As Stevan Thomas already pointed out, Chuck's Campy timeline (<
http://www.velo-retro.com/
SNIP> 1977 Catalog #17a Supplement is printed for the year-end trade shows. Included are a revised Super Record derailleur with script logo and different cage geometry, single bolt Nuovo Super Record seat post, Record front derailleur with four holes (later to be three) in cage, straight-band clamp (later to revert to traditional pointed-band clamp), short Nuovo Record dropouts without eyelets (drilled and taped for chain holder), chain holder with accompanying control lever and trigger, and fixing shoe-plate for pedals.
I have two in my collection, and have seen a few others go by on Ebay. They all had the flat band clamp, with no top or bottom points. I think the clamp was the weak part (literally). One of my examples here has a crack in the clamp as well. PICs happily supplied upon request...
My interest in the derailleur was as a period correct item for a bike project, and the second one (cracked) is for my shelf collection. Its uniqueness made it desirable to me, but not for a bike that will see a lot of use.
As a side item, and for the weight conscious bike assembler, here are some quick weights of loose Campy front derailleurs, taken tonight in my basement shop:
Gran Sport, late 1960s, clamped, rod action ---------- 116.2gm Valentino, late 60s, clamped, rod action ---------------- 134.2 Nuovo Record, 1970s, clamped, no lip --------------------- 94.2 Nuovo Record, late 70s to mid 80s, clamped, lipped - 94.5 Nuovo Record, 1977, clamped, 4 hole, lipped ----------- 91.9* Super Record, early to mid 80s, clamped, lipped ------ 93.0 Super Record, early to mid 80s, braze-on, lipped ------ 94.0
Note (*) that the 4 hole derailleur is the lightest of the bunch. Also note that the S.R. braze-on model actually weighs a gram more than the clamp-on version ... this is NOT a typo! I did not have an unmounted loose N.R. braze-on model to weigh, as well as a couple of other relevant Campy front derailleurs, sorry!
Ciao, Mark Agree Southfield MI USA
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In a message dated 2/10/2004 9:30:00 PM Eastern Standard Time,
classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
> Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 01:33:51 +0000
> From: themaaslands@comcast.net
> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org (Classic Rendezvous)
> Subject: [CR]4-hole cage Campagnolo front derailleur
> Message-ID: <021120040133.497.7c1c@comcast.net>
> Precedence: list
> Message: 15
>
> Cyclo-network is offering a 4-hole cage Campagnolo front derailleur
> http://ebay.com/
>
> One of these was offered last year and the word on the CR was that this was
> offered for a very short time and that chains perhaps caught on the 'extra'
> hole of the cage. Does anybody know more about this variant? Such as when it
> was produced, was it sold throughout the world or in a few markets only. Is
> the front plate of the clamp original (none of the other variants seem to use
> the same front plate shown in the auction picture?)
>
> What is consensus, should it be worth more because rarer, or less because it
> didn't perhaps work as well as the three hole version?
>
> --
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ