Re: [CR]zeus catalog

(Example: Framebuilders:Doug Fattic)

Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:33:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]zeus catalog
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, ias23philly@yahoo.com
In-Reply-To: <896837.23059.qm@web32608.mail.mud.yahoo.com>


I think the biggest Campy problem was a Ti axle Super Record hub (I bel ieve that would have been the designation) that broke axles frequently.   I'm not sure if this was actually ever released for public sale, or i f failures of prototypes, perhaps used by Campy-sponsored teams, caused t he hubs to be dropped.  If they did make it to market, they were quickl y pulled. 

There were also problems breaking Ti BB axles.  I believe there was a fam ous photo of one of the major stars of the day sitting on the road after hi s Ti BB axle snapped. I think the Ti BB also used different size bearings a nd the original version has male threads on the axle ends, so it used n uts to secure it, like a mid-priced Japanese BB.  Don't know that that de sign caused a specific problem, but some guys didn't like a nutted BB at a premium price.

The Super Record pedals also broke axles, though I think less frequently th an the BB's and certainly not as bad as the short-lived hubs.  The bearin gs and bearing cups are also different from NR, so one can't change between Ti and steel axles without changing the bearing cups which is a chore.  And Campy didn't use Ti where it would have made sense on the pedal plates, where it would have been lighter than steel, but not as easily scratched u p as aluminum.  Zeus 2000 had both TI axles and Ti cage plates.

About the only SR Ti bits that worked without problems were pivot bolts on the rear derailleur.  And they wound up being the only Ti on what was sol d as a Super Record Reduced gruppo, which had the SR RD with Ti bolts, SR c hanirings with no inner web but a steel BB axle and arms the same as NR, dr illed SR brake levers, an SR seatpost, second generation of which was singl e bolt, and SuperLeggeri pedals, with the black anodized aluminum cage plat es but a steel axle and the same size bearings as NR.  And Record (not su re they were ever called Nuovo Record) hubs with steel axles.

Zeus 2000, on the other hand, had Ti pedal cages as well as pedal axles, an d Ti BB axle.  I also believe that the 2000 BB cups were Ti, whereas Supe r Record, IIRC were aluminum with steel races.  And of course the RD pivo t bolts were Ti like Campy SR.  I'm not sure if the 2000 hub axles were T i, and not inclined to disassemble mine to check.

I had a new Alan Super Record built in 1981 with a full Zeus 2000 gruppo, a nd I have found it far superior to any Campy gruppo I've ever ridden.  We ll actually, not quite a full 2000 gruppo, because the 2000 brakes weren't quite short enough for the close clearence Alan frame.  So it does have S uper Record brakes, which were one part of the SR gruppo that did not have any problems.  I've never broken a Ti part on a Zeus 2000 component, no r have I heard of Zeus 2000 being prone to failures as most of the SR Ti parts were.  Now some will argue that one hears of more Campy SR Ti fai lures just because they sold more than Zeus 2000.  But Zeus 2000, while l ower volume than Campy SR, wasn't super rare.  I think Zeus just somehow  figured out how to make Ti pedal and BB axles with acceptable durability , whereas Campy did not.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA


--- On Tue, 9/16/08, Isaac Schell wrote:


From: Isaac Schell <ias23philly@yahoo.com> Subject: [CR]zeus catalog To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 9:35 AM

Can anyone point me in the direction of a zeus 2000 catalog? It's my understanding that zeus was able make good use of titanium, while campy's attempt was not so great. Can anyone tell me exactly what failed in campag nolo products but that worked in zeus? Thanks,

Isaac (newby to componentry) Schell
Philadelphia PA
USA