Tom Adams wrote:
>
(snip)
> I can't get into the Archives this morn, but I believe '68 is before Merckx was riding Colnago's or DeRosas. Might this be a Masi then? But why the white paint? Was there a neutral support service in this race that handed out neutral white bikes? Or could the picture have been retouched to remove the Faema colors and Merckx name? But then why the centerpull brakes?
Not sure if your question is why Universal center pull brakes instead of Campagnolo side pulls or why Universal center pulls instead of Universal side pulls?
The center pull and side pull brakes shown in Brett's photos of Eddy riding the 1968 Tour of Flanders (Spring?) were both Universal brakes. Campagnolo's Record side pull wasn't introduced until November 1968 at the Milan trade show.
I remember a John Wilcoxson article in International Cycle Sport where he paid a visit to Masi under the Vigorelli and saw Eddy Merckx's Masi being prepared for the Tour of Lombardy (October?) and noted that it had Campagnolo Record brakes, the first he had seen and very rare at that point.
Interestingly there was the Universal mod. 51 (1951) side pull, replaced by the Universal mod. 61 (1960?) center pull, replaced by the Universal Super 68 (1968) side pull, a reissue of the mod. 51 but shorter reach... a response to Campagnolo's Record side pull in 1968 that spelled the demise of center pulls.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
.