About that advice not to take any wooden derailleurs ...

You might want to re-think that, after you see this fantastic wooden Campagnolo derailleur ("Tree-opmh," perhaps?) created by a U.S. woodworking student.

There are some fantastic wooden frames that this would be perfect with. Add some old school wooden rims, and you've got a real theme going!

 

For Sale: Every Derailleur Campagnolo Made from the 1950s to 1980s

Framebuilder Richard Sachs (a longtime sponsor of Campy Only) is a well-know fan of Campagnolo. Over the years, he's built up far more bicycles with Campagnolo than any other brand.

Richard is also a well-known collector of Campagnolo parts, some of which end up on project bikes, some which never leave their original boxes. It's a collection of the latter that Sachs is now offering for sale.

In this blog post, Sachs describes his collection of 1950s to 1980s rear derailleurs, collected over the years in new condition--with the original boxes---that he is now offering for sale. It's an amazing collection that he says is the most complete in existence, and we don't doubt that that's in fact the case.

Cost? Just $14,000 will, in one fell swoop, make you the owner of the most complete collection of Campy derailleurs from the classic era, from Gran Sport to Nuovo Record.

Here's a link to larger versions of the photos above. Lots more at Richard's blog post.

Today's Retro Photo: Forgotten Campagnolo Derailleurs

Well, not forgotten, but certainly among the less common examples of Campagnolo design. Included in the photo are several variations of the "Valentino," named for the son of the company's founder (and current head of the company).

The "Sport" model dates from about the 1950s, and is unique among Campagnolo's rear derailleurs in that it has only one jockey pulley. You can see one of these mounted on one of Campy Only's bikes here.

Nicoletti Update: The Sport Derailleur

Readers of this blog will know that we recently purchased an Italian "Nicoletti" bicycle originally built in 1959 or 1960 (according to the builder's son). The bicycle was mostly complete--only a few pieces were not original to the bike.

One of those pieces was the Campagnolo "Velox" derailleur which, while being somewhat unusual, dated to about a decade after the Nicoletti was built. We inquired with the Nicoletti shop (still in business in Verona), and they responded that the Velox was, indeed, not original. The bike's original derailleur, they said, would have been a Campagnolo Sport.

So ... off we went to eBay in search of a Sport, eventually finding a very nice example from an international seller in Rome, Italy. After a few weeks' wait for our package to arrive, we were finally in possession of a true Campagnolo anachronism--a rear derailleur with a single pulley.

We installed the Sport today, in the process returning the Nicoletti to a condition ever closer its original state.

Amazingly, despite having only one pulley, the derailleur shifts reasonably well. The lack of an articulated two-pulley cage severely limits the derailleur's ability to handle wide ranges in cog teeth--the markings on the back suggest a limit of 16 to 22 teeth (the Regina freewheel on our Nicoletti is a four-speed, with 15t and 22t small and large cogs).

More photos of the bike with the Sport installed are available after the break. A video is coming soon.

The Cold War and Campagnolo: Yes, There's a Connection

One of our readers, Dave, wrote in to add to the knowledge base about classic Campy:

Hello, I read your explanation about Campy Super Record rear derailleurs from the late 1970s that actually had aluminum alloy bolts, instead of the much more common standard titanium version.  

You said you didn't know why they used aluminum instead, and the reason is that during the late 1970s the only titanium was being mined in the USSR, and the US was basically in the cold war with them at the time. 

Remember the US boycotted the 1980 Olympics, etc?  Well, we couldn't get any titanium from the Soviets, and neither could the Italians at Campagnolo.  

So Campagnolo tried to make their titanium supply on-hand last as long as possible, which was over a year and a half, but finally it ran out and they were forced to start manufacturing test bolts out of aluminum and some of them actually made it into circulation, but very few. 

I have one mint condition derailleur with those bolts in my collection, by the way. I have been wanting to take some very high resolution photos of it and post them online for all people to see, since hardly anyone has seen one. 

You have a nice website. I have several other things to contribute, since I'm a big Campy collector too, like you. 

Thanks for sending this in, Dave!