm and SR was the Super-de-duper too-cool-for-school alternative. What Im saying is that by the mid 80s, NR was not getting much attention as far as improvements were concerned. Most changes to NR seemed to be for the sake of making it more like SR to keep costs down as relative demand for NR shrunk.
As an alternative, consider the days before SR when NR was subject to lightening tweaks, like the SL post and pedals. The drilling of NR races, in a world without the light alloy SR option, seems to make some sense.
In the absence of the <C> logo on the lower race, I would quickly change my story, but for now, Im stickin with it, your honor.
Tom Dalton
Bethlehem, PA
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