I went to Tullio Campagnolo's memorial, when would that be? 1983 is when he died. At that time I went through the factory and saw them working on the rims. I don't think they wanted this known, but they must have started using them at least for testing soon after this. I don't think they were that interested in clinchers at this early date however.
Jim Merz Big Sur CA USA
On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 9:27 PM, Steven Maasland
<themaaslands@comcast.net>wrote:
> John responded:
>
> "My 1981 Nishiki Ultimate originally came with Campag clincher rims, but
> when I bought it (new) I had the shop replace them with Nisi tubular
> rims. So they existed and would certainly be OT."
>
> In response to David's question:
>
> "Are any Campagnolo clincher rims OT ?"
>
> Please allow me to state that were absolutely no Campagnolo rims whatsoever
> in 1981, whether clincher or tubular.
>
> All Campagnolo rims are definitely off-topic, as all were produced after
> 1983. The first Campagnolo price list to feature rims was the one from 1986.
> The first Campagnolo catalogs and brochures featuring rims also date from
> 1986. It would however appear that the first rims were delivered in either
> late 1984 or in 1985 but that they were not widely available until 1986. Had
> rims been available in 1981 as reported by John, there is no doubt
> whatsoever that they would have been included in earlier price lists as well
> as part of the 50th anniversary gruppo. The freewheel, saddle and rims all
> post-date the 50th anniversary gruppo.
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
> USA