Originally Posted by GTS753 (cyclomondo), another happy fyxomatosis customer

'I believe I have 'fair dinkum' busted open the mythology surrounding unusually dated Campy rear derailleurs.

We have all seen the 2nd generation SR units dated pre 1979 and NR units with 1st generation SR plates. Were these secret prototypes that originated from the development bunker under Campagnolo HQ? The prices that have been paid would led you to expect as much......

Now my little tale....

I recently received a package from a close friend who lives in northern Italy and it consisted of about a kilogram of small rear derailleur parts and a Campagnolo stamped hand held punch set. The parts are a mix of NR, SR1st and 2nd gen components. My friend lived in a town close to the Campy factory, went to school with the children of Campagnolo employees and played with them out of school. It was common practice, and knowledge for some employees to take small components from the factory and make up rear derailleurs at home in the evening as a 'sideline'. The village barber, an ex pro racer, had a glass showcase in his shop where he not only displayed these but sold them as well.

When you think about it, what perfect sense this makes. So much easier to stuff into your pocket than a crankset - and a reasonably high value item to boot. I would say that there would be a lot of BB sets and headsets out there as well that never had boxes. These guys would not be a pedantic as us about dates and the details we agonise over....just get it together and make it work! I imagine that the 'blue collar' Campy workers of the '70s were only on basic wages and stock control would have been fairly elastic. Obviously Campagnolo Pty Ltd would have done something about this had they known, and this problem of staff theft is still one of the largest security issues that exists in modern business.

I'm glad I didn't invest in a funky collection of mismatching rears when the urge began to take hold a while back...now I can make my own!'