Harvey Sachs wrote:
> I really appreciated the wonderful pictures of the Cambio Corsa at Date:
> Mon, 14 Oct 2002 http://ebay.com/
> item=723674061
>
> and the nice repartee about the bike.
>
> Being something of a contrarian, it seems to me that this gives excellent
> witness to my favorite hypothesis: After the beauty and elegance of the
> early hub quick-release, Sr. Campagnolo delegated his design duties to
> others, people with a commitment to oddity for its own sake, or to genuine
> design medocrity with marvelous execution. In the former category the
> primary witness is, of course, the Cambio Corsa. Instead of using a small
> chunk of metal with little inertia to change gears, a la contemporary
> French and British designs in the Data Book, Campagnolo used two levers and
> moved the whole wheel, with rider weight on it. But, it did save the heavy
> (if unmeasured) friction of the jockey pulleys. The creativity here was
> even better than the later Gran Turismo chain mangler and boat anchor, or
> even the elegant single-pulley Sport that would handle a full range of cogs
> from 16 - 22. But no front double plateau.
>
> and then there are the long line of carefully crafted derivative designs,
> starting with the headset.
>
> I looked up to Campy from my first Sears with Campy Gran Sport in
> 1962. Until Frank Berto's tests, I never knew it was possible to design a
> derailleur that did not need to be overshifted and then brought back to the
> neutral point. Frankly, the first generation DuraAce shifts a whole bunch
> nicer than the same vintage super record. Is Mojo loving something despite
> its characteristics?
>
> Harvey "grumpy tonight" Sachs
> McLean Va.
>
>
>
>
>
Absolutely! Warts and all! The world is full of stuff that really wasn't always the best of the best in all aspects, but is still revered for one reason or another. We've discussed the "Industrial Art" aspects of Campagnolo's components (and others') here previously.
As several CR members can I'm sure attest to, anything that clicks is better than all of the old Campagnolo junk anyways!
Remember, Tullio Campagnolo invented the hub quick-release to fill a perceived pressing need. The rest of the stuff came later, bit by bit, eventually ending up as multiple levels of complete, marketable "groups" of components. Some of 'em stunk, but IMHO Super Record at its nadir (1980ish maybe?), when compared to any other full group available at the time, just plain rocked.* To say otherwise is like saying that vintage Ferraris are fussy cars; sure they can be, but so what? That's part of their mojo, mystique, aura, or whatever you want to call it.
Viva Campagnolo!! ;-)
Greg "nothing wrong with being grumpy" Parker A2 MI USA
*OK, the SR headset was pretty worthless, but still cool!