At 10:40 AM -0800 12/7/09, verktyg wrote:
>I have an all original 1971 Hetchins Italia that was purchased
>directly from Hetchins in the UK and brought back to the US. It has
>an all steel Suntour GT long arm derailleur. Supposedly Alf Hetchins
>disliked the Campy Gran Turismo derailleurs so much that he chose to
>use the cheap Suntour GT instead.
You have to realize that during the bike boom years especially, few people buying bikes really knew what they were looking for. So there was advice like "If the frame has Campagnolo stamped onto the dropouts, it's a quality frame." As a result, Alex Singers ordered by Spence Wolf had to have Campagnolo dropouts, otherwise, customers would feel they got an inferior frame. That is how most Alex Singers sold to the U.S. have horizontal dropouts, whereas most Alex Singers in France have vertical (non-Campagnolo) dropouts that make fender mounting so much easier.
Similarly, many customers probably wanted an "All-Campy" bike, yet needed smaller gears. At least Spence didn't use the Gran Turismo, but made his own, superior, long-cage derailleurs.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com