Re: [CR]Zeus Super Cronos group: 1985?

(Example: History)

Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 23:02:39 -0800 (PST)
From: "brad stockwell" <brdstockwell@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Zeus Super Cronos group: 1985?
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <29107290.1072888249969.JavaMail.root@fozzie.psp.pas.earthlink.net>


Kerrigan -- regarding Zeus Super Cronos:

The Zeus Super Cronos group must have appeared sometime after 1982 and before 1985 (the 1985 catalog from the US importer, Zeus Cyclery Corp, describes it as "new"; the 1982 catalog doesn't list it; I have no catalog in-between those dates). This probably makes the group borderline off-topic.

It replaced the "2000" series as the top group in Zeus' lineup. But it doesn't have the sizzle associated with the Zeus 2000 group.

The 1985 catalog describes the Super Cronos group as being used succesfully by the Fagor team, but looking at pictures from the Eddy Merckx "fabulous world of cycling" yearbook from 1985 reveals that although the Fagor team did ride red-and-white bikes with "Zeus" labels, the only Zeus component appeared to be the brakes (the bikes had Campy drivetrains and Simplex retrofriction shifters). The catalog also shows a Razesa frame with Zeus components, but alas the Zor team of the period used Razesa frames with Campy equipment.

The Super Cronos name was applied to other Zeus products prior to 1985. In 1977, the top model of Zeus bicycle was the "Supreme" while the second model was called "Cronos". Circa 1980 the top model was renamed "Super Cronos", which explains the reference on the CR site. Also circa 1980, there was a component group called Super Cronos which was all Criterium except for the addition of Zeus-2000 derailleurs and drilled chainrings (I bought one in a fancy display box from Skip Lyle a few years ago).

Brad Stockwell Zeus fan Palo Alto

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