Re: [CR]Was mildly odd Campagnolo brake calipers, NowBrakesetAuthenticity

NowBrakesetAuthenticity

> I think there were three primary reasons for the all-Campy-except-brakes
> bikes in the early 70s.
>
> 1) The Record brakes introduced in 1968 were (I believe) the first brakes
> Campy ever made, so there was necessarily a long tradition of equipping
> "all-Campy" bikes with some other brand of brakes.
>
> 2) Many bikes, especially French ones, designed for Mafac CP's had
> clearances too large for the Campy SP's. To use the Campys on these frames,
> one had to disassemble the brakes and install a "drop bolt" to allow the
> pads to reach the rim.
>
> 3) As others have pointed out, the $50 upgrade to Campy brakes was a big
> percentage of the cost of a complete bike. For example, in the original
> edition (1970) of Eugene Sloan's classic "The Complete Book of Bicycling",
> he quotes the following prices for COMPLETE top-model bikes:
>
> Cinelli Super Corsa - $255
> Schwinn Paramount - $245
> Peugeot PX-10E - $160
>
> 4) For those who liked the look and function of the Campy SP's, Shimano had
> by the early 70's introduced excellent copies, the original Dura-Ace SP at
> about half the price of Campy. And the parts were sufficiently
> interchangeable that a Campy drop bolt could be used to adapt the DA's to a
> long reach French frame (I did this myself).
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Bikerdaver@aol.com>
> To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 2:20 AM
> Subject: [CR]Was mildly odd Campagnolo brake calipers, Now
> BrakesetAuthenticity
>
>
> > Hello-
> > All this talk of the non-super record "super record" brakes brings up
> a
> > brakeset authenticity issue that I have not seen discussed on CR list
> before.
> > What I am referring to is the rather common, yet hardly ever acknowledged
> > custom of (mostly) Italian manufacturers equipping a bike with full Campy
> NR
> > or SR OEM grouppo save the brakeset.
> > Here are some examples that come to mind:
> > 1969, 70, 71, 72(maybe) Cinelli SC complete NR except Universal Super 68s.
> > 1973, 74(maybe) Mondia complete NR except for Dura Ace brakeset.
> > 1971, 72, 73, 74(maybe) Schwinn Paramount, NR except Weinmann C-pulls.
> > 1977 (maybe others) Colnago Supers w/SR except Modolo Master Pro brakes
> > 1981, 82 (maybe) Rossin w/SR except for Galli Criterium brakeset.
> > 1980ish Ciocc Compezzione(sp?) w/SR except Modolo Kronos brakeset.
> > Please pardon me if I my vintages are off by a year or two. Any way
> you
> > get the point. I don't know how many early 1970 Cinelli and Mondia I have
> > seen that have had their brakeset switched out to Campy. There's a good
> > chance that several people on this list even have this switch-out on their
> > bikes.
> > I whole-heartedly agree with our group's ethos of originality and
> > authenticity. This brakeset issue seems to have dropped below our radar.
> Why
> > is it even important? Authenticity of a bike is its Spirit, its mojo, its
> > "sexiness", its bloodline.
> > I believe the folks at Cinelli and Colnago spec'd out their bikes
> with
> > non-campy brakes for conscious and well though out reasons. Whether it was
> > economic or based on astrology or whatever; its the bike's Authenticity.
> > Obviously, companies like Colnago and Rossin could have easily spec'd
> > Campy SR brakes,,,,,,,but they didn't. To be honest, I don't believe their
> > reasons for doing this matters a whole lot. I mean who am I, let alone who
> > are we, to tell Ernie C. which way he should have dressed out his bikes in
> > the late 70s?
> > Long live authentic uniqueness. Long live not blindly going along
> with
> > the pack. Long live non-campy OEM brakesets and their mojo! OK, thats my
> rant
> > for the month. Cheers,
> > Dave Anderson
> > Cut Bank MT