"Hilary wrote:
I do wonder whether Merckx was using the new Campy side-pulls throughout 1968 - I was under the impression that these were introduced quite late on in 1968... Certainly my De Rosa is full Campag save for the Universal 68 brakes."
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I believe the Campagnolo sidepulls were indeed introduced at the end of 1968, certainly not much earlier than the World Championships. Earlier that season, I believe Merckx (and of course many other riders on Italian bikes and teams) were using the Universal 68's. This seems to be the case from photos of Merckx from the first part of that season, including pics from the Giro. In fact, photos also show sidepulls on Merckx's bike at the '67 Worlds, when he was riding for Peugeot. There are other photos from the 60's that show Universal sidepulls, but it's difficult to determine whether those are 68's (maybe available to pros prior to '68) or earlier model Universal sidepulls that had simply found favor with some pro riders even after the introduction of the 61's.
Ed Granger
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA