First of all, in my opinion Zeus was never a maker of Campy clones. The fact is all the European manufacturers, including Campy, were influenced by each others products. Zeus no more copied Campy than Campy copied Zeus or Simplex or Huret. This image of the all-powerful Campy copied by everyone else is just a baseless delusion.
Second, so called French thread is really metric thread, and metric dimensions have been the European standard, not just the French standard, since Napoleon implemented them and proceeded to conquer the rest of Europe, thereby speading them. So that a Spanish manufacturer should make metric thread is only natural.
And in fact Zeus made not only metric, but English thread as well.
This bring us to Italian threading, and a question I have been meaning to raise. So called Italian thread is about the most bastardized system anyone can imagine. There are a few metric dimensions, but most dimensons are openly stated in inches. So how did a European country wind up with a thread dimension in inches? One story I have heard is that this was the result of reconstructing Italy after WWII using American and British machine tools. If this is true, then presumably Italian bikes before WW II used a different standard, presumably a metric one. Anyone know what threading pre-WWII Italian bike actually used?
Regards,
Jerry Moos BIg Spring, TX
"tom.ward@juno.com" <tom.ward@juno.com> wrote:
>Spain is a lot closer to France than it is to Italy... [Sheldon Brown]
[Re: Zeus crankarms with French pedal threads]
Precisely, France is a large, proximate market if you are standing in Sp
ain, with all the advantages proximity entails.You'll be making headsets
to the French dimensions, too, if you want a piece of that market . . .
.
Yet let it be noted (as many have done in the past, I'm sure I'm followi
ng someone else's lead here, thoroughly assimilated along the way) that
there is more to Zeus than seeming Campagnolo cloning--for example, Zeus
cranks were available in a smaller BCD (offering more gearing options),
there are differing visual cues, too, among some of the other categorie
s of parts--and hey, they offered those very attractive centrepulls. Nee
dless to say there are no Campagnolo centrepulls in period--thus there i
s definitely a certain chunk of the Zeus ouevre with nothing to do with
ze Campy. Zeus may not display blazing originality left-and-right, but t
here is evidence of independent thought; the influence may have been wor
n on the sleeve, but was not slavish. So if someone needs a certain thre
ading accomodated, and Campagnolo doesn't offer it--why, there's an oppo
rtunity! Not only for immediate sales, but also for distinguishing your
brand in a given locality.
There are Zeus hubs and pedals too that fit French specification--all th
e better to be stocked on those nearby French cycle shop shelves, saving
you on transport fees. Heck, you could smuggle the stuff over the borde
r through the Pyranees on . . . bicycles!
To conclude my essay:
As with Gipiemme and some other brands, Campagnolo product offered a str
ong, inspirational point of departure. However, one might have chosen so
me Zeus components with more in mind than simply a cheaper price point.
This would include the insight that a few Zeus pieces address applicatio
ns that Campagnolo could afford to ignore.
Tom Ward
New York City, New York, Los Estados Unidos*
*Where it might have been fun for there to have been, as well, a unique
Spanish standard for threading, just to Balkanize the 20th Century cycli
ng scene that
. The more the merrier, we're not in this
for efficiency--vives les differences, if we may state that commnplace
expression in the plural.
P.S. Rich Pinder, there is a Gipiemme seatpost on its way to you now!
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Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 16:36:13 -0400 From: loudeeter@aol.com To: CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com, biankita@comcast.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Why Zeus cranks used French pedal thread? Message-ID: <8C962232690C526-B40-AEBC@webmail-da09.sysops.aol.com> In-Reply-To: <8C96222DD921EB0-B40-AE78@webmail-da09.sysops.aol.com> References: <9f99e7360d474ab7e72f6ba8a500abfe@comcast.net>
<8C96222DD921EB0-B40-AE78@webmail-da09.sysops.aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Message: 10
Ahh, I now understand where I missed your point. You meant that Spain i s closer to France
than Spain is to Italy, gotcha. Sorry for screwing this up. I missed th e meaning of
"it". Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
-----Original Message----- From: loudeeter@aol.com To: CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com; biankita@comcast.net; classicrendezvous@b ikelist.org Sent: Fri, 11 May 2007 4:34 PM Subject: Re: [CR]Why Zeus cranks used French pedal thread?
Sheldon, have you looked at a map of Europe lately? I believe that Ital y and Spain are
precisely the same distance from France. I would agree that Eibar, Spai n (where Zeus is
located) is probably closer to some territory of France than Vicenza, It aly is from French
territory, but I'm guessing that the distance from Paris to Vicenza is l ess than the
distance from Paris to Eibar. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 16:36:13 -0400 From: loudeeter@aol.com To: CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com, biankita@comcast.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Why Zeus cranks used French pedal thread?
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