Thoughtfully written, Steven, but I think Campy did feel a need to get into new markets, as witnessed by their mostly unsuccessful early MTB offerings. When their first attempts at indexed shifting were a flop, I think they stood in real danger of extinction. Even had they stuck to their racing roots, I doubt they would have survived without answering the Japanese challenge of slant parallelogram derailleurs, indexed shifters and SIS. Even a family business must meet the competition, and I think Campy struggled a while at this. By the way, the story I heard about the Bozzi dynasty was that the head of the clan was assasinated by the Red Guard.
Regards
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Jerry wrote:
>
> > It seems that Campy was slow to shake off the exclusively Italian
mindset
> > and understand what foreign markets wanted in terms of touring and later
> > mountain bike equipment. The French companies , of course, had an
equally
> > hard time looking beyond French attitudes and traditions.
>
> Campagnolo is a family owned company. Their only business goal was to
allow the
> shareholders, the Campagnolo family, to enjoy a better than average
standard of
> living. The company has done this in spades since its creation. Contrary
to
> most Americans who are never satisfied, no matter what they have, most
> Europeans and most definitely Italians recognize that more is not
necessarily
> always better. The Campagnolo family has always known their market and
their
> results have always satisfied the family's standard of living goals (this
also
> reflects the TA attitude). The same can definitely not be said about the
> Shimano, Trek, Cannondale (add almost any other bicycle industry
company)...
> shareholders' needs. Personally, I would far prefer to have been a
Campagnolo
> shareholder than one in any other bicycle company.
>
> > Of course, to make tradition
> > into an asset, Campy and TA first had to adapt enough to actually
survive,
> > which most other Italian and French manufacturers didn't manage to do.
>
> Campagnolo and TA have not had to adapt to survive, as neither has come
close
> to perishing. Family companies do not need to follow public company
economics.
> As perfect evidence of this, a former Italian employer of mine turned down
a
> contract that I had arranged for him that would have ensured him net
profits of
> close to a million dollars per year. He simply said, "I don't like the
business
> partner!" To most Europeans, being able to say something like that is
worth
> much more than the 5th house, the 10th car, the bigger bank account...
> Valentino Campagnolo has never suffered a day in his life and probably
never
> will. It should also be noted that many of the former bicycle brands of
the
> past have disappeared, not out of financial failure, but simply because
the
> needs of the owner family changed or were completely fulfilled. The Nieddu
> family, of Vittoria fame, retired from the bicycle business in florid
financial
> shape, the same goes for the Bozzi family of Legnano fame, the Ghelfi
family of
> Frejus, the Dei family of Umberto Dei, the Ganna family... Simply because
the
> company no longer exists does not indicate failure.
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ