Took the plunge
 

Monday I won a bid on e-bay for a vintage steel Italian track frame and fork. I am beginning to source parts and make decisions*about things I have never delt with before. My first issue is deciphering Campy bottom bracket nomenclature to figure out which BB to buy. Obviously, I need one with Italian Cups, but which spindle is appropriate for a fixie? I saw one listed as a "Pista" BB with 70-P-120 stamped on the spindle. The 70 I assumed is for a 70mm BB, the P pista?, and the 120 the overall lenght?? Then I saw another,supposedly for a track bike Stamped 70-SS. I thought I had it figured out and now am left with confusion. Can anybody shed any light on this for me. Thanks, Bone

You'll probably need either a 111mm spindle or 109mm spindle.

To all of the people throwing mad cash down on a bike without even researching what else to buy, would you like to kick some of that down to me? I mean, I've got the knowledge, but def. not the spendies.

Too true.

A PRIMER: Your spindle length depends on the cranks that you will use. Spindle length + cranks = chainline, which should match the chainline of your hubs. I can't believe I have to refer to this for somebody who just dropped mad coin, but www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed

So, no one knows what the numbers on the spindles mean. I understand the chainline but still have no idea what 70 ss means. Thanks, Bone

70-SS is an Italian threaded (70mm) Nuovo Record Strada (road) bottom bracket with a 115.5mm spindle.

70-P-120 is an Italian threaded (70mm) Record Pista (track) bottom bracket with a 109mm spindle.

Now that's dropping some ****in' knowledge.

I like that....mad coin...lol

also, the 120 refers to the rear spacing the bb is designed to work with..
there is another (quite unusual) older model of pista spindle for 110 spacing

Sashae and Coelcanth,
Thanks, I really appreciate the info. Now I'm getting somewhere. Bone

is 109mm for older campy track cranks? I've had two campy BBs one loose ball and the other, the current pista BB were both 111 symmetrical. Maybe we're talking about different component combinations?