Campagnolo's Century Finish

Sometime in late 80's or early 90's, Campagnolo introduced the "century" and "graphite" finishes to their product lines. Century was strictly for Record, and was a sort of smokey chrome. Graphite was available in the "lesser" component groups, and was a darker, opaque grey/black.

Graphite finish items show up relatively infrequently. Even less common are items in century finish, like these beauties that followed me home recently:



If you check out the Campagnolo catalogs, you won't see either finish pop up until the 1991 catalog. I have a hard time using catalogs as cannon in these situations - you'll also note that the last generation criss-cross style (often called the 5 pivot style) was available by then, and all delta's in the catalog sport black accordians and wheel guides.



Not so with my brakes. The Chorus cranks above have a '51' in a box for a date code, which I've been led to believe indicates 1989. Who knows when they really appeared? 1989? Possibly for the 1990 catalog year?

The last gasps of Syncro

When people think of Syncro shifters, they tend to think of 2 versions. The original version, with the little lever on the side, and then Syncro 2, which I detailed in an earlier blog post. That really doesn't show the big picture -- the introduction of 8 speed cassettes and Ergopower didn't herald the end of the downtube shifter.

1991 saw the introduction of 8 speeds for us mortals. But in order to take up 8 speeds worth of shifting, without having to bend the lever past the downtube, some changes had to be made



A larger takeup barrel was added. But that was basically the only change made to the 1991 version. Flat shifter lever, and the identical innards to the Syncro 2.



1992 saw some more obvious changes to the shifter. The ability to switch between friction and indexed was done away with -- no longer could you pull out a collar and rotate it to disengage the indexing cog. The lever itself was curved, for your comfort.



The innards were also mildly changed, but the 2-spring arrangement of Syncro 2 remained. A small adjuster was added to the rear shifter to allow the "possibility of adjustment while racing" -- which is probably Campy speak for "compensate for our mediocre design while riding."

The left/front lever was also redesigned...but its still a friction shifter. Nothing too exciting there. If you're reading this with the hope of seeing it, just place a comment indicating you'd like to see it, and I'll add some pictures.



1995 saw the final redesign of the lever. Outside it looks fairly similar, but inside it saw a pretty significant change.



A insert contains all the shifting bits. A new 3-spring design was employed. The upside to this was better support around the collar, which gave improved precision to the whole mechanism.

This design still lives. Campagnolo discontinued downtube shifters altogether in 2001, but the same design is used for the 10 speed bar end shifters today. If you wanted 10 speed indexed shifters, you'd just need a set of stops, and a set of the bar end shifters, or a set of the 95+ shifters, and a 10 speed indexing collar.

Colnago Branded Delta's

Whole lotta Campy Delta happenings around here. This set is pretty neat:



Colnago polished-and-labeled Record Delta's. Soooo pretty. Makes me want to buy a Colnago just to have a place to put them.

Two versions of the original Powergrade brake lever

Did you know Campagnolo partially redesigned the Powergrade brake lever used for Delta brakes? Me neither.

In 1988, Campy switched to the Powergrade brake lever, so one could fine tune the cable pull at the lever. In 1989, they changed the design subtly.



The angle the cable end holder thingy is adjusted at changed. The earlier lever is on the left and the later on the right. The range on the 1988 version is relatively small, and more horizonal. The later version gives a little more range. The hoods also changed at some point from the type that takes a plug (as found in the pre-powergrade version from 1987 and prior) to one that has a punch out piece molded in.

Useless info, but interesting nonetheless.

C-Record Brake Levers

Just got a nice set of C-Record/Croce d'Aune brake levers. These are going to be paired up with a set of CdA Delta's, to be used on the new Merckx. Still not sure of the date on the Merckx, but I'm not all that concerned. Its just an excuse to build up a fullish CdA bike. Even going to try using a set of Syncro's in indexing mode.

The levers arrived in pretty dirty condition. I spent 30 or so minutes cleaning them up, and they look fantastic.

Left is before, right is after. Hot soap and water can really work miracles when it comes to brake hoods.

My Merckx

Eddy Merckx Grand Prix. This one, according to Gitabike, the importer, is an '88/89. It was probably sold as a frameset originally. Its my rider, so its set up with modern(ish) components.

• Ultegra 600 calipers
  
• Ultegra hubs + cassette
  
• Dura Ace downtube shifters and brake levers
  
• Mavic 631 Cranks
  
• Mavic 862 front derailleur, 840 rear derailleur
  
• Cinelli Campione Del Mondo Bars
  
• Cinelli 1A stem
  
• Look 356 Pedals
  
• Mavic Open Pro rims
  
• Tufo CS33 tubular clinchers
  
• Campagnolo Croce d'Aune seatpost.
  

Yeah. Thats pretty much what its made of.