I need to swap out the bar /stem combo on my Merckx and I am contemplating whether to replace the Campy levers below. The entire bike is D/A 7400 / 7402 with the exception of these Campy levers. 2 questions for the forum -

1. Any idea of what Campy levers these are?
2. Would you swap them out (if you were me) for a period correct Shimano set? I have a set of Shimano 600's, and it seems like non areo 7400's are not to hard to find. While period correct would likely be areo, this is my Eroica bike and I want to keep it non areo.

I am more about function than being a purist, but welcome the input.

They appear to be Campagnolo Super Record brake levers. Some of the best of the 80s. 7400 Dura Ace would have aero levers.

Just my opinion. Shimano 600 and DA levers prior to 7400 were inferior to campy super record and record levers.

What is your reason for wanting to replace the levers? If you want a modern lever that allows you to comfortably ride on the hoods all the time, look at the TRP RRL.

I would vote for a matched groupset.
Unless the new hoods/levers are a dis-comfortable component for you.

edit: for Eroica CA, aero levers are not a disqualifier.

I'm generally an in the drops rider. It is more about a matched groupset. But the Campy levers work and are beautiful.

Thanks for the input

Thanks for the reply. I am aware that CA allows for aero, I rode this bike in Gaiole last year and plan to again this year. They are a little more strict about the cable thing for that event.

I would want the levers to match the brakes but...
Rustines hoods for your campy levers are pretty good and readily available. Hoods for Shimano levers are hard to come by.

I concur, the levers appear to be Campagnolo Super Record. However, I would match the levers to the calipers. I can't positively identity the version of the calipers from the picture, but they will work better with the matching levers, particularly if they are the later SLR version (BR-7402). These calipers have a lighter return spring and work best with teflon lined cable housing and spring assisted levers.

^^^ Good point about the hoods classtime. If you went with 7400 levers, the original non aero flavor is probably going to be easier to get decent fitting hoods for. Shimano and hood compatibility can be an obstacle. They may not be optimum though, according to T-mar..

Just to clarify, what I said about pre 7400 dura ace doesn't apply to 7400, which is excellent stuff. I'd probably want the levers to match too.

Im with you on a matching groupset. Id leave them on until u find a set of DA levers. Theyre hard to come by with oem hoods.

took me 6 months to find a set.

As others have mentioned, those are Super Record levers, produced from the mid-70s to the mid-80s.

Unless you have a particular fondness for other levers, I'd keep them.

Or find some of the Modolo "anatomic" lever hoods (or clones thereof):

Wanna swap?


.

Good swap deal there,

Appreciate the offer - If I take them off, I have another build to use them on.

Thanks for the reply. They function great, no issues. It is all about aesthetics if I make the change. The brakes are 7402’s, even with the non matching levers they have great stopping power and modulation.

The problem I ran into running old non-aero levers with SLR brakes is that I would have to 'flip' the levers back to the starting position after braking. SLR levers have a return spring in them, and the brakes have a lighter return spring, as T-Mar noted. Braking was fine, as I recall.

Actual question- what do you feel makes the Campagnolo levers better? How do Campagnolo levers differ from Superbe?

I've used the 6207 levers- the slotted style and find those as nice as Superbe. I have not used the earlier "shield" logo 600 levers.

The mounting bands would sometimes break on the early DA levers. I can't remember exactly where, but saw it a few times. Maybe it had to do with racer types putting big miles down, for recreational riders it wouldn't be an issue. Quality in general wasn't quite as nice. That all changed with 7400. I'm just nitpicking here though. I used 7100 brakes for a while and they were fine.

Campagnolo levers have a steel body and are nearly crash proof. The pay a bit of a weight penalty for it, but it was handy for racing juniors BITD. Crashes were a regular occurrence, and having to fork out cash for new brake levers would have gotten expensive fast. I feel sorry for teenagers now, those brifters aren't cheap and really aren't crash proof at all.

Superbe are pretty much a clone of campy levers, and basically equivalent in quality. They were a bit lighter because of an aluminum body. (IIRC - can someone verify this?) Cost was basically the same as campy, though I think at first it was a bit cheaper. Superbe was respected by the racing set. Main reason campy parts in general were more popular was that it cost around the same, but parts were readily available. As you know the later Superbe Pro stuff had some differences.

Kind of off-topic, but... how would you identify Super Record levers from what else Campy offered during that time (Record, Nuovo Record????)

The Super Record levers were the same as Record levers except that they were drilled out. They used a slightly thicker gauge of aluminum to make up the strength, so ironically they were very slightly heavier.

There was never a NR brake lever or brake set. Below Record/Super Record was Gran Sport. I can't remember if those levers were different than record or not, but they came with black hoods.

Campy lever bodies are actually made out of aluminum. How do I know this? I've drilled out a few pairs:



I use a Dremel tool, and I've never found one that can provided the torque needed to drill through steel.

DD

Cool, thanks for the correction/verification. That makes sense. The steel bodies rumor must have been one of those old wives' tales, probably because of the color. I was never entirely sure if true or not, and never bothered enough to verify.

Regardless, they are extremely tough levers compared to most of the competitors of the time. .

For whom?

Suntour Superbe's were nicer than all of them.

Just sayin...

Nah. Nope. Uh-uh. And yes, I have a basis for comparison. Campy wins for functionality on all fronts, plus is better finished in the bargain.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

DD