Celebrating the GALLI brake calliper.
 

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.

Oh my. 3rd Millenneum drillium.

+1
I think that it's odd to be celebrating something by defacing it. I've never understood the need for holeyer than thou.
And your pics don't really show the brakes at all -- could be anybody's.

Drilled chainrings and derailleurs are OK, but I would be very hesitant to drill out either cranks or brake calipers. My PKN-10 came with Galli calipers, and they are indeed superb brakes.

Oops - bit of a mixed response.
 

First of all Charles, I agree the photo’s are a bit small but the QR lever denotes the origin. As for the drilling, it’s serves to be referential. I remember the 70’s Holdsworth’s and so forth that had drilled out components, most of which had been done by the owners. It was often less than perfect but none the less - signified the commitment of the rider. Club meetings that took place on wet windy evenings on country B-roads – the traditional British Ten. I may be nostalgic, but this is the classic and vintage page - isn’t it all referentialism to a by-gone era?

John, I think you are absolutely right about cranks and callipers – which is why I’ve been modest with drilling, it’s mostly countersinking. I’m glad you agree about the quality of the brakes – the crux of my comments. Dead cheap on e-bay.

Here’s a ring I made earlier (bolts are temporary).

Referentialism is, to my way of thinking, to be avoided strenuously, along with all the other isms. Either a thing is, or it is not; no ismus is a satisfactory substitute. Not to be confused with ambiguity, the fountainhead of Art. Reference becomes its own goal, and pretty soon we're deconstructing, one of the most pernicious of isms. YMMV.

Ok
 

You’re right, I’ve been a bad boy and shouldn’t have drilled out those callipers. Attempting to qualify my actions with nonsense that serves capitalist ideology is plain wrong. In future I will present better pictures of objects that have not been defaced in any way, shape or form.

By way of apology.

I set up a bike in 1984 or so with a Galli/Stronglight/Maillard groupo that was available at the time. Galli brakes, derailleurs and crank; Maillard hubs and pedals; Stronglight headseat and sealed BB. When I bought the Galli stuff, it was partly because I had heard that Galli was a fabrication contractor for Campi, so I assumed that the quality was identical and that Galli was cheaper only because the expensive logo was missing.

It has mostly served me well ever since, except for a few peculiarities. The gum brake hood covers rotted away very quickly, but the suntour replacements have lasted well. I broke a Maillard rear axle and discovered that they used a thread pitch unique to them (at least as far as rear axles go). After a long search, I got the last NOS that Yellow Jersey had. I don't know what I will do if this one breaks. The cones are still perfect

The Galli derailleurs are Campi NR clones (as is the crank) and worked pretty much exactly the same as the Campis. At the risk of offending a lot of people out there, I have to say they pretty much sucked. But I lived with them for a long time time, until my increasing maturity and the terrain I moved into made me seek some lower gears. For the same reason, I also eventually put a triple on the bike and put the Galli crank on my 8-speed Nexus commuter bike.

About two months ago, the right crank arm broke. When I did a post-mortem, I noticed that the left arm had a substantial crack. This has made me feel significantly less warm and fuzzy about Galli.

If you used it for 20+ years you can at least say you got your money's worth though.

Pics?

True, to a point. The bike was a replacement for a bike was stolen at the end of my racing phase, so it never got the hard riding or mileage that it was made for. And if I was heavier (my average weight over the last couple of decades is about 160) or more powerful (I am a spinner and definitely not a sprinter), the life of this crankset may have been very short.

Okay, pics later.

Galli stuff. The crack in the left arm does not show up in a photo.