Steven Maasland wrote:
>
> All this talk of the fork drop-outs that are drilled out brings up
> another interesting piece of Campagnolo history. The first Campagnolo
> drop-outs with adjuster screws came out in the early 50's. Does anybody
> know who has the patent for such drop-out screws? I don't think it was
> a Campagnolo idea.
>
> The oldest ones that I have seen were on Bianchi bikes. The drop-outs
> were different from others for three reasons: they have different
> writing, they have a larger size drop-out adjuster screw and they have
> a small hole drilled above the gear hanger hole. On the drop-out, they
> say Brev° Campagnolo instead of Campagnolo. The drop-out adjuster
> screws are 4 mm instead of the 3 mm ones that later became standard.
> The small hole is designed to allow the mounting of a spring.
>
> All of these features only lasted a very short time and would seem to
> be sought after items. Does any other listmember have any bike(s) with
> such drop-outs? I would be interested to know. If anybody would like to
> see them, I can send them a photo of the Bianchi that I have with these
> drop-outs.
>
> In Italy, I was told that the switch to 3 mm adjuster screws was due to
> frequent breakage of the drop-outs with the 4 mm screws.
Boy, you have an eagle eye, Steven! My circa 1954 Bianchi Campione del Mondo has the dropouts you describe above with the larger 4 mm screws. I never even noticed.
The small spring anchor hole drilled above the threaded derailleur hanger hole is for the Sport derailleur. As you know, the Sport has a fixed single pulley cage so the top of the body is sprung. I have heard that sometimes guys took the upper pivot body of the Sport and mated it to the Gran Sport so that it would pivot at the top like a Simplex does. You'd set it up so the upper and lower springs balanced each other out to keep the upper pulley closer to the cogs as you shifted.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
.