Campag lay offs.

[doctor-bond]

I was going to say, yep just crowd source what people want, but some direction is needed:

Disassemble-able shimano compatible free hubs that can be spaced 126 to 135.
110 BCD cranks and rings. A 5 arm double/triple and a scoopy/aero version.
Dual pivot brakes but with that late 80s aero look (not Delta, the other one).
Brifters just like the last batch of silver Centaur (have some in the stash: Campag 11: works with Shimano 9)
Offer 2 standards: 9 speed and 11. Compatible with the right cassette.
Derailleurs that are silver knuckle gorgeous.
Alloy and Ti seatposts: layback like Chorus. Long enough.
Forget stems, bars, rims and wheels, but do a deal with Velocity to make sure 700c silver rim-brake hoops are available.
Commission MKS to make a super slick pedal.
Merch - like caps, tools and alloy water bottles (far east made).
Lots of marketing at all the highly spendy retro events.

 

[Black_Hills_Biker]

Let's face it
The name "Campagnolo" (and copyright on all the trademarks within) is worth a lot more than a business losing multi-millions a year and all sorts of legal obligations hanging on over priducts, workforce, physical infrastructure and so on.

If they follow the raleigh path, you can xpect the brand on a supermarket bike near you soon

More likely that a Chinese manufacturer will buy the name and target the workingman-level of cycling à la Sensah, L Twoo, Wheeltop, etc.
John

 

[Rapparee87]

Looking around online it's saying that the company will be going into automation more, hence job cuts, rather than handmade. Surely their manufacturing process would have been fully automated by now? Is it like say Ferrari or similar where the chassis of the car is literally wheeled along to the next group of guys who fit every nut and bolt by hand?

 

[bagpuss]

Has not Aston Martin recently got involved in a titanium bicycle frame .

 

[bikeworkshop]

Has not Aston Martin recently got involved in a titanium bicycle frame .

Wise managers rushing into a booming marketplace

 

[bikeworkshop]

More likely that a Chinese manufacturer will buy the name and target the workingman-level of cycling à la Sensah, L Twoo, Wheeltop, etc.
John

Rapha might buy it to do limited edition merino waistcoats

 

[Tayside]

I was going to say, yep just crowd source what people want, but some direction is needed

BITD racing, a lot of my CX amigos were locked in to having Campag kit on their bikes.
I was already a Shimano fan so never tried any of the group sets, but there must have been something (at the time) that they thought made it a better choice.
Not sure how big an Artisan/Bespoke market there is out there for a company like Campag,could they downsize/survive and tap in to it?
It just seems like there are lots of people that just want stuff to work,and don't get too tied up in (or bothered about) the aesthetics.
Mix that in with a throwaway mindset,and the Asian manufacturing powerhouses ,can supply that cheaply and efficiently by the ton.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Very hard to downsize a 100 year old company with complex physical assets and long established workforce.

I'm sure Raleigh tried - and in turn all those British brands they consumed along the way

 

[Tayside]

Very hard to downsize a 100 year old company with complex physical assets and long established workforce

Indeed, but you just know that within that workforce there will be people that can still produce interesting and beautiful things.
I also know that I view things through an old brain,an old brain that has loved design and engineering, for as long as it can still remember