The dodgy world of used ("vintage") bike parts

[American Friend]

The precision of the old Record components, when they were new, was incredible

I've got a pair of Campag Record pedals where, if you remove the dustcaps, you can see that the one bearing cup is about 2mm further into the pedal body than the the other pedal.

I mentioned this to a certain old campy dealer near Dorset and he said he had a museum of Campag parts that should never have left the factory.

Well, you've just put a spanner in the works.

 

[wriggles]

Both of mine are NOS...... honest!

No used but vvgc. Difficult to measure on one as its on a bike. The one thats not on a bike waggles maybe 1/2 mm - i'd need to get the vernier out and a bit late for that.

Shoot me down but that era of Campag was based on a design that knocked spots off the competition in terms of quality and function when it first came out 10 years before, but by then was becoming seriously eclipsed by the quality of the emerging Shimano stuff. It wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese manufacturing was light years ahead even then.

Just my opinion - I love the stuff for its aesthetic and have it on 3 bikes.

 

[American Friend]

I doggedly stuck with Campagnolo over the years until I got into MTBs, which was pretty late in the game, but I thought Shimano started to eclipse Campagnolo in the 1980s mainly because it was less expensive and had a couple of clever innovations like indexing.

Here’s a long but fascinating article about Campagnolo:
http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured- ... b?page=0,0

 

[pigman]

I doggedly stuck with Campagnolo over the years until I got into MTBs, which was pretty late in the game, but I thought Shimano started to eclipse Campagnolo in the 1980s mainly because it was less expensive and had a couple of clever innovations like indexing.

yes, I was always a campag man - record then C-record., then mavic. Then in about '88 I got a shimano tricolour groupset, and although it hadnt got the continental europe poseur value, it felt and worked far better than anything i'd had previously. that was my last racing groupset, which i still have and will hang on a suitable frame one day

 

[Trotsky_Vulcan]

Many of my friends are die hard Campagnolo users and cring at the term Campag [ok to me] or Campy.....the era of NR and Super Record...ie late 1970s....is one of elegance that took some beating....but [and for this, i am regarded by many as a heretic] i prefer Shimano stuff....not the current stuff as it is ugly [as is the current Campag stuff].....but the period of DA 7400 and 600.....to DA 7600 and older 105/Ultegra.....before outboard BB etc......indexing was smooth and reliable with down tube shifters or bar end shifters or even 'brifters'.....again a personal preference......my current frame has a Campag Record headset...nice but not as nice as an original Campag NR oreven better Super Record headset....give me a DA 7400 headset anyday!