Eric wrote in response to Dan's question about the Mavic groupe:
"I believe the group was first offered in late '84 or early '85 and can be visually identified by the Mavic in a diamond markings on the components
versus the following year being marked with "MAVIC" in all upper case block letters."
I have owned the very first "tout Mavic" groupe to make it to Canada in 1983 since new. I "ordered" it from Bruno Gormand's beautiful daughter at the New York show and then followed up afterwards with a letter to her (Isn't it strange today to think about sending letters instead of faxes or emails). I know that I had to take delivery through a Canadian distributor, but do not remember if through Gardin or Outdoor Gear. I was happily surprised to see that it also included bars and stem which were not discussed when the order was placed. The brakes in my groupe were still labelled Modolo and not Mavic and the shifters had no name whatsoever. The styrofoam box that the groupe came in also included both black and yellow Mavic SSC 1000 decals. These groupes were most definitely not readily available at the time. If memory serves me correctly, it was another two years before they were readily seen for sale.
Some other noteworthy items concerning the groupe:
The headset tools for the 310 headset were included with the groupe as they different from any other headset available. I still have mine if anybody ever needs to borrow them. The handlebars had very tight curves (little drop!) and were not overly liked by many riders. The stem was quite a bit more flexible from side to side than similar period Cinelli or 3TTT. The 550 hubs were not only anodized as opposed to the chrome-like finish of the 500 hubs, they also had lightweight skewers (the lightest available at the time!) and if I am not mistaken, outboard freewheel side bearings. The brakes were made by Modolo, but are the Master Pro version and not the Professional ones. The BB was the cartridge type needing the chamfered BB shell which predates the whole groupe by a short time. The front derailleur came with two alternate front plates to be selected from according to whether you had a French or 'standard' seat tube diameter. The front derailleur was also partially hard anodized, as was the rear one. The cranks on the other hand were fully clear anodized. The pedals were the quill version. I do seem to recall that by the time the groupe became commonly available, Mavic was already offering the hard anodized Mavic-marked Look pedals. The gear levers were originally unmarked Simplex retro-friction ones, later to carry the Mavic name.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ