Still the case in Italy as far as road bikes. City bikers riding practical bikes with upright bars in normal clothes/shoes and roadhogging pacelines of wannabee pro racer guys in brightly colored lycra riding whatever is currently fashionable in the pro peloton. basically nothing in between. If you see anyone touring or even riding solo outside of town they are probably stranieri. If Italy made touring bikes and equipment, you probably wouldn't want them.
Kurt Sperry Bellingham, Washington USA
On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 9:23 AM, Fred Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > As the Triomphe/Victory/Gran Sport proved, Campy could
> > make competent touring equipment if they wanted to. Why
> > they didn't is a mystery.
>
> My opinion - based on my experiences while cyclotouring in Italy in those days - is Italian ethnocentrism. Believe me, at that time, it was difficult to find anyone in Italy who had the slightest idea of how to set up a touring bike. I haven't been there in a while, but I would not be surprised if that still were the case, notwithstanding the existence of Bianchi Volpe bicycles.
>
> There seemed to be 2 classes of cyclists. Non-racers (and there were/are lots of them) who were forced to putter around on "city bikes". Then there were the racers, aspiring racers and ex-racers (and again, there were/are lots of them) who _had_ to ride racing bikes. This was even the case for ex-lower category amateurs who mainly rode to the tobacconists for a pack of smokes.
>
> Anyone on a real, high speed touring bike was immediately identified as French, German or Dutch. (At that time, an American cylotourist in Southern Italy was an anomaly.)
>
> In any event, in that milieu, it's no wonder that Campagnolo didn't address the needs of touring cyclists.
>
> Best regards,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)