Do vintage Campy BB cups come in different thicknesses?

I'm building up my trusty old-but-just-refurbished Bob Jackson as an
all Campy period bike. I'm cannibalizing the Campy stuff from a bike
of the same age that is built with Columbus tubing. The BB shell of
the Columbus bike is about 2mm wider than the BB shell on the BJ. The
Campy BB spindle is 68-SS-120, and the adjustable cup protrudes from
the BJ BB shell more than I remember the old one used to. I'm pretty
sure that the spindle is the same as the one I used to use, which leads
me to wonder whether the cups were available in more than one thickness
(measured from the race side to the exterior surface? As it is, it
works - no interference with the inside of the left crank arm - but
looks odd.

TIA for any help!

Marc

wrote:

I'm building up my trusty old-but-just-refurbished Bob Jackson as an
all Campy period bike. I'm cannibalizing the Campy stuff from a bike
of the same age that is built with Columbus tubing. The BB shell of
the Columbus bike is about 2mm wider than the BB shell on the BJ. The
Campy BB spindle is 68-SS-120, and the adjustable cup protrudes from
the BJ BB shell more than I remember the old one used to. I'm pretty
sure that the spindle is the same as the one I used to use, which leads
me to wonder whether the cups were available in more than one thickness
(measured from the race side to the exterior surface? As it is, it
works - no interference with the inside of the left crank arm - but
looks odd.

Yes, there were different thicknesses. The thicker ones had clever
"dirt expeller" threads surrounding the hole the spindle went through.
These threads would "unscrew" dirt and dust as the crank turned.

I think you can find the details at campyonly.com

I'm not a Campagnolo expert, but I believe the code on your spindle means:

68 mm bottom bracket shell, should be correct for a British bike like
your Jackson.

SS = "Strada" (road)

120 rear hub spacing.

Sheldon "Campgranola" Brown
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Yes, the 68-SS-120 means english-road and ideally for a 120mm spaced rear end.



Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Thanks all!

Sheldon, I'm looking forward to showing you my bike when I'm done -
sent it back to Bob Jackson Cycles for a minor repair and new paint and
decals - looks great! I found an early 70s bike on eBay that had =/-
200 miles on it and had been in storage for over 30 years, so all Campy
equipment is in very nice shape! The recumbent is my bike for any
distance but the BJ will be the Sunday smell the roses nostalgia
ride...

Marc

On 19 Dec 2004 18:34:35 -0800 wrote:

I'm building up my trusty old-but-just-refurbished Bob Jackson as an
all Campy period bike. I'm cannibalizing the Campy stuff from a bike
of the same age that is built with Columbus tubing. The BB shell of
the Columbus bike is about 2mm wider than the BB shell on the BJ. The
Campy BB spindle is 68-SS-120, and the adjustable cup protrudes from
the BJ BB shell more than I remember the old one used to. I'm pretty
sure that the spindle is the same as the one I used to use, which leads
me to wonder whether the cups were available in more than one thickness
(measured from the race side to the exterior surface? As it is, it
works - no interference with the inside of the left crank arm - but
looks odd.

No, Campy did not make special cups to accomodate this. The Campy
parts you have are the right ones.

My Jacksons are the same. The British bottom bracket shells of that
era were something like 2-5/8" rather than the accepted standard 68
mm, so the Campy BBs don't fit quite centered.

I've used a single Sturmey-Archer cog spacer to shim the RH cup out
just enough to center it. That way the excess on the left side becomes
acceptable.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 22:57:36 -0500 Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Yes, there were different thicknesses. The thicker ones had clever
"dirt expeller" threads surrounding the hole the spindle went through.
These threads would "unscrew" dirt and dust as the crank turned.

Well, yes and no....

The Older Record BBs did not have the internal reverse threads and
they will only work with Old Record spindles.

The later Nuovo Record BBs had the internal reverse threads and they
will only work with the Nuovo Record spindles.

Whichever set you try to use will give the same problem, which is due
to the fact that the English BB shell was a bit too narrow. I wonder
what "standard" it conformed to?

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

Jim Adney writes:

On 19 Dec 2004 18:34:35 -0800 wrote:

I'm building up my trusty old-but-just-refurbished Bob Jackson as an
all Campy period bike. I'm cannibalizing the Campy stuff from a bike
of the same age that is built with Columbus tubing. The BB shell of
the Columbus bike is about 2mm wider than the BB shell on the BJ.

A columbus tubing bike probably takes an italian bottom bracket.

The Campy BB spindle is 68-SS-120, and the adjustable cup protrudes
from the BJ BB shell more than I remember the old one used to. I'm
pretty sure that the spindle is the same as the one I used to use,
which leads me to wonder whether the cups were available in more
than one thickness (measured from the race side to the exterior
surface?

Very early (1960's) campy bottom brackets in 151 bcd were "Campagnolo
Record" - not nuovo record, and they had thicker cups. The "Record"
bottom brackets were also used for the 144 bcd triple cranksets up
through 1977 with the Nuovo Record Triple. Read more about it here :

http://www.bicycleclassics.com/bottom.html

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Well, yes and no....

The Older Record BBs did not have the internal reverse threads and
they will only work with Old Record spindles.

The later Nuovo Record BBs had the internal reverse threads and they
will only work with the Nuovo Record spindles.

Whichever set you try to use will give the same problem, which is due
to the fact that the English BB shell was a bit too narrow. I wonder
what "standard" it conformed to?

You can use any cup with any spindle even though they may not be "correct" for
each other. Some BB/chainline problems can be solved that way.
Phil Brown

-snip-
Donald Gillies wrote:
A columbus tubing bike probably takes an italian bottom bracket.
-snip-
Very early (1960's) campy bottom brackets in 151 bcd were "Campagnolo
Record" - not nuovo record, and they had thicker cups. The "Record"
bottom brackets were also used for the 144 bcd triple cranksets up
through 1977 with the Nuovo Record Triple. Read more about it here :
http://www.bicycleclassics.com/bottom.html


Almost.

The older BB (1046) cups were thin and Record. The improved
Nuovo Record BB (1046a) has the dirt-expelling grooves,
hence thicker cups.

Lots of US builders built Columbus with BSC shells.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 23 Dec 2004 14:50:04 -0800 (Donald Gillies)
wrote:

Jim Adney writes:

On 19 Dec 2004 18:34:35 -0800 wrote:

I'm building up my trusty old-but-just-refurbished Bob Jackson as an
all Campy period bike. I'm cannibalizing the Campy stuff from a bike
of the same age that is built with Columbus tubing. The BB shell of
the Columbus bike is about 2mm wider than the BB shell on the BJ.

A columbus tubing bike probably takes an italian bottom bracket.

JRJ Cycles is a British firm. They built with either Columpus or
Reynolds tubing depending on the model of the frame. In either case,
they used English threaded bottom bracket shells.

Very early (1960's) campy bottom brackets in 151 bcd were "Campagnolo
Record" - not nuovo record, and they had thicker cups. The "Record"
bottom brackets were also used for the 144 bcd triple cranksets up
through 1977 with the Nuovo Record Triple. Read more about it here :

You've either got this reversed, or you're talking about something
I've never seen. We're talking about the thickness of the "end" wall
of the cup, right?

Here's what I know:

Early Record (early 60s to maybe 69?) thin cups, no reverse helical
grooves.

Late Nuovo Record (maybe 69-on) thick cups, with the reverse helical
grooves. The reverse helical grooves were introduced with the Nuovo
Record line; I'm sure of this.

Was there an even earlier version of the Record that used thicker
cups? If so, I'm not familiar with it.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------