I don't think the triple axle was ever produced in a NR configuration. I always wondered about this, as I thought tourists would benefit more from the self-cleaning effect of the rifling than racers, whose bikes get torn down for maintenance more often.
I replaced the Campy BB on my P15 with an Edco sealed unit, but got less than two years out of it. I was especially disconcerted by the fact that the distance between the point I noticed that there was a problem and total failure was only about 12 miles. I switched back to the Record tripple BB and have never had a problem. My experience has been that you can ride a standard BB with bad bearings hundreds of miles without a problem--maybe thousands.
Track BBs also had no rifling. I used to commute on my track bike and everytime it rained I had to rebuild it. It must be the fenders on the touring bike that protects its BB.
Steve Barner, Bolton, Vermont
> I must admit that the Campy BB I just did was on a
> long-term rafter hanger with a triple, and it has the "Record" cups without
> rifling. Oops... I'd totally forgotten about the positional ramifications of
> the rifled newer style cups. Do you know, has a NR-cup configured triple
> axle ever been offered?