Hi Peter, all. I have very little experience w/ the Campy GS derailleurs. Most of that on an early '60s Olmo w/ half step gearing. I have to say both f & r shifted fine over a range like 48/51 in front and 14-22 or so in back.The pushrod type ders. may be more prone to fouling up in the wet, but do a decent job when clean and lubed and used w/in their intended range. Typical front gaps were only 3-6 teeth when these were in use. The later version of the GS, the Valentino was often paired w/ a 40/52 up front and a 14-28 in back which couldn't have helped. But notice that virtually every modern front der. is a paralellogram type similar to the original Campy Record. Cheers.
At 2:19 PM -0800 1/4/11, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org wrote:
>Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 16:54:52 -0500
>From: "Jon Crate" <Jon@FAI.US>
>Subject: Re: [CR] Early Gran Sport derailleur on French Ebay
>To: "'michael D'Arcy'" <dorchaidhe@hotmail.com>,
> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Message-ID: <7D44237021054E1F86F66016A6B927AE@qwerty28>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>Michael,
>I'm not expert either, but for being listed as NOS, it sure has a lot of
>wrench marks and rust.
>
>I have heard various derogatory remarks about this model of front
>derailleur, are they well deserved?
>
>I ask because I suspect the 1963 Paramount I'm going to be restoring in the
>spring would probably have used it. Am I correct about this, or is it too
>old for a 63?
>
>Many thanks,
>
>Jon M. Crate
>Marietta, USA
I second the question: Just how crummy are these Campy matchbox derailleurs - and is the crumminess universal, or only in the lower gruppos (Valentino, Velox)? I have a Frankensteined Gran Sport derailleur (with a replacement Simplex cage) that's going on the front of an early '60s Follis with half-step gearing. Should I be nervous about reliability, or is it just less responsive relative to more modern derailleurs? -- Peter Adler Berkeley, California/USA
1962 Follis Champion de France, into which I may be investing a little too much psychological energy 1971 Raleigh International 1972 Bertin C34 (or C132, or something) 1972 (or 73, 0r 74) Follis 472 1988 Bianchi Superleggera