[CR]D-shaped Campy caliper arms... when introduced?

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli)

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 07:10:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Tom Dalton" <tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com>
To: jb@velostuf.com
cc: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]D-shaped Campy caliper arms... when introduced?


John,

The calipers on Ray's Specialissima apparently started life as the older "b olck logo" Record calipers.  The big tip-off is that the slotted end sect ion of the arm to which the pad is attached has material where is would not have been present on the later "script logo" arms.  Specifically, the ba ck edge of the slotted section is broadly radiused on the later arms, and w hile you can move material from the older arms to mirror this form, you can 't add material to the newer arms to mirror the older, squarer form seen on Ray's set.  Note also that Ray's calipers feature all of the hardware as sociated with the older calipers (serrated friction washer, standard acorn nut, open nut on cam assembly, stampings on centerbolts, hex-shaped cable a nchor w/o countersink.)  The use of this caliper is fitting for a bike fr om 1984.  I recall first seeing the script logo calipers in 1985.  Desp ite the fact that the new calipers drew heavily upon features first seen in the 1983 Anni groups, the plain Super Record brakesets maintained the o ld "block logo" calipers throughout 1983 and 1984.  Looking back at old race photos you'll see that the Campy-supplied riders had block logo calip ers throughout 1984, and suddenly, in 1985, virtually all teams had the "sc ript logo" calipers (Panasonic-Raleigh a notable exception).  By early 19 86, most teams were on C-Record, and while normal script logo calipers were initially used as a substitute for the recalled early Deltas, it was only a matter of month before the stop-gap Cobalto calipers showed up.  So, the script logo calipers, in normal Super Record guise, were really a one-s eason item among Campy-supplied pros.  This contrasts pretty sharply wi th their relative abundance in the current marketplace.  Note also that  ALL script logo Record calipers are, technically speaking, off topic by two full years. 

As we discussed several months ago, there are other Bianchi-panto'd arms th at appear to be based on the later "script-logo" calipers and that odd set of NIP block-lettered calipers with the newer profile that are/were depicte d on your website appear to be from this same stock, but without the Bianch i logo applied.... IIRC.

Ray, I enjoyed viewing the typically-wondrful pics of your typically-wond erful Bianchi.  I will pick one small nit and point out that the cran k bolts you refer to as rare actually appear to be the relatively common 1994-and-later that post-date the auto extractors.  In fact, these  bolts may have been in use until the stupid new "us-too" Hirst joint cr anks of 2008. 

Tom Dalton Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

I have a set of later script style campagnolo calipers. These have somewhat of a "D"-shaped cross section in the arms as opposed to the earlier "C" shaped cross section.

When did these D-shaped arms first appear?

In Ray Dobbins' excellent group of 1984 Bianchi Specialissima pictures http://www.raydobbins.com/ebay/bike-bianchi/bike-bianchi.htm

He shows brake calipers that were "reshaped" then pantographed.  They weren't reshaped from C-section arms were they?  Ray?

So, 2 questions:  1) when did the script style (D-section) calipers first appear, and 2) what cross section did Ray's special caliper arms have?

John Barron
Minneapolis MN USA
http://www.velostuf.com