101 things you always wanted to know about Tullio Campagnolo........(well three actually)
- He might not have been the first to introduce alloy cranks when the Record set was introduced in 1958, but what he did patent and give us was hollow chainring bolts, crank bolt covers with an AK hole, and flush fitting (at the rear) chainrings - oh and the ability "if so desired" to fit a chaincase as a result of recessing the inner chainring ! Surely the chainring bolts must qualify as the singlemost unaltered component made in the 1950's still used today ?
- Tullio seems to have spent most of the 1960's inventing & patenting car & Motorcycle hydraulic & cable operated disc brake components.... everything from parking brakes to dual-circuit hydraulic brake cyclinders. I guess this is the reason for the dearth of bicycle inventiveness between 1963 & 67 (http://www.velo-retro.com/tline.html) - unsubstantiated of course but he probably had a pretty clear idea what way the industry appeared to be going at a time when the European cycle industry was at an all time low.
- Although the Campag, Campy, Campagnolo, Cam-pan-yo-lo Corkscrew is shown as a "promotional" item in the 82' Catalogue, Tullio actually applied to patent and was granted his self-centreing bottle opener in the shape of a bell in 1966 ! - And he made sure he patented it in France.
Was there no end to his talents, or was he just bored in the 1960's at Corso Padova 160, Vicenza .......?
Note ; all of this is from original sources and verifiable documents, available on request :-)
Bob Reid
Stonehaven
Scotland.