I remember hearing a lot of hype about what a great headset the Tange Levin was in the 1970's, and how it looked just like campagnolo, with a channel cut and the name "Tange Levin Japan" printed into the upper and lower channels, and on the top locknut.
Well, I was working on a campy headset and found the bottom race was pitted. So, i took down a NOS tange levin i have for a japanese bike restoration and tried fitting the crown race into the campy cup, to see if a modern tange crown would work. oh, it fit all right, with about 2-3mm of gap between the race and the cup! same gap for the upper race!
"This cannot be" i thought, so i tried putting my campagnolo crown race into the tange levin AND IT FIT LIKE A GLOVE.
I think a better term would be "Tange Open-Air Headset", at least for these vintage models. I would think that water penetration would be quite likely with these headsets.
Does anyone know if the modern models (Levin or Passage) are any better, or are modern Tange headsets using this "Open-Air" design? Is there another modern or recently extinct headset that can be used to replace the crown race on a campagnolo nuovo record with a better fit? I am aware that BC sells triomphe crown races but I was wondering about recent production?
Even my OFMEGA headset puts the tange levin to shame.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA