Bryant,
We're had this discussion before, but here is a quick
summary:
It's doubtful (seriously doubtful) that Campagnolo actually
made those hoods. To paraphrase or quote Richard Sachs,
"Campagnolo is just a machine shop." We don't mean that
disparagingly, it's just that they aren't a rubber casting
shop. In those days, they forged, cast and machined metal
products. Mainly that's what they still do, although they also
seem to be machining plastic composite materials these days.
Did you think they actually molded the little blue rubber tips
for the Silca pump heads in house?
Anyway, the question is, why not - once again - contract out
(or license) some brake hoods. Actually, there are a number of
answers to that question, the most pertinent relating to
quality control. Now I think Campagnolo is being a bit short
sighted in this area but it's not as if they're being totally
irrational either. As for cranking out your own... if you
actually use any sort of Campagnolo insignia on the piece you
run the risk of legal action (and insignia-less options are
currently available).
Cheers,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
> I think folks are missing the point here when they say that
> Campy won't bother to do this until intrest takes place in
> Italy or France. When you run a production line it isn't as
> simple as pushing a button and picking up a few cheap brake
> hoods.
>
> First of all, the tooling has likely long since been
> destroyed. If I'm not mistaken the world logo hoods dropped
> out of production some 20 years ago. No modern factory has
> room to keep all of their 20 year old tooling hanging around.
> This is even more likely true in this case given that since
> then Campy completely re-vamped their factory moving to
> modern CNC machines and updated forging equipment .
>
> Once you get your hands on tooling, you have to find a place
> for the machine. A well laid out factory maximizes space and
> flow of production, so if you set up the old machine it is
> likely at the expense of a new machine that could be making
> something profitable. The cost of making the parts becomes
> the cost of making the parts plus the cost of whatever else
> you aren't making.
>
> Then there is the production run. How many of these things is
> Campy making for all of us, a few thousand?? Maybe a 4 hour
> shift?? If you calculate in the cost of set up and tear down,
> what do these brake hoods cost?? Now add in the cost impact
> of new tooling and what ever production you bumped aside to
> run this little machine. Those ebay prices start to look
> pretty good.
>
> I won't go into the distribution end of it, getting these
> hoods from Campy to your local bike shop so that they can
> sell 6 of them. But people leak money at every exchange here.
>
> If we want these hoods, it is not going to come from Campy.
> It will have to be some small handlebar grip maker in Taiwan
> that is willing to pop for a mold and spit out a mini run of
> parts. You didn't hear this from me, but if you want to get
> it done, you are going to have to underwrite a knock off.
> Campy wouldn't like it, but for a few thousand bucks you
> could have a mold made and start cranking out replicas.
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