I've included a picture of an early Gran Sport fron derailleur on my photos page, showing the shorter outer guide plate. Note also the different adjusting screw on top of the body. See:
http://albums.photopoint.com/
Aldo Ross
> Takao Noda wrote:
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I have noticed the GS front derailleur on Coppi's bike in TdF
\r?\n> > 1951 had different guide plates from ones I see. The outer plate
\r?\n> > was shorter than inner plate and had the wheel and wing logo ,
\r?\n> > not the earth logo. ( D. Rebour's book " World of D. Rebour" p.
\r?\n> > 117) And I know the sfift lever band then was 2 stripes type.
\r?\n> > On the Campagnolo catalog No.12 ( Reprint of Velo Retro, p. 13)
\r?\n> > I see complete GS front derailleur had the earth logo but the
\r?\n> > guide plates (cage) drawn just below it had the wheel and wing
\r?\n> > logo and the outer plate was longer. And the shift lever band was
\r?\n> > the ordinary one.
\r?\n> > I would like to know whether the GS derailleurs on the 1951 bike
\r?\n> > came into the market or not. Were they supplied only to racers ?
\r?\n> > Many thanks in advance.
\r?\n> > Takao Noda
\r?\n> > Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I believe the original, first generation Campagnolo Gran Sport front
\r?\n> derailleur (short nose on cage), rear derailleur (holes in pulleys and
\r?\n> long nose on pulley cage), and downtube shift lever (twin band) were
\r?\n> only used for the first year (mid 1951 to mid 1952) and were only
\r?\n> supplied to professional racers.