Who Needs Bike Shorts?

Friday's bike-related photo comes from the folks at Sloggi, who apparently don't feel the need for either bike shorts *or* Campy-equipped bikes for their models. Enjoy.

P.S. Note the interesting left-hand drive machine at far left ...



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Are You Going to Eurobike?

Campy Only, alas, won't be at Eurobike. If *you* plan to go, please send us any photos or info about the Campagnolo exhibit. We'll post your photos here with (or without) credit to the photographer/reporter.

Thanks!

Eurobike info in English: http://www.eurobike-show.com/eb-en/



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New Campy Tattoo Photo

Check out Ted's tattoo and all the other Campy ink here: http://campyonly.com/tattooed.html

Electronic Gruppo Coming to Eurobike?

We're hearing rumors that Campagnolo's electronic shifting gruppo will finally be available for sale as part of the 2011 lineup. Rumor has it that the long-awaited electronic system will be premiered for selected industry insiders at Eurobike. No word yet on whether it will be released as 10S or 11S, or what the price will be. (We've predicted here for years that Campagnolo will sell every single electronic gruppo they sell, regardless of price--there are that many cash-rich Campy fans out there.)

Campagnolo's electronic gruppo has been dangling in front of the cycling world like a carrot on a stick for almost a decade, disappearing for a while before resurfacing at some obscure Belgian road race long enough to keep the rumors going. Needless to say, the Campy Only staff is not holding its collective breath.

... And before we leave the subject, we ask again: Why? Why introduce the weight and inconvenience of batteries into the shifting equation? Who will benefit, other than a professional racer, who has a mechanic to keep the batteries charged and who might benefit from being able to shift in a sprint a tiny bit easier than with a regular system? Time will tell.

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10 Cogs, 125 grams

Reader Mrnustik Joseph sends this photo of a new product he has developed--a 10s cassette with 10-23 cogs machined from solid aluminum. Total weight is a feathery 125 grams.



If you're interested, contact Mrnustik at: cyklotech@seznam.cz

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Today's Bike: Campy Alchemy

Reader Dave V has put together a very nice Campy-equipped machine. Check out the aftermarket Ergo lever hoods and the myriad cool details on the frame and parts.

Dave writes,

"A couple pics of my Chorus/Centaur equipped Alchemy custom project bike. Note the campy-compatible Hudz replacement Ergo hoods – pretty cool product. Installation takes a little muscle, but they look and feel great except for the lack of a Campy logo. Also, I think the Campy hoods do a little better job of sealing around the shift mechanisms behind the levers. James Flatman at Alchemy made the frame, Spectrum PowderWorks did the powder-coating, I did the paint scheme design myself, and PurelyCustom.com did the custom engraved headset spacer and bar end plugs. The alchemical symbols were inspired by Alchemy’s headtube badge, as well as my own professional interest in chemistry!

Cheers,
Dave"






















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Who Was That Hawaiian Campy Rider?

The CampyOnlyGuy spent last week on the island of Kauai. We didn't see too many other road cyclists while we were there (we did bring a folding bike and got in some great rides), and most of the bikes were garden-variety ShimaNO-equipped machines.

But ... we did spot one interesting bike. We were driving toward the harbor where the cruise ships stop, and riding on the other side of the road was a rider on a bike equipped with the unmistakable Delta brakeset. We didn't get a photo, and of course didn't get to say hello to the rider, but here's a tip of the Campy Only hat to that Campy-equipped rider on the island of Kauai.

New Delta Bike

Framebuilder Adam Eldridge sent us these photos of a bike he recently built and equipped with a NOS Delta gruppo. He writes,

"I'm a frame builder in Columbus Ohio. I built this bike using a NOS Campag Delta Record group. The gentleman was given a Kestrel back in the 90's by his wife as a wedding present. The seattube binder was cracked by an overzealous shop worker shortly thereafter. He put the bike away. We crossed paths and the rest is history.

I loved building the bike! I'd love for you to post some photos for your
readers. I bet they'll get a kick out of it!

I build using traditional methods by myself. Check out my blog when you get a moment. stanridgespeed.blogspot.com

Adam C. Eldridge
Stanridge Speed Bicycles
Stanridgespeed.com
Stanridgespeed.blogspot.com"








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Official News

All the 2011 stuff is now on the official Campagnolo site:

http://www.campagnolo.com/jsp/en/news/index.jsp

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Today's Bike: Matt's Fuji Professional

Thanks to reader Matt B for sending these photos. He writes,

"Hello. I just came across your site by accident. While I am not sure if you are interested in this, as it isn't a typical Italian or European make, it is a bit unusual. In fact, I have only tracked down one other.

This odd duck was only offered in the Fuji catalogs for two years, 1981 & 1982. Even more unusual, is the serial number which dates the bike to 1984, a custom job for sure. It's not every day that you see a Japanese bike spec'd with Campy components during the height of Suntour, but I'll not complain. It rides like a dream."

Look closely, and you'll see that the right rear dropout is drilled for a Porte Catena, a semi-automatic chain hanger offered by Campagnolo around this time. A Porte Catena resides in Campy Only's museum, but we've never seen one on a bike.









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Today's Girls

Look closely--they're riding Campy-equipped bikes.



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Latest Campagnolo Offer: Employee Discounts

Here's another reason to ditch your office job and start working at a bike shop: Campagnolo has started offering industry discounts. Under the new program, you'll be able to buy one complete gruppo (individual parts don't apply) and one wheelset per year at a reduced price. Campagnolo says they hope this will make the guy at the bike shop more familiar with their stuff and (one would hope) more likely to suggest it to customers.

Campagnolo faces an uphill climb--most bike shop employees work in a world dominated by ShimaNO and S-equipped bikes--but it's worth a try.

More information here: http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/4280.html

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8-Speed Memories

Here is the CampyOnlyGuy in 1994, riding the Davis Double Century on an 8-speed equipped Merlin. Look closely and you'll see that we were running Monoplanar brakes on this bike (why, oh why, did we ever sell those brakes?).


Send us photos of Campy-equipped bikes from your past and we'll post them here!

-- Post From My iPhone 4

2011 Gruppos: The Video

Henri Karam Cruz created this video from the 2011 gruppo brochure:

Direct link here.

Official Details on the 2011 Campagnolo Gruppos

It's only July, but we have the official details on the 2011 gruppos. There's a ton of info in this super-detailed gruppo-by-gruppo listing.

Some of the news:

• Record 11-speed gets a new red logo
• Upper and lower bodies of the Record rear derailleur will be carbon fiber
• New geometry for the front derailleur (which promises better shifting)
• Reworked internals on the Record and Chrous Ergo levers
• X.P.S.S. shifting on cranksets--eXtreme Performance Shifting System
• Inner ring on the Record crankset is now threaded to accept the chainring bolts
• Lighter UltraTorque axle for Record
• New brake pads for Record
• White and red Ergo lever hoods and cables available as an option
• Titanium UltraTorque axle available as an option for Record
• New graphics and a "full black" option for Chorus
• New Ergo mechanism for Athena
• Athena gets PowerTorque and Power shifting
• All-alloy option for Athena adds alloy Ergo levers (great for riders looking for a more traditional look than carbon)
  
• All gruppos get lighter

No word yet on pricing.

ShimaNO: 10X More Popular than Campagnolo?

Well, according to the folks at MapMyRide.com it is. They're co-sponsors of an online cycling challenge being held in conduction with the Tour de France, and they've been asking people who sign up what kind of bikes they ride.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, ShimaNO users accounted for 72% of all entrants. Campagnolo was waaaay back, with 7.5%. It may be some small consolation that Campy edged our SRAM (5%). (Small because Campagnolo has been around for more than 75 years, SRAM for just a few.)

More information here: http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/4263.html

To sign up (and vote for Campagnolo), go to www.mapmyride.com/tdf

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Today's Bike: Maine Colnago

Longtime reader Dave W (born on August 26, just like Tullio Campagnolo) sent this photo of his latest bike, a '94 Colnago built up with 9-speed Record.



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Campagnolo History: The Sport Derailleur

Today's history lesson is Campagnolo's "Sport" derailleur, introduced in the 1960s as a companion to the company's first dual-pulley derailleur. The Sport apparently tried to address a longtime concern of racers--namely, that the jockey pulleys on modern derailleurs introduced too much friction into the system (witness the fact that Campagnolo for decades hung its hat on the Cambio Corsa, a "derailleur" that had no pulleys at all).

While it had (theoretically) half the pulley friction, the Sport likely suffered from poor shifting, a problem that the dual-pulley derailleur fixed. It was rather quickly discontinued, and the hanging dual-pulley design introduced in 1960 lasted well into the 1980s before being replaced by more modern models.

The example of the Sport shown below (from Campy Only's collection) is unfortunately missing the pulley, but it's possible from the photos to get a good idea of how it would look when installed on a bike. Note that it's designed to fit a frame that does not have a derailleur hanger.









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