Robvolz 

In 1978 the safety Council insisted on a lip on the campy Front derailleur. In all of their wisdom, they felt a lip reduces instances of the front derailer entering the fleshy parts of our legs, completely ignoring the fact that there are sharp teeth on the chain ring right next to it.

The n. record continued having no holes. The super record has four holes.

According to Velo base, the pins on the chain would catch that fourth hole and rip the entire front derailleur brazen off the frame.

The next year they removed the fourth hole to a three hole design.

Much like the death trap moniker for Cinelli petals, lawn darts and certain quill stems, I think the number of people who have actually died is being exaggerated.

But before I rebuild a bike using this original component, I will ask if anyone has ever had or even heard of a negative experience with the 78 super record front derailleur?

I have run my fingers on the inside and cannot fathom how a pin could get caught let alone stuck.



Greta Isn’t scared of a fourth hole.

Erzulis Boat

I have never seen it happen, but if the FD is adjusted to sit at the correct height, the fourth hole is located along the "flight path" (if you will) along the big ring at least, and perhaps could snag a pin.

I have seen quite a few FD's get ripped by toe clip straps (raises hand) whilst getting the shoe in.

79pmooney

I raced '76-'78. Those FDs were so dangerous we had ambulances escorting our races. (True, some felt there were other dangers too.)

In the shop, we used to kill idle time dreaming up scenarios where someone got injured by those hazards. Wasn't easy. And the later "safe" FDs were quite resistant to the crescent wrench fine tune that worked so well on the earlier ones.

Erzulis Boat

Thinking out loud here. Suntour, for example had a skeletonized FD cage, but the slot wasn't big enough to accommodate a chain pin (If I recall)-

I suspect that maybe Campagnolo's "hole" was just large enough to snag a chain pin, and at the right altitude (position wise) could snag a pin on a downshift or poor setup of a limiter to snag a chain. All it would take would be a few incidents, and Campagnolo (rightly so) would eliminate the fourth hole. Just guessing????

Or, it was felt to be a weak point for the too common toe clip strap snag, and was then eliminated. Perhaps the Velo-base explanation for the fourth hole elimination was pure speculation after the fact.

Shimano Dura-Ace FD that was "snagged" and bent back to stay on the road. Luckily it stayed intact. Just guessing here!

obrentharris 

I have no idea whether this is fact or fable but I will point out that the chains we were using in the sixties and seventies had pins that protruded a bit from the plates, unlike modern chins which are pretty much flush.
Brent

Robvolz 

I think the hollow pin chains might have an even more rounded pin chance of snag.

I just picked up a NOS vintage Sedis “sedi color” and a Regina “extra.”

whoever has the softest / rounded pins will win.