1980s Campagnolo aero brake levers

Whilst admiring this fantastic photo linked to another thread:



I wondered when Campagnolo aero-style brake levers started to become available? The first ones I remember being available to the public were the C-Record style in the late 80s, like these ones at the top (courtesy Velobase):



but they were the much larger-bodied style lever. At the same time, the Victory and Triomphe models from the same period were non-aero.

So, to what extent were the traditional-shaped lever available in aero-style, as used by the Badger above? I'm not so sure about Moser, his levers look like they could be Modolo or similar. But Hinault certainly used aero-style Super Record levers in the 80s - were they all modified by the mechanics, or what?

Cheers,
Gareth.

The levers seen on Hinault's bike are modified levers. The first production Campagnolo levers only came later. The fiddled levers like the ones that Hinault used did not work terribly well but they look super-cool. These are the ones on my bike. The bars are drilled, with the cable being threaded through them.

I converted my pair of Campag levers in the early 80's after seeing Dave Hinde using some. All I did was drill down through the main body of the lever towards the bars with a small drill and then partly open the hole up from the outside with a larger drill to fit the outer cable. They worked OK. Laurent Fignon used some converted ones in the Tour in '82 I think. Look at some of his period photos.

I was asking myself the same question only the other day when flicking through a book of colour pictures of the T de F. Both aero brake cables and cleat systems seem to have come in about the same time.

1983 Fignon and two others are all non-aero and clips and straps.
1984 and a group are all using clips and straps. Fignon seems to have gone aero but all the rest, including Hinault, Robert Millar, Lemond, Delgado, are still non-aero.
1985 Hinault still non-aero but has gone to a cleat system. Also using my favourite saddle, still widely sold today, Selle San Marco Rolls with the gold badge on the back.
1986 Lemond aero and cleated.

Not all riders embraced aero cables and cleats at the same time. Into the late 80s some riders are still using the old stuff.

Citoyen du monde":2acmvnpa said:

The levers seen on Hinault's bike are modified levers. The first production Campagnolo levers only came later. The fiddled levers like the ones that Hinault used did not work terribly well but they look super-cool. These are the ones on my bike. The bars are drilled, with the cable being threaded through them.

Click to expand...

My gals Colnago had campag levers with cable running through a hole in the bars, I can't see a cutout if I were to run the cable on top of the bars? I removed the levers and fitted SLR shimano as she has small hands, but it would be nice to use the levers on another build...

OT. PS at last someone shares my taste in bar tape!

Old Ned":1gru0e4l said:

I converted my pair of Campag levers in the early 80's after seeing Dave Hinde using some. All I did was drill down through the main body of the lever towards the bars with a small drill and then partly open the hole up from the outside with a larger drill to fit the outer cable. They worked OK. Laurent Fignon used some converted ones in the Tour in '82 I think. Look at some of his period photos.

Click to expand...

I wasn't brave enough to try this on my Campag levers but I did do it on my cheaper Gipiemme ones. They were fine for 1000s of miles and seemed to work just as well but eventually they cracked right through. They were made of plastic....

Mark.

daccordimark":1s38qu90 said:

Old Ned":1s38qu90 said:

I converted my pair of Campag levers in the early 80's after seeing Dave Hinde using some. All I did was drill down through the main body of the lever towards the bars with a small drill and then partly open the hole up from the outside with a larger drill to fit the outer cable. They worked OK. Laurent Fignon used some converted ones in the Tour in '82 I think. Look at some of his period photos.

Click to expand...

I wasn't brave enough to try this on my Campag levers but I did do it on my cheaper Gipiemme ones. They were fine for 1000s of miles and seemed to work just as well but eventually they cracked right through. They were made of plastic....

Mark.

Click to expand...

ooooops indeed :shock: