[CR]Re: Campagnolo - The Italian Bully

(Example: Framebuilding:Norris Lockley)

Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 16:00:27 -0500
From: "Herb Langston" <langston@interaccess.com>
In-reply-to: <CATFOODUmeRXHQIVop00000192c@catfood.nt.phred.org>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Re: Campagnolo - The Italian Bully

>Campagnolo is not in the business of making spare parts for classic
>bikes. What they don't want is someone putting the Campy logo on
>something that Campy didn't produce or license. If you really want to
>market these contact Campagnolo Italy (as this fellow suggests) and see
>if they are willing to license someone to make replacement parts with
>their logo. Perhaps they already have. "Replacement" gum hood are
>available, just not ones with the Campy logo. The part you purchase for
>your antique VW is probably not VW "branded" but an aftermarket item.
>Bob Atwood
>Mesa, AZ
>start a campaign directed to Campagnolo, asking them to provide the needed
>parts, hoods and brake shoes. Even if the moulds no longer exist, they're
>obviously easy enough to make.
>Stevan Thomas
>Alameda, CA

Y'all are probably tired of me dragging vintage motorcycles into this discussion group, but here I go again.

Vintage BMWs are very popular for restorations/vintage shows/riding/etc., but parts were hard to find and very expensive, so people started "re-manufacturing" them. It was quite a big industry until BMW put their foot down and stopped it with an army of lawyers. But rather than being spoilers, they licensed and contracted a Swiss company to reproduce parts (to higher quality standards) to keep the vintage BMWs on the road. They realized that old BMWs running down the highway looking like new was actually good for their image, and it built brand loyalty.

So there is a precedent. Why not lobby Campagnolo to do the same thing? They don't have to go into the business of remaking Super Record cranks, but brake hoods, brake pads, caged roller bearings, cables, pedal dust caps, old-style stickers/decals, etc. would be an affordable enterprise for them. I'm sure they would figure out that it's not cutting into their business of new components. People want pre-1975 parts for a specific and correct reason, and these people are not in the market for new Campy components anyway.

But if Campy went through the trouble of helping you keep your old Cinelli/Masi/Bianchi/etc. on the road and correctly restored, it would generate enough good will that, if you ever decided to buy or build a modern bike, you might be predisposed to a new Campy Record gruppo rather than a Shimano Dura-Ace gruppo. What comes around, goes around.

Just my two cents. Anybody from Campagnolo listening?

Herb Langston
Evanston, IL