Frankengolo Headset
 

Hey guys -

So my sister brought up this Craigs' Bottecchia I had my dad snag for me a few weeks back. Among the many oddball mysteries on this thing is the headset. I'm guessing however, that it's only a mystery to me and will most likely be straight forward to some of you.

The top nut is Campy, but there's no Campagnolo markings around the face of the cups, and there were several rings thrown in to reach the proper stack height. Are the cups off brand or maybe Stronglight?

Campy did make headsets without the annular groove; in particular, the early Pista ones. Picture below is from their 1967 catalog. By 1982, the Pista headset had the groove too. The Bottechia may (if it's not a track bike) have a steerer cut so that it needs a lower-stack headset, and the Pista is just that. On the other hand, you show a lotta thread above the top race (unless photo is with no bearing balls in the headset).

Note that your locknut does not match the one in the catalog illustration, though. I would expect that in 1967 all the headsets would have been steel, rather than alloy. What is yours?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/...45566b73_b.jpg

that's a junkbox special. The top came off of a super record. The rest I dunno.

I don't think the Nuovo Gran Sport headsets were labeled Campagnolo on the cups, but those could be some generic Italian cost saver, maybe with a Campagnolo lock nut added later?