Many years ago I bought a Viner Special Course frame from a fellow cyclist. I could not believe the beauty of this bike - chrome crown, cut outs, electric blue and yellow, Italianicity - what more could a boy of fifteen want? Well, a set of close clearance brakes to make the whole thing work. As an early birthday present, my older brother bought me a set of Galli brakes, probably to get the drooling anguish ridden teenager and his incomplete bicycle out of the kitchen. Frame long gone but the brakes have stayed with me and have furnished several winter hacks since.

I recently built up a Champion frame (circa 71 Torpado) as a general purpose fixed (now a Nuovo Record road bike). Torpado's (73’s) are known for the drilled equipment that came with them e.g. Italvega SL. I decided to follow suit and drill out some kit of my own – the Galli’s were an obvious choice. Stripping the brakes made me realize how well engineered these products are. The significant difference to most callipers of the same era is the inner locking nut – this is also forms a sleeve that runs through the callipers over the pivot bolt. The increased diameter and division of friction surfaces makes for brilliantly smooth braking action. Also, the QR springs to attention like no other. Twenty-five years on these brakes work as new. It’s so easy to dismiss things that function better than most just because of their standing within the component hierarchy. I now have an informed appreciation.

Another observation is the price of vintage Campag. I cherish this gear but question why the prices are so inflated. Lets face it, there is more of this stuff out there (pre Dura Ace boom) than any other make – Campag Strada, Ofmega Mistral, I wonder. All said, MODOLO does it for me.