Kurt Sperry wrote:
The eccentric cam QR, the flats in the center bolt to center with a cone wrench and the tire guides were all useful and unique innovations at the time Campy SPs were introduced if I remember correctly.
I'll add:
The above features were really of benefit more from a mechanic's perspective than a braking performance perspective. Quick wheel changes, easy to compensate for a slightly tweeked wheel, easy to center the brakes... Many of the other Campy features were along the same lines. I'm not really up on stuff from before the 70's, so please forgive me if I'm crediting Campy for anything that came earlier, but I will add this:
The cable clamp was pretty slick. I didn't mangle the wire like some earlier designs, and if you did have a mangled wire it was still usable because you didn't need to thread it through a tiny hole.
Don't forget the Rondella Denta that came out a little after the intro of the brakes. That thing is pure genius... though probably just a borrowed idea like everything else.
At the lever, the cable carrier was easy to orient using your fingers on the outside of the lever... it was even knurled. This made for quick cable hook-up. It also pivoted smoothly because of the large bearing surface (though not like modern brakes with the slick plastic inserts).
Having a clamp that loaded the body and not the pivot pin was a plus, though I suspect Campy was not the first to do this. Winneman's clamp loaded the pivot, and I recall bending and breaking a few pivots in overzealous fits of lever tightening... possibly mechanic's error on my part, but should it really be an issue?
The Campy adjuster was slick too. Very fast to use because the adjuster slid through the D-shaped opening, rather than being a threaded shaft, so you only needed to spin the nut to the chosen position. The bump on the nut held it in place. The ruber o-ring was a nice touch. Newer versions of this setup are really nice, because with the lighter brake springs you can easily ajust the brake on the fly.
The bumper on the short reach was a nice touch, even if it often fell off. See the brand S 7700 caliper for a slick solution to that problem.
Was the open ended pad holder a new thing with the Record brake? Probably over-reaching here, but whoever came up with that was really thinking. Change rubber without setting up the pad orientation all over again.
Tom Dalton Bethlehem PA USA
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