This relates to the Ten Speed Drive discussion. Another nail in their coffin may have been that they were tied to/identified with Campagnolo equipped bikes during the time of Campy's worst, or at least hardest to sell, products. Synchro 1, original Chorus, original Athena; these were all more expensive than and perceived by bike buyers of the time as mechanically inferior (brakes needed more hand effort, indexed shifting never quite worked) to Dura Ace and 600. At my workplace during TSD's last couple of years there was zero interest in Campy-equipped bikes while we were selling TVT's, Treks, and Moulton Fuso's with Dura-Ace 7. A store in the same city that was a dealer for all of Ten Speed Drive's products never sold them at retail--but had no problem making margin on Dura-Ace equipped Davidson Impulses.
David Feldman
Vancouver, WA
> Wow, where to start here.
>
> My thinking is that Campagnolo went down hill after the old man died.
> Also, Mike Sinyard was for sure the largest seller of Campagnolo in the
> world when I went to work there in 1982. So the USA market was very
> important to Campi from the mid '70's.
>
> I went to Italy many times in the '80's and got to meet with Valentino
> at the factory. I don't agree that Frank Berto gave Campagnolo their
> problems. Far from it, they needed someone to push them. One time I went
> to see the factory, I got to go everywhere. Two things stood out for me.
> 1) I saw no real R & D. I think Tulio was so strong no one else was
> allowed to follow him. Valentino did not have an easy time as his son.
> OK guy, but no passion. 2) No CNC machines at all. Brand new factory,
> but no modern tools. One fabrication detail that they were really proud
> of was how the pedals were put together. A big strong guy with a hammer
> and punch put the pedal side plates on by hitting the rivet! No way
> would Shimano even dream of doing this kind of thing.
>
> No, I think the attitude was of arrogance. When we (Specialized, their
> largest customer) gave some feedback about how something they made could
> be improved Campi just ignored the advice. "We are the center of the
> world and no one can tell us about the bicycle". Shimano at the time had
> maybe 200 top engineers in R & D. They did not have this kind of problem
> of not listening to the customer either.
>
> Sure the NR/SR parts are the best for the time they were made. But they
> could have been improved. If Shimano had not pushed the envelope of road
> bike part design we would not have the wonderful parts both companies
> make today.
>
> Jim Merz
> Bainbridge Is. WA
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org
> [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of The Maaslands
> Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2002 8:07 AM
> To: Classic Rendezvous
> Subject: [CR]Campagnolo survival
>
> Jerry Moos wrote:
>
> > I doubt that Campagnolo would have survived had they not been able to
> sell
> top of the
> > line products to American buyers whose abilites would have been as
> well
> > served by lesser equipment.
>
> I disagree, I believe it was the American market that is most
> responsible of
> any market in the world for all of the bad times experienced by
> Campagnolo.
> It was the US market that allowed the attrocity which are mountain bikes
> become accepted as standard fare for beginning cyclists. This has done
> more
> to keep people away from cycling than anything else in my opinion. The
> less
> people becoming hooked on cycling as youngsters means that fewer will
> develop into serious cyclists which have always been the market for
> Campagnolo. The US and supposed 'expert' gurus like Frank Berto have
> also
> done the darndest to devalue the durability, quality and rebuildability
> of
> components that were Campagnolo hallmarks. Try and find older versions
> of
> those Suntour and Shimano derailleurs that were so highy lauded by
> Berto's
> ilk back in the 70's and 80's. It is not a question of 'mojo' but of
> real
> durability. The US is also much more inclined to follow trends and
> styles
> than Europe. If you look at the dark periods in Campagnolo's history,
> you
> will always see that the biggest percentage drop was in the US. Their
> place
> in Europe has always remained relatively stable and strong. It would be
> interesting to know exactly what percentage of world Campagnolo sales
> were
> ensured by the US. Perhaps we can find out some numbers for 1960, 1970,
> 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000. What the US market does 'better'
> than
> anywhere else is buying the top-of-the-line models. Instead of Valentino
> or
> Gran Sport, they will gravitate to a full Record gruppo.
>
> I suppose that I have written enough controversial statements above to
> get
> some response.
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
>
>
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