The Ritzy was discontinued a few years ago by Tange. The 1500 is the recommended replacement. The tange waybackmachine catalogues I have list the only differences between the two are the 1500 has a 'fully sealed mechanism' and the Ritzy has a 27.0 crown race, headcup OD of 30.0 and a stack height of 36.8mm. The Ritzy looks like it was built as a high end headset for the JIS 'standard', while the 1500 was built for export as it is made to the BSA 'standard'.
The Wilsonbike website vendor list has not been updated in at least 6 months, and Tange was a recent (re-)addition, along with Sugino, MKS, HKK, Nitto, Hozan, Honjo, Soyo, and the remnants of Suzue. 'They' have to work on that.
Tom Martin
Oakland CA
wilson bike minister of propaganda
Tom and others,
With the first mention of this alloy Levin 1500 headset my interest rose. I have been looking out for a Tange Ritzy (as mentioned on page 51 of the 1981 Ronkit catalogue) dural headset, but was unable to find even information that one, let alone the headset itself. Could the 1500 be a newer version? And where can I find a shop that stocks them? Wilson Bike Sales doesn't seem to mention these Tange headsets (or any Tange headsets) on their website. it would be a nice addition to the all-Japanese equipped Zieleman I'm building, aiming for the lightweight look.
thanks,
Freek Faro Rotterdam Netherlands
2006/2/27, fatcogtom@comcast.net <fatcogtom@comcast.net>: QBP stocks the CDS and the Passage. Both are steel, 'triple sealed' (lower cup, upper cone, locknut seals) and are an upgrade from campagnolo's vintage headsets. The CDS has a stack height of 33.4 and the Passage has a stack of 30.3. The CDS has the rounded profile that King headsets have made so popular. The Passage is more low profile and has more right angles in the lower cup and upper adjusting cone.
Wilson Bike Sales stocks the Levin steel (stack height of 38.2mm) and Levin Alloy 1500 (stack height of 42.7mm). Both are suitable replacements for vintage Campagnolo headsets in terms of asthetics, fit and function. From 10 feet away it would be hard to tell the difference between a Campy or Tange.
For you vintage BMX'ers, Wilson also carries the Pro 1" BMX headset, but I don't want to get too offf topic, or be too gauche......
There may be other distributors, but these are the ones I know about.
Tom Martin
Oakland CA