Re: [CR] Marketing vs. Manufacturing - was: SL pedals

(Example: Framebuilders:Alberto Masi)

From: "swampmtn" <swampmtn@siscom.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <16f.1001572a.2a54b9ae@cs.com>
Subject: Re: [CR] Marketing vs. Manufacturing - was: SL pedals
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 19:08:28 -0400


I've always felt the term "gruppo" worked well to describe a particular range of bicycle components - I even think of Dura Ace or Superbe as a "gruppo."

I was once scolded by the mechanic in my LBS for referring to a "Shimano gruppo". "CAMPAGNOLO sells gruppos" he told me, "Shimano sells groups". (Of couse, the Campagnolo plural should be "gruppi," but we were already having enough trouble communicating.)

:::I consider myself a Campagnolo groupie, and I especially love Campy gruppi from the 1960s, and among my group of Legnani bikes is one with a complete Campagnolo gruppo:::

I remember how surprised I was the first time I saw classified ads from Britain referring to "Campag" components. I'd always assumed Campy was a universal term. Is there a particular contracted used among Italian cyclists, or do they all say "Campagnolo" all the time?

Aldo Ross (So should I stop saying I'm "obsessed with Campy Cambio Corsa bikes", and say instead that I'm "interested in Campagnolo Racing Transmission bikes"?) Monroe, Ohio