The "synthesis" between beauty and effectiveness

[Obi-Juan]

I can't find the serial number. Does anyone know where it is?
I keep the serial number of ALL my bikes for logical reasons: to know that they are mine.

In the 80s, I had a friend whose Vitus was stolen. He went to the police to report it... What??? A Vitus, but 15 million or 300 million frames were manufactured. It's impossible for them to find it.

Well, my friend had the serial number saved and gave it to the police.

After several months, his insurance paid for the bike, since it was stolen from his house.

And four years later, one day the police in Alcalá de Henares stopped a suspicious person riding a bicycle... They took him to the police station and checked the serial number on the frame: my friend's bike!!!
It's absolutely incredible, but true.

So I always save my serial numbers.

 

[Obi-Juan]

And now for something else that's also incredible.
I took apart the headset to replace it with a higher-quality one. You know, it's a YST, and that sounds Taiwanese (boo!) Poor quality, not European, etc., etc., but doing so reminded me of something I've been keeping.
Yes, a 1 1/8 Mavic 316.

I went to look for it, and surprise! It's not that they look alike beyond their peculiar Allen screw-mounted upper cup attachment system; the ENTIRE lower part is the same. IT'S IDENTICAL.

And even more incredible, the YST is 1 1/4, but the lower dust cover fits both the 1 1/8 Mavic and the 1 1/4 YST. The same goes for the bearings; they're the same for both sizes!

The upper cups are already different, even in the positioning of the ball cages.

Anyway, YST may be more general-purpose than Mavic, but if I'm being CONSISTENT with my arguments, I can't change the YST for quality reasons; it's clearly the same or similar to the Mavic. I might change it for "prestige," "name," or because I'm a "snob," but not for the excuse of quality.
Besides, it feels very sturdy and lightweight, so I'd reinstall it (if I'd known, I'd save myself the trouble of disassembling it).