Returned mail, Nelson...
nelson miller wrote:
>
> Chuck-- This is off list, because I suspect that it has been covered
> before. I asked Hilary and he referred me to you-- So, here it is!
> There seem to be several types of the Campag rod type shifters-- I
> have one that came with a Gran sport rear, One that came with a velox
> rear, and I think that I have seen one with a '''"sunburst" design on
> the rear plate. Is there a short course on which is what and what
> they are called? Thank you muchly in advance! Nelson Miller
There are two. The first was the Gran Sport from very early 1950s (Campagnolo's first front derailleur). It was the "pro" front derailleur til the Record in 1960 (Record is parallelogram, not rod). The second is the Valentino from the mid-60s that looks the same to the untrained eye, but that actually doesn't share any parts with the Gran Sport. It is a budget derailleur. Easiest i.d. of a Valentino is that there is a boss cast on the "box" were the rod exits and the bolt on the cage is at the front not the top as in the Gran Sport.
There is a HUGE amount of confusion over the two (the 50s Gran Sport is way before most collector's area of interest) and the majority of people call both Valentinos!!! This actually drives me a little nuts as the historical info is now easily available, and wasn't available only a couple of years ago...
Chuck