there is a model of campag shift lever have been wondering about for thirty-five years or more. it is a b-line set which was current in the 1960's. do not know a model name or number for it. have been through the campag catalogues and it does not seem to appear anywhere.

here is the best photo i have been able to find:



despite looking like something which came from a hardware store the wingnut is original equipment.

for part of its its production life it seems to have been concurrent with the gran sport shift lever set, model 1026:



it disappeared with the launch of the valentino/ngs set in the late '60's, model 1014/1A:



does anyone have any information on this mystery shift lever set?

thanks for reading.

Since I have nothing to add.

^ "I'll get the butter and salt!" *and pulls up a chair*

Fact, I have both lever sets that he pictures except the one of mystery. He does seem to bring good posts up.

I don't know either, but there's one on ebay now:

Campagnolo Vintage Downtube Shifters | eBay

thanks for your response rhm.

cannot quite tell from the photo of the Garlatti if its shift lever clamp is this Valentino type as seen on the ebay set. iirc some of these mystery levers were made with a clamp which more resembled that of the GS set.

there is a set of this ebay type on a Bottecchia bicycle in a recent forum thread:



https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...formation.html

Disregarding the details, there are two basic versions of the old Campy down tube shifters; the Record type clamp has female ends, like brazed on bosses, that receive a bolt; the other type, as seen on Nuovo Gran Sport and related levers, has male ends that receive a (wing)nut of some kind. The mystery levers on the Garlatti, as on the Bottecchia, are clearly in the latter category.

yes indeed. afaik the mystery levers are the earliest type to employ the stud. there is also a transitional model between them and the valentino/ngs. it is called valentino extra model 1206:



the mystery levers are not the only model to wear a red disc. there is something called the gran turismo model:

Finally came across a better illustration of the lever set in question.

It is mounted to the downtube of a ~1967 Torpado.



While the clamp appears to be same as that of the Valentino and NGS lever sets it has a lower cost dull finish rather than their polished chrome.

I know the wingnuts look like something from a hardware store but they are O.E.M.

My highschool friend, Pete, had a Torpado with Valentino and it had these shift levers on it. We toured for 3 years together and i remember them as they loosened all the time, and he would reach down while riding and turn the wing nut. I wonder if they were a secret Valentino lever not available outside of the OEM packages they provided to manufacturers.

Thanks for this response TiHabanero.

While I have never worked on the set in question the loosening problem is one I would expect from my experience of working with the Valentino/NGS version. The solution may be a drop of Loctite on the threads. The threaded stud design is a poor one, likely a cost savings measure.

Appears to have enjoyed but a brief production life on the order of two to three years.

Just ran across this good image of the hex nutted version with the red outer washer. Fitted to an undated Bianchi.




Complete machine can be viewed on this pinterest page:

https://www.pinterest.com/emanueleto...-bici-vintage/

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Here is one more fairly good picture from a Prima brand bicycle of the early 1970's:



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I missed this thread the first time around, for some reason. Regardless, they were fitted to Valentino Extra equipped models. We used to call them Mickey Mouse shifters because of plastic wingnut's resemblance to a Mouseketeer beanie.

Oh no, now you're going to get me thinking about Annette Funicello, Robbie & all the rest of the gang...

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To be clear, these are metal wingnuts, no? (Although judging from crack in left one just posted, metal doesn'l help much, if it is metal.)

Edit: no you're right - they look like plastic

Not a crack, parting line mark.

There be iterations with both plastic and metal wingnuts.

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This looks like a crack:


By parting line, do you mean casting or mold mark?

It's a crack, which is pretty common. Note how the separation is in different spots on this set. You can see the mould part line running across the top of the 'ears'. Mine are definitely plastic. It's pretty much indicative of the low grade of these levers. The clamp is only zinc plated, not chromed. The lever body isn't countersunk for a proper convex friction plate, the friction plate is prevented from rotating via a tab, as opposed to flats on the hole, and spindle is just a swaged stud. Very Mickey Mouse for a Campagnolo product.

There has to be new joke material somewhere in this.

On one side we have the Campagnolo Elefante shifter (google if necessary) and on the other side the Campagnolo mouse shifter...

Dumbo and Mickey?

Thanks T-Mar!

Am clearly hittin' on "tutto cilindri" this day.

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