> As an engineer in a big manufacturing operation, let me offer
> an hypothesis
> based on modern manufacturing practices.
>
> I can say that marks on parts often offer nothing more than a
> way to
> identify changes in the supply chain. For example, Campy
> could have had one
> run of spindle blanks forged at a preferred supplier, and
> another run forged
> at an acceptable alternative supplier "z." Once the part is
> old enough that
> this info is not needed for quality assurance (presumably 30
> - 50 years is
> getting old enough), there's no loss to Campy in "losing" the
> history.
>
> Ken Freeman
> Ann Arbor, MI USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
> [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of
> Fred Rednor
> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 8:54 PM
> To: KvnMuadib@aol.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]campy spindles
>
> > hey now, does anyone know what a z under the 120 ss on a
> campy
> > spindle means?it is part of a 68 mm english threaded bb.
> > thanks...kevin ruberg howell nj usa
>
> It means... nothing!
> Not every marking on the Campagnolo spindles is significant.
> Unfortunately, some of the other markings are ambiguous, but
> that's what
> makes those Campagnolo bottom bracket spindles so
> interesting. (After all,
> otherwise, you're talking about a piece of metal.)
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
Ken,
I'm sure your hypothesis is correct. It would save a lot of
confusion if they just said something like "z indicates
location of original forging". But that would be tantamount to
admitting that not every manufacturing operation was done on
their own premises; and that would detract from their
mystique.
What would have been nice, though, is if they had marked the
spindles to indicate whether they were to be used with
thin-wall or thick-wall cups. Of course, you can measure,
butthen you have to know the actual numbers in advance.
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)