[CR]Faliberto Esposito bike

Tom wrote:

"I think this is a very interesting and well-made bike, but... (snipped) there is a lot of interesting engraving in the lugs, and on the dropouts, but is that really fine handwork? I thought that details like that could be farmed out to any pantographing outfit. There are some unusual design details, such as the round blades and the use of 1010's where you'd expect 1010B's, but these details are only odd, not necessarily desireable (or undesireable). "

I agree wholeheartedly with Tom and have told Stefano the same thing, but then on the other hand, what puts any brand apart from others?

"A lot of the attraction of this bike rests on the componentry, with all the panto work and lightening mods. While the modified parts are really neat, I'd have preferred that they not come from such a broad range of vintages. I see everything from the very rare first-gen SL pedals (1971?) to the last version of the SR post (1985), a late 80's Regina chain, 70's rims, far newer tires... If you set aside the issues of vintage, and assume that the goal was to make a really light bike while still using Campy parts, I'm left wishing that it had SR pedals and rear der (the alloy mounting bolt on the modified NR rear is cool, but it begs for a ti or aluminum pulley cage bolt). The nutted front brake caliper just seems wrong. I'm not trying to be a jerk, and I think it's a really neat bike, but it seems like there was a lot of attention lavished on the parts, but a few things slipped past. Of course, not everyone has sets of SR pedals just laying around, but this bike seems to have enjoyed all sorts of love and attention, and the few things that are not quite right just stand out all the more."

I spoke to Stefano who responded as follows: Mr. Tom is very observant, however, the seatpost, cranks, bars. stem, saddle, headset, front derailleur, BB, chain etc are all contemporaries. The only anachronistic parts are the rear derailleur and brake Q/R levers. I do not believe that the Superleggeri pedals are the first generation ones, but are rather 80's vintage pedals that have undergone massive milling and drilling. (My personal comment: I too found the superleggeri pedals odd on this bike and had offered Stefano one of the sets of Super Record pedals that I have if he wanted to get them drilled and such, but he said that had he been offered the chance 20 years ago he would have done so but the Super Record pedals were simply not available. ( see my ebay auction here for the Super record pedals: http://ebay.com/<blah> Stefano then said that Esposito was of the opinion that the late Nuovo and Super record derailleurs did not stand up as well under drilling and so the earlier rear derailleur as a starting point was more desirable. The rear derailleur lower pivot bolt was originally alloy as fitted, however the bolt sheared and was therefore replaced with whatever he had lying around. The alloy front brake nut was used because Stefano planned to fit a 'levachiodi' or tire saver and didn't like the visual of it extending in front of the brake caliper. Fitting it on the back of the crown allowed the particular one he used to remain invisible. Stefano also did not like the aesthetics of the 'modern' brake Q/R lever so he switched them out with the flat ones.

"Finally, what's the story with those brake pads? They appear to be marked "Super Record" rather than the standard "Campagnolo." Anybody?"

Stefano says that those were the original brake pads that came with the calipers.

Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA