I was rumaging through my parts bin today and as I got closer to the bottom(the parts i threw in there a long time ago), I found a set of Campanolo derailures and a partially intact shifterset. The model is the Valentino Extra. I read on some website that they were a lower end model that was sold in the mid 60's / late 60's. I was just wondering if they were decent parts and what anyone had to say about them.

The Valentino Extra was Campagnolo's boom era, entry level derailleur. Typically, it was found on 2nd from the bottom of the line, Italian bicycles. It's prime drawback was an overly stiff return spring which caused difficulty in executing smooth and accurate shifts onto larger cogs. The unit did tend to break-in a bit but I found that it did not hold its setting well. On the plus side, it was very robust. While it fared well compared to most of the entry level competition from the European manufacturers, I found it lacking compared to the entry level models from SunTour and Shimano, which were both strong and smooth.

Edit: Don't get me going on the push rod front derailleur, which was just about the worst front derailleur available at the time. The shifters are OK, and came with either a slotted screw or plastic wingnut to adjust the pressure on the stamped steel friction plate. The slotted screw was not very convenient, given that it was a fine line adjusting for relatively smooth shifts while maintaining enough friction to resist the return spring. The plastic wing nuts were too small and tended to break.

I had Valentino on an Atala I owned back in the early 70s. They were pretty crappy. After that bike was stolen, I bought a bike equipped with Shimano 600 and it was much better.

I'm not sure they were doing anybody any favors by spec'ing those over the Simplex Prestige that often came on the bottom of the line bikes, at least for the rear. The fronts are pretty much the same design. I have an original Prestige on my Peugeot shifting over a somewhat more modern Shimano twist-tooth 14-28 freewheel and it's quite crisp and acurate. The front, well, not so much. I suspect the return spring is a bit weak and it has trouble pulling the chain over on the downshift. The cage on my old Valentino front loosened up and twisted around the chain on an upshift once around 50-miles into a century back in the 90's. That really sucked!

[QUOTE=Kommisar89;7090058]I'm not sure they were doing anybody any favors by spec'ing those over the Simplex Prestige...QUOTE]

Most of the Italian bottom of the line models actually spec'd the Prestige. It was nationalistic pride that made the Italians reserve the Valentino Extra for the 2nd from the bottom of the line. After all, it was Italian and made by Campagnolo so it just had to be better than Simplex. However, that viewpoint seemed restricted largely to the Italians, as non-Italian brands rarely spec'd the Valentino Extra. Most non-European brand tended to spec the Prestige in this price range, but I suspect that was primarily due to the cost advantages.

However, I wasn't fond of the Simplex Prestige either. Shifts onto large cogs were just as problematic, largely due to the flex in the levers. I always felt that they were going to snap off in my hand. The Prestige's best features were that they were expensive, light and smooth right out of the box. Unfortunately, they could wear out rather quickly and become sloppy. And yes, that front derailleur, was right down there with the Valentino's. As a boom era, European, entry level, shifting system, I prefer Huret's much maligned Allvit over the Prestige or Valentino. The design and execution of the levers and front derailleur make up for the deficiencies of the rear derailleur and give Huret an better overall rating.

Would $30 be a fair price for two? I attached a picture for viewing. One has the adaptor claw for older frames, the other doesn't. Taking everyone's comments into consideration, it sounds like a basic Campagnolo RD that will do the job but certainly not the best out there.

Just curious on that price for two of them - thanks! HOw's that for recycling a previous post?

They are a Campagnolo collector items, that's about all. They were among the worst available at the time. On top of that, they were a disappointment because they had the Campagnolo name but none of the performance for which the brand was famous. Admittedly, there were some absolutely horrific derailleurs out at the time.

These are my recollections of them.

I can't understand why anybody would ever buy one of these used. They were poor to start off with and only fitted to lower end bikes. There is no sense in fitting them to any bike now. I bet that any older shop will have a garbage bin full of equally good or better items for free. Plus there are virtually no bikes that are sufficiently collectible to warrant searching out one of these derailleurs because they were originally fitted. They are perhaps worth something only because they have pulley wheels that can be fitted to other Campagnolo derailleurs.

And as a Campagnolo collector, I wouldn't even consider them "collector items." More like "junk-bin derailer which will suit a cheap Craigslist bike."

-Kurt

It's really interesting to hear the negative stories re:VALENTINO Extra RD. I just rode a bike with them on and it provided very smooth shifting and I barely touched the shifters and it responded immediately. Now I will say, I have never used Campagnolo (can't afford nor have I had the opportunity). Perhaps I'll wait and pass this one by and look for something a notch or two up the chain. Any thoughts on what that would be?

For the simple reason that they say Campagnolo on them, and most likely bought by folks who don't yet know about them or by folks that don't care about how they work. Name recognition, plain and simple. If I saw them on a bike in a thrift shop I'd get the bike if the price was otherwise in my buy it anyway range. If I was selling a bike on CL or ebay I'd mention them, again simply for the name recognition. But in reality if I wound up with a set then they'd probably become wall art of some sort now that I know of how they function (or don't).

(Which reminds me that I need to figure out what I have at home and see what level that set is at.)

Good point TREEBOUND, but folks like CUDAK888 and CITOYEN may have saved me from buying a cheapo Campagnolo RD. It's good to learn along the way and buy once vs. getting junk then learning it by riding and having break down or simply not live up to standard. Thanks all!

Excepting the Gran Tourismo...

In another 20 years, Valentino's will be collectable. Those were the worst things ... Not as bad as Sachs Huret stuff of the same years though.

Collectable in that almost everyone will have thrown them away and there will be very few left. ;-)

From my perspective, these cheap derailleurs were why everyone learned to love the Nuovo Record. The NR was leaps and bounds ahead of the Simplex, Huret, Valentino stuff.

By comparison, the NR shifted crisply and quickly and accurately once you learned the skill - overshifting it and then immediately relaxing back for final alignment.

None, not even the vaunted Nuovo Record compares favorably against today's indexed shifting "systems".

"None, not even the vaunted Nuovo Record compares favorably against today's indexed shifting "systems"."

Yeah, unfortunately they were designed way back in the day when men were men and men didn't require an entire "system" to just to change a gear or two on a bicycle.

Popular Science this month reports on the new Shimano Dura Ace electronically shifting component system...

well, cycling boils down to turning the pedals. The easier it is to shift, the better.

I just remembered what the cheap Huret was like, what a disaster. I replaced a lot of those and a lot of simplex RD with Shimano Eagle. It was $10 and shifted sooooo much better. A Suntour was twice as much, and shifted nicely onto 34 tooth cog. I almost never saw a Valentino, I don't remember ever working on a bike with one.

In "the day" these were simply awful. One tried to forget -- the shame! -- that they bore the brev. Campagnolo stamp.

I worked in a bike shop at the time and, making $1 per hour, it was a stretch to afford a Gitane, even with my staff discount. Of course, the Gitane c/w Simplex deraileurs -- arguably worse than Campag Valentino.

I saved for months to, peice by piece, change everything to Nuevo Record.

Now, in one of my junk boxes, I have a pristine set of Super Record derailleurs, but I actually prefer the look of the NR.

The Gran Turismo (correct spelling) is not that bad a derailleur for what it was designed for: a city bike with a single front chainring and wide range freewheel. If you compare it to most other derailleurs of the day, that could also handle wide ranges, it worked in a more foreseeable manner than most (always bad perhaps, but foreseeable!) It could also take untold abuse and could be set up once and forgotten. If you compare the competition, you were always obliged to adjust the derailleurs and needed to be much more protective of them.

Remember these were almost always fitted to bikes belonging to people who never ever had the bike adjusted after they first left the shop. I do not ever remember needing to straighten out a Gran Turismo derailleur, but it was almost universally necessary to straighten out Shimano, Suntour and Huret derailleurs after a short time of use by a newbie or fred. Even the shift lever was modified to suit its use. Campagnolo indeed fitted a large protector disk on the outside of the lever so that a skirt or errant shopping bag or other could not inadvertently shift the derailleur. Not enough there to make it worth using for an enthusiast, by far from being a useless derailleur like the Valentino (enough to give Tullio's son Valentino a inferiority complex?).