Pantani's Bianchi

Lest we forget ... Marco Pantani won the Tour de France on a Campy-equipped machine. He met a tragic end, but Campagnolo fans will always remember his ability to fly up the mountains.

From the CyclingNews article:

Looking shockingly minimal in comparison to currently fashionable deep-section carbon, the Electron's box-section rims were ideally suited to a rider of Pantani's nature: they had low inertia for rapid accelerations, they were comfortable over the long haul for such a light rider, and they were easily serviceable with grease injection ports front and rear, readily replaceable components and a tubular tire bed that offered a more reliable bond than carbon.

More info here from CyclingNews.com

Franco Ballerini Passes

Pro racer Franco Ballerini has died, the victim of an accident in an automobile rally race. Franco rode for teams using both ShimaNO and Campy, to great success. The cycling world mourns his passing.

Photo left, Franco (left) racing for the Lampre team in the Tour of Flanders ... on a Campy-equipped bike.

Today's Bike: Super Duper Gios

Allen S's Gios features a Super Record 11-speed gruppo. Power goes to the ground via a set of Mavic wheels (all his budget would allow). Seat rests on a non-Campy seatpost because, as Allen explains, Campagnolo doesn't have enough setback in theirs. Looks pretty ... and fast!

SR Pedal Marking Mystery

A reader asked us what the marking "S.B.C. 6544" on the inside face of his SR pedals means. We checked a set here at C-O World HQ, and they have the same marking (see photo). But ... we don't know what it means. Anybody out there able to cast light on this?

Replacement Cobalto Jewels and a Uruguayan Bike

Owners of the short-lived Cobalto brakeset know that it's not uncommon for the shiny cobalt-blue jewel that sits on the caliper pivot to fall out. Reader Ed Napoliello had the same problem, which led him on a successful search for replacement jewels. He has a stock of them, and is offering them to fellow Campy Only fans. Email him if you need a new jewel: ed [at] bigskyshade [dot] com

Ed also sent along photos of an unusual bike--his 1986 Sixto Garcia, custom made in Montevideo, Uruguay. He writes,

"It is made of ORIA (Francisco Moser) tubing with Cinelli investment cast lugs and bottom bracket. It has a full 1986 Campagnolo C-Record gruppo with Mavic GP-4 rims and Mavic sealed bearing hubs (1st generation, I think). I raced this bike as a Junior and it is a veteran of the Junior Tour of Uruguay."

On the 'Bay

Nice-looking 1984 Ciocc is for sale on eBay this week: Click here

Full Super Record, apparently in great condition. Buy It Now price is $1,295US.

What's in YOUR Garage?

Les has this nice lineup of bikes and wheels--tutto Campy, of course.

What's in your garage? Send us a photo of your Campy shrine and we'll post it here.

More Italian Cycling

Here's another blog to check out: Bikeadelic, which focuses (obsesses?) on DeRosa bikes and Italian cycling style. Plenty of Campy equipment to drool over as well.

Masi Update

That nice 1961 Masi (see the post a little ways down) went for $2,025. Not a bad price for a classic bike.

Today's Bike: Les' DeRosa Primato

What a nice bike we have for you today--Les J's 1997 DeRosa Primato, built up with period-correct Record 9-speed. Check out the Campagnolo rims, and the Cinelli titanium stem.

Nice Campy-Equipped Classic Masi on the 'Bay

Less than a day left to snag a rare, 1961 Masi ... Campy-equipped, of course.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330397284083&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123

The Magic £1000 Price Point

The online version of RoadCycling UK weighs in this week on road bikes priced at or below £1000 (about $1,600 US). They listed eight bikes worth looking at, of which only two are Campy equipped:

Wilier Lavaredo Mirage

Condor Italia

The skimpy availability of worthy bikes highlights Campagnolo's perennial difficulty in providing products at the lower end of the price scale that perform well in the marketplace compared to Shimano's lower-priced offerings. We at Campy Only have noted for years that the company's less-than-top-of-the-line gruppos are great, and often differ from Record in minor ways (weighing a few grams more, for instance). However, great performance and good looks simply haven't been enough, and Shimano is well entrenched.

Rare 75th Anniversary Jersey to be Auctioned

Reader Michael S wrote to let us know that he will be selling his 75th Anniversary Jersey on eBay within the next few days. Only 75 of these jerseys were made, and each was packaged in a matching wooden case. If you're looking for a rare piece of Campagnolo memorabilia, this is it!

Photo left, one of the 75 jerseys. More photos here--scroll down to the Sept. 25, 2008 entry.

Tulio Campagnolo: One of Sport's Greatest Innovators

The folks over at Guardian.co.uk have come up with their list of the ten greatest sports inventions of all time, and Tullio Campagnolo is there for his quick release (1927) and the Cambio Corsa derailleur (1937). Read all about it here.

Now, truth be told, derailleurs were around long before Tullio put file to metal in Vicenza--touring cyclists had been using them for years--but the quick release certainly was new, and Tullio's Cambio Corsa was the derailleur that first saw wide acceptance in the pro ranks. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mr. 2,000,000!

We have a winner! Joe C. of Toronto, Ontario, was our 2,000,00th visitor!

Joe wrote to us, "I have been a fan of the site for quite some time, and won some socks long ago which I still have for one of the pre 1000000 give aways. I enclosed a picture of my current ride, that my wife was amazing enough to surprize me with when I turned 40 last year. This year marks my fourth Record groupo. It replaces my Record equiped Lemond Calfee of "94 vintage, which is in excellent shape. Thank you for the excellent site."

We'll be sending Joe an autographed copy of "75 Years of Cycling Passion," and our thanks for being one of the millions of visitors to our site.

2,000,000th Visitor Contest

Who will be the 2,000,000th visitor at CampyOnly.com? Only time will tell (and it won't be long), but one thing's for sure: He or she will be the proud owner of an autographed copy of "Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion." All we'll need is a screen shot of the Campy Only home page with the magic 2,000,000 number showing, and we'll get your prize to you (and perhaps some other cool stuff as well).

Good luck!

Email your entry to enorris [at] campyonly [dot] com. If we don't get an entry with exactly 2,000,000 showing, the next closest entry over 2,000,000 will win.

2,000,000! (Almost)

Sometime in the next few days, CampyOnly.com will pass a huge milestone: Our 2,000,000th reader will visit the site. We send our thanks out to the many thousands of Campagnolo fans worldwide who have helped us reach this fantastic threshold.

CampyOnly has been on the internet since about 1995, serving the needs of Campy-minded fanatics (here's an archived copy our home page from 2000). We plan to stick around, posting photos and information and maintaining our resource of Campagnolo history and trivia. We hope you keep visiting.

Today's Bike: Classic Masi

Jee C., from Canton, MA, sent us this photo of his classic Masi Gran Criterium. Very nice! Love the Benotto cello tape!

CampyOnly.com

A reminder to visit our main web site, at www.CampyOnly.com

And don't forget our flagship sponsor: www.TotalCycling.com

More Project Photos

Took a few photos today of our ongoing randonneur bike project:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35176895@N03/sets/72157622999588839/

Apologies for the lack of Campy content--thought you all might like to see the photos anyway.