Classic & Vintage - NR chainrings: Patent, Brev., and "<C>"

Hello fellows,

I've had it in mind to swap out the Super Record inner ring on my '70 Paramount for a proper, pre-CSPC NR.

Naturally, as the "Patent CAMPAGNOLO" lettering was revised in 1978 to "Brev. CAMPAGNOLO," I checked the spares on the fleet to see if I happened to have a spare, correct ring that would serve a better purpose on the Paramount.

While I was not successful in finding a 42t NR "Patent" ring, I did come across an oddity - a ring which I believe is 42t with the NR pattern - with no markings whatsoever, with exception to the lone Campagnolo "<C>" logo stamped on the inside edge.

I've never seen such a variant - probably because I never paid attention before - and I'm not entirely sure what year this falls under.

Advice from the wise sages of Campagnolo on this forum appreciated.

-Kurt

Got one. I believe it would be "period correct" for your 70. My NOS Lejeune Champ du Monde came with it. My guess is that it predates "Patent Campagnolo"

I know the<C> marked ones tend to command higher price on ebay it seems...

That adds up pretty well. Looks as if that ring is destined for the Paramount.

-Kurt

...Naturally, as the "Patent CAMPAGNOLO" lettering was revised in 1978 to "Brev. CAMPAGNOLO," I checked the spares on the fleet to see if I happened to have a spare, correct ring that would serve a better purpose on the Paramount...

-Kurt

Kurt and other Campy aficionados

I'm trying to approximate the date of a set of chairings and am a bit confused about the revision date of the "Patent CAMPAGNOLO" lettering, as the chainring pics in the '85 catalog still show "Patent CAMPAGNOLO."

Was this just a matter of Campy not updating their catalog photos, was there an overlap in the use of both versions of lettering, or is the '78 date not accurate?

stan

I have a <C> marked 41T NR chainring from the early 80s:

http://os2.dhs.org/~john/41t.jpg

Seems anomalous but AFAIK, the 41T 144mm BCD ring wasn't available before then.

I have a <C> marked 41T NR chainring from the early 80s:

Brings up another question - does the crankset need to be milled at the spider ends for a chain to clear with that 41?

-Kurt

Kurt, does your <c> inscribed ring not have the tooth count on it? Like JohnDThompson I have a 42T inner with just the <c> and also "42" just as his ring does. I actually believe mine to be a post CPSC ring and it is simply on corky because it it in nearly new condition. I also have a pinned 52T ring while I know that one without the chain "catch" pin would be correct.

Edit: you could do what the racers did at the time and cut away the excess material... I was told by a good friend of mine who raced in Hungray in the late 1970s that they cut the inner webbing away to make them easier to clean rather than to make them lighter.

Kurt, does your <c> inscribed ring not have the tooth count on it?

After removing it and cleaning it, I found that it did (and was rather ticked off that it was a 43t).


Edit: you could do what the racers did at the time and cut away the excess material... I was told by a good friend of mine who raced in Hungray in the late 1970s that they cut the inner webbing away to make them easier to clean rather than to make them lighter.

Same as the BMX cranksets. I was thinking, however, of the stepped ends built into some Ofmega 144 cranksets to clear 41t rings.

-Kurt

Same as the BMX cranksets. I was thinking, however, of the stepped ends built into some Ofmega 144 cranksets to clear 41t rings.

-Kurt

Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. What I was getting at is that if you cut away the material the markings would become irrelevant as they would be gone.

Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. What I was getting at is that if you cut away the material the markings would become irrelevant as they would be gone.

Oh, you mean turn them into SR's? I don't think I would - the NR pattern is the very reason I was poking about these rings in the first place.

-Kurt

Oh, you mean turn them into SR's? I don't think I would - the NR pattern is the very reason I was poking about these rings in the first place.

-Kurt

I know, I wouldn't do it either. I was mentioning it more in passing as it seemed a relevant point of interest for the thread, but yeah I doubt any of us would do that today.

Brings up another question - does the crankset need to be milled at the spider ends for a chain to clear with that 41?
For best results, yes. Otherwise the chain side plates will ride up on the arms. Ofmega/Avocet did this by default on their arms:

http://os2.dhs.org/~john/avocet-crank.jpg

For other cranks, you can just file down the arm. There's no need to try to duplicate the fancy "shelf" on the Ofmega arms; just file the whole thing down by a millimeter or so.

John's "C" in a Diamond is not the same as the "C" in brackets like this <C> it is later.

The 41 tooth ring is pretty scarce...

vjp