When those Delta brakes first came out we built up a bike for the owned of the shop. He took it round the neighbourhood for a spin and came back, planning to do the usual ride up the pavement and up the front step and in through the shop door. Only, due to the poor quality of the brakes, he ended up coming at the door with arse on the top tube and both feet on the ground fred flintstone style, brake levers mashed to the bars. We all laughed so hard. He cursed us out and we mucked with those brakes for a couple hours over a half crate of ale. Only ever got them to work a slight bit better. I couldn't believe all the mechanism in those brakes.

Run the cable in long with the bonnet off, solder it in place, remove the cable and trim to length.

We used to lovingly refer to Synchro as Stynchro. I got the idea. Friction, Indexed, ability to run different freewheels and different speeds with the various coloured inserts. Record C required a freewheel at first, don't forget. But we had more than one bike come back with a very cross owner upset about the crap shifting of his very expensive machine. And I know at least twice we put the incorrectly coloured insert into the lever and it worked markedly better for it.

Any and all post mid-1970s Campy, with the possible exception of the high-flange hubs.


Top

You just made me feel a lot better about selling my '74 PX-10. Although it was built right. But anyways

Ideale 90 saddle with alloy rails.

Period correct.

C - record isn't overrated because no one thought much of it. Deltas work well when set up properly - one of the most adjustable brakes around (at least later generations). They're heavy and a pain - but they do work. Synchros - blech. It is beautiful.

Cloth bar tape...ok, it looks great, but the stuff just sucks.

Twine

Agreed.

I started riding more this year and I forget why I used to worry about this stuff.

I liked Suntour's Superbe rear derailleur. So I'll disagree with the poster who said Suntour.

From my short experience I'll say the Nuovo Record RD. When I got my first slant parallelogram I knew which was better at finding gears before I read what was better.

Anything Modolo, Index Shifting, and Tubulars more than anything else.

Most Underrated is the backward and forward compatability of Shimano drivetrains. It's amazing sometimes.

To me, speaking honestly, nearly anything Campy made up until 8 speed came out. NR and GS both shift badly unless you're a TDF worthy rider from the 70's. All their brakes I have are adequate at best. I will use it to build something period Correct, and the 79 Trek 510 frame makes the GS bearable, since it rides so nicely. Just never got the whole Campy Italian is everything mystique. It looks nice, though. That I will have to admit.

Huret Jubilee. Looks amazing, light as hell, but can't shift it's way out of a paper bag...,,,,BD

Most under rated? Universal Mod 77 calipers, Dia Compe 400 brakes from the mid eighties, Schwinn Columbus tubed frames, Suntour Cyclone M-II, Early to mid 90's Shimano 105 and 600....

These are great threads for getting clues on components you haven't tried yet.

Just wondering how the 2nd generation Campy C record rear derailleur stacks up if anybody has one?
I need something nice with strictly friction shifting to cover a 28 tooth bailout-grandpa sprocket.

People don't understand words.

That's the problem there.

suntour cyclone in general is over-rated, especially the first gen. they are nice but not all that robust. the springs are weak and the FD clamps break easily.

Are Nuovo Record derailleurs over-rated? In 5 years on this forum I don't think I've ever heard anyone praise their shifting qualities. I think it's the Japanese derailleurs that are over-rated. Not that they suck or anything, I like 'em. But everyone is always going on about how great they are, and I really can't tell that big a difference between my Cyclone II and my V-Luxe on one hand, and my NR and Jubilee on the other. If you have a decent freewheel they all shift pretty well as far as I'm concerned.

Mathauser brake blocks. I mean, okay, they look cool but it was all hype (yes, I've got experience to back that statement up) - even when they look like this:



DD

70's Campy hubs are great though.

I've got NR/SR Groups on plenty of my bikes, they shift great. Then again I use 13-21 Freewheels max. I can see someone trying to use them on larger freewheels, not pretty. Syncro Is a pain but once it's dialed in it works fine. Underrated......Weinmann First Gen Carrera brakes.

cyclotoine, It depends on which choir is being preached to, the purist-collector or the rider-collector. I imagine that any safety bike is overrated to one who collects penny farthings.

Brad

The word "Paramount" on the side of a bike frame.

Coloral water bottles.

I agree. Though I use a 13-24 on one bike with no issues. I think the hubbub about Nuovo Record shifting is all through hindsight.
There were improvements in shifting efficiency made later on of course. But the 70's Campy stuff works just fine.
I'm kind of thankful I've never ridden a more "modern" bike to compare performance. Ignorance is bliss.

I rode bikes with Shimano/Suntour long before I ever hopped on a NR/GS equipped bike. Ignorance is bliss about sums it up.,,,,BD

“Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”
Henry Louis Mencken

downtube shifters, any of them