Re: [CR] Bicycle Quarterly's Braking issue, 'Modern Racing Brakes'

(Example: Production Builders:Pogliaghi)

In-Reply-To: <430e89320901181028r61a68ab6nac81a32f42a8888f@mail.gmail.com>
References: <430e89320901181028r61a68ab6nac81a32f42a8888f@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:52:27 -0800
To: Nor Meyer <norbikes@gmail.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR] Bicycle Quarterly's Braking issue, 'Modern Racing Brakes'


At 12:28 PM -0600 1/18/09, Nor Meyer wrote:
>Is there
>some kind of snob factor at work here...? Oh ye unbeknighted, unwashed
>masses astride your over-rated Italian bikes w their Campy gruppos----get
>with the program!

The anti-Campy snob, who leaves Campagnolo to the "unwashed masses," is an interesting idea... especially on this list!

I used to count myself as a "Campy über alles" snob, but have since found that like most companies, Campagnolo made some wonderful parts (BBs, pedals, seatposts), and some that were only so-so (indexing headsets and slipping shift levers perhaps?).

There is nothing wrong with using Campagnolo sidepull brakes. I have them on my racing bike, which I raced for 10 years. They set new standards for beautiful finish, as well as ease of installation and adjustment. But when you look at the evolution of bicycle brakes, they resurrected the sidepull brake, which was pretty much dead by the 1960s.

Even the infamous Delta brakes have their defenders...

One wonders what would have happened if builders had used more braze-ons in the 1970s. Would brazed-on centerpulls have become the de-facto standard? A Campagnolo centerpull, without the silly parallelogram of the Delta brakes, would have been a sight to behold.

As far as Italian bikes go, I'd give a lot for a ride on Fausto Coppi's Bianchi from "The Competition Bicycle" (my size, too!), and many readers have listed as their favorite in the book a 1965 Cinelli set up by Spence Wolf with all-Campy (which in 1965 did not include brakes, of course). Now those are truly "over-rated Italian bikes for the unwashed masses." ;-)

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com