First gen. SR brake lever naysayers:
Take a look at the levers on this here Bee-notta
ftp://ftp.bates-lee.org/pub/benotto%232/4.jpg
Do they really look like normal SR levers to you? They sure look like early, pre-CPSC Record levers to me, but with holes. Given that this is a very early SR bike, and obviously predates the CPSC changes that lead to the second Record lever shape, I'd say that SR levers were changed in the same manner. Up to 1977 they were a bit more swoopy and pointy, and sat at a different angle due to the big difference at the top. Why do we see so few of these? Good question. Why do we see so few first gen. SR rear ders, and two-bolt SR posts? It just wasn't very common stuff. NR was still standard, SR was super-exotic. By the time SR was in widespread use, the Nuovo SR post and der were out and the CPSC changes had been made. Add to this that the oldest stuff has had longer to were out and get tossed... then add to this that nobody seems to recognize the brake lever difference, unlike the super-obvious post and der changes. Since the difference goes unnoticed, many of these levers haven't made it into our circulating pool of collectable early SR stuff. So why did I open my mouth? I should be out there looking for these levers and stockpiling them for the day that people clue in and everyone needs a set for his/her pre-CPSC SR Masi. There, I said "Masi."
If this doesn't convince people, I do recall seeing a photo in a recent... oh what the heck is it called... the WCP/Phil and Paul magazine... Cycle Sport, that shows a young Hinault, in a sprint against two other riders and one of those riders has one of each style of SR lever on his bike. I'll try to find the picture.
Tom Dalton
Bethlehem, PA
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