I've built up a Mercian Vincitore road bike to match the bike I rode / raced in the early 70's. This time I was able to afford Campagnolo components- mostly C-Record. When I was riding this week, my chain went slack - the result of a broken spring that tensions the pully cage on the rear derailleur. I e-mailed a picture to the folks at Campagnolo who told me that I need a DOUBLE WOUND LOWER CAGE PLATE ROTATION SPRING for a my ATHENA REAR DERAILLEUR - PART #7260113 - see attached pictures. Does anyone know where I can find one? I would prefer a new spring, but would be happy with a good used one. Also, does anyone know if the old spring can be repaired? If so, who would do it? If the broken end could be bent 90 degrees without compromising its strength, I don't think that this 1/8" would greatly affect the tension on the chain. Thanks for your help...

I do not have one of those in my spares...you could clamp the end in a vise and bend it 90 degrees without a lot of trouble, I think, but getting it all back together right would not be easy, I fear. I've never tried to ask Campagnolo for help. Who did you send your email to?

Marty Kozicki was the Campy rep. I spoke with - he's a very nice guy. He returned my calls promptly, researched the aforementioned ID of the derailleur / part number and called me back right away. I had no idea that there were so many variations on this theme - there's a similar derailleur on eBay right now that is slightly different from the one I have pictured - selling in England - currently over $200.00. They call it a C-Record, but I'm confused by that description - did the C-Record derailleurs evolve over time?

C-Record was the top-of-the-line gruppo in that era, and the first generation components sell for ridiculous prices. Athena was, I think, second tier. A very good gruppo, but not as much collector value.

Paul, as I said in my email to you, it is not a C-Record RD, but an Athena as Campagnolo USA identified it as.

Do not follow ANY of sellers on eBay as titling their auctions correctly - 90% of them will mis-label the derailer in their titles (A Nuovo Record RD becomes "SR," Chorus becomes "C-Record Chorus Athena" - stuff like that) in hopes of drawing in more bids, whether ethical or not.

I didn't think of it initially, but your best bet may be to simply purchase another complete Athena derailer on eBay - they usually aren't as expensive as the more collectible Campy RD's.

-Kurt

Paul, have you checked with the wrenchers on the Bike Mechanics forum?

Bending springs can be iffy; the heat treating process that makes them springy also makes them brittle and they can break (as you now know).

This part can be replaced in most Campy RDs; the trick is to find the part. A photo of the RD will help to ID it since you will need to know what you have to order the correct part.

Here's a good place to start looking: https://www.campyonly.com/

Good luck.

Try campyoldy.

If he doesn't have one, maybe American Cyclery or bike123.com

Rising the dead: I ran into this topic from googel, bcause had the same problem. Yes, spring can be bent up, not easy, but it is not so fragile. but to compensate shortening, need to drill extra 2 mm hole where to put the "new" end.

What he said! If I had a nickel for every eBay seller that said their (lower-level) part was a C-Record one, I'd be a gazillionaire. Everything else is apparently frickin' Super Record (not!), as well.... Bah.

FWIW, the pecking order top-to-bottom back then was:

C-Record
Croce d'Aune (short-lived)
Chorus
Athena.

Unfortunately, the name 'Record' has been vastly over-used by Campagnolo's marketing Dept. over the decades (from 1958 until the present time). Plus, for a while, after the old man's death in 1983, you still had Super Record, (Nuovo) Record, Gran Sport, (GS) Touring, Victory, and Triomphe. Then they tried to do ATB stuff with multiple levels. Stop! My head hurts, guys! Uncle, uncle!
It took until about 1993 to sort it all out. A very rough decade for Campagnolo.

Super and Nuovo Record lasted until 1987, FYI.

-Kurt

It appears to be a slant parallelogram design. I believe that the original C-Record was not. Are you using index shifting? Ergo? Friction?

I have a 74 Nouvo record that is twisted but has a good spring.. but i doubt it'd fit that mech... it's much later?

I agree with Kurt, the best (easiest) option is to try to find a complete Athena rear mech cheap on flea bay or similar. Mine only cost me £4 plus postage! If you need just the spring, try Nigel Scott at Campyoldy, if it's not listed he may still have it in stock. If not, then bending springs and drilling holes sounds feasible but far more fiddly. https://www.campyoldy.co.uk