Classic & Vintage - Sachs New Beginnings, The best at the time???

Just picked up a Sakae Litage, with full Sachs groupo. The frame looks like a Vitus with a different seat tube design. The brifters are said to be Sachs Ergo 8spd, did Campy license out there stuff to others??? The components look nice, are they chorus or ultegra equals??? I have seen the parts on bikes in mags of days gone past but no one compares them to anything or mentions if they are good or bad. Last question, did Sachs become part of SRAM or just fade away??? Thanks...I will post pictures next week when the box shows up.

Sachs became part of the SRAM group in 1997 after they had themselves purchased and partnered with Huret and SRAM invested a good deal of capital to improve the production at Sachs.

Looking forward to seeing the Litage. Very similar to the 979, but subtle differences where the Japanese tried to improve the bonded Al design.
I've only seen one, on flickr of one in Japan.

I think I read somewhere that Sachs licensed the ergo power design, but used it with Shimano spacing, a weird compromise necessitated by the unwillingness of the big brands to standardize. The rest of the parts were also rebranded from strong light, Mavic, Huret etc.

The Sachs Ergo shifters were made by Campagnolo. The only difference is the shifter disc. If I remember correctly, they are compatible with Shimano.

Sachs New Success stuff is very very expensive on ebay...

Can't wait to see the pics!

The Sachs Ergo shifters were made by Campagnolo. The only difference is the shifter disc. If I remember correctly, they are compatible with Shimano.

i believe they also left out the bearings found on campagnolos higher end groups. i would expect more effort, less precision, and a shorter lifespan than record.

i believe they also left out the bearings found on campagnolos higher end groups.

Low end used brass bushings, high end bearings. But there's no clear consensus among campyphiles that the bearings actually improve the performance and durability - the brass bushings exceed the demands already by a wide margin so the bearings seem to be an answer to a nonexistent problem. but still, nice to have.

Low end used brass bushings, high end bearings. But there's no clear consensus among campyphiles that the bearings actually improve the performance and durability - the brass bushings exceed the demands already by a wide margin so the bearings seem to be an answer to a nonexistent problem. but still, nice to have.

my dad raced and was a big campagnolo user back in the early 90s. he went through several sets of ergo levers and quickly decided that bearings were the only way to go (i still use a set of his record levers to this day) he said that the levers with bushings would "gum up" quicker in adverse weather conditions. sometime bad enough that guys would break the thumb paddle. i remember watching him rebuild cheaper sachs and campagnolo levers for friends.

in "normal" riding conditions you are probably correct. the bushings should be more than adequate. i know people that have many miles on them.