The Road Derailleur Pioneer

Top Stories
78 Years of Game-Changing History
The Road Derailleur
Pioneer
The revolution spurred by Campagnolo deserves praise
to match every other Italian legend. Campagnolo is a
true gem, 78 years in the making, and continues to lead
the way to road bike perfection. It has even been said
that Campagnolo is not a brand, but a religion!
Text & Photos: Daphne Chen
50
BMU 2011 Autumn
www.biketaiwan.com
▲November 11th, 1927 forever
changed cycling history. While
riding the Croce d’ Aune in bad
weather, Tullio Campagnolo
was inspired to invent the quick
release.
(Photo: Campy)
Top Stories
C
ampagnolo’s founder, Tullio Campagnolo,
was born in the eastern suburbs of Vicenza,
Italy on August 26, 1901. In 1922, he started his
own amateur racing career and participated in a
number of well-known events, even competing in
the Olympic preliminaries. It was bad weather at
the Croce d’Aune Pass in the Dolomites during
a 1927 race that led to Tullio resigning. He followed up his racing departure with the invention
of the butterfly nut, which became the world’s first
to feature quick-release, greatly reducing climatic
constraints. In 1930 Tullio obtained a patent for
quick release hubs, setting a precedent for Campagnolo, which has earned 135 patents since.
Tullio set up the first Campagnolo workshop
in 1933. Initially it specialized in production of
quick release hubs, but the inclination to expand
to a wide range of revolutionary bicycle parts soon
took hold. In 1940, Tullio hired his first full-time
employees, expanded production, and developed a
“rod gear” for switching gears– a great leap forward
in the evolution of road bikes. Campagnolo’s new
rod gear eliminated the need
for a chain
stretcher and
pulleys, thereby
▲
▲At the 1948 Tour de France, Gino Bartali, with
the Cambio Corsa rod gear, once again emerged
victorious.
reducing friction and mud interference. This was the
very first break from the old school quick release,
and the eye-catching gear lever quickly impressed
the world when Italy’s most famous rider Gino Bartali won the Giro d’Italia with it for two consecutive
years - 1936 and 1937 – and a year later, he won the
Tour de France. Though he didn’t perform exceptionally for a while afterwards, he used the Cambio
Corsa rod gear to win the Tour de France yellow
jersey once again in 1948. Because of the string of
victories, Campagnolo became a team favorite, and
also turned Eddy Merckx into one of the brand’s
biggest fans by helping him set numerous records.
In 1949, Campagnolo published a combined
dual-cable and parallelogram, and one year later,
the concept was released as the Gran Sport rear
derailleur - the first derailleur with an articulated
parallelogram, kickstarting a revolution in derailleur manufacturing that lasted nearly three decades.
Nine years later, Campagnolo introduced the groupset concept and followed it up with the Record
Series Kit in 1963, which included a crank, BB,
hubs, seat post, headset,
front and rear derailleur
and pedal. The groupset
came to be when Campagnolo noticed that
bike manufacturers were
mixing brands and saw
an opportunity to provide easy compatibility.
Building on the success
of Record, Campag- ▲Unprecedented dual-cable structure
nolo released the Super Gran Sport gear set. (Photo: Campy)
▲In the late 50s, Campagnolo launched its own branded set of components.
(Photo: Campy)
www.biketaiwan.com
2011 Autumn BMU
51
▲
Top Stories
1970 Record brake caliper.
1985 Delta brake caliper.
▲
▲Campagnolo Carbon fiber 10-speed Record kit.
Record kit in 1973. Ten years later, Campagnolo’s
founder Tullio passed away, but his legacy lives
on. In 1985 the company put out Delta brakes, and
in 1986 a redesign replaced the C-Record Super
Record as the top kit. In 1997, the 9-speed kit was
launched, and 2000 brought the 10-speed generation. In 2008, the 11-speed Super Record 11 kit was
released, and Campagnolo’s first electronic shifting
kit was used by Tour de France Team Movistar in
2011.
Timeless
A great number of cyclists prefer Campagnolo, and one big reason is that the company’s vast
production of spare parts makes it easy to fix any
Campagnolo product. After-market service centers
are available throughout the world. “Repair and reuse” are important guiding principles which have
become Campagnolo’s signature, and still hold
weight today. Campagnolo products can be used for
years and years, which is why the company has so
many loyal followers.
Campagnolo’s kits for road bikes and track
bikes are becoming increasingly sophisticated,
and the brand has gradually moved into a leading
market position. In contrast, Campagnolo’s market
for other types of bikes seems rather quiet. In the
past, Campagnolo has produced trekking bike parts,
52
BMU 2011 Autumn
▲1981 Super Record crank set.
BMX parts in the 1970s, and Euclid mountain bike
kits in 1989. After the ill-fated Record-OR suite for
the last mountain bike kit, however, Campagnolo
bid resolute farewell to the mountain bike market in
1994.
Campagnolo launched the “ErgoPower” handlebar in 1992, which made it possible to shift without removing a hand from the bars. The gearshift
and brake lever system is so effective that it is still
in wide use today. Five years later, Campagnolo’s
launch of the 9-speed and follow up with the 10speed for the new millennium was matched by the
adoption of carbon fiber. Campagnolo also developed a complete new wheel series.
The compact drivetrain launched in 2004 reduced the size of cranksets, and the 11-speed Super
Record kit was introduced in 2008. An electronic
shifting system also made a splash at some big
cycling races in recent years. Campagnolo is con-
www.biketaiwan.com
▲
Top Stories
President Valentino Campagnolo
says Campagnolo products have
soul.
stantly coming up with
innovative ideas, which
is how it remains timeless even after all these
years.
C a m p a g n o l o ’s
Italian factory currently employs about 400 people.
Five years ago, based on labor cost considerations,
the company also set up a factory in Romania for
the production of carbon fiber products and wheels.
Assembly of carbon fiber wheels takes place mainly
in Italy. Campagnolo set up an additional aluminum
alloy wheel factory in Italy, and wheel assembly
also takes place in Taiwan.
Aftermarket sales currently account for 70%
of Campagnolo’s business. In the future, the company plans to actively enhance the proportion of OE.
In addition to parts, Campagnolo also recently set
up an accessories department introducing a variety
of bicycle apparel and related products. Campagnolo’s annual revenue is about €100 million, and
with additional wheel set brand Fulcrum, its market
share has increased yearly, with annual brand revenues of about €32 million.
Current President Valentino Campagnolo
places great emphasis on the soul of Campagnolo
products, as well as quality and performance, but
especially the passion for cycling and constant pur▲
10 Speed Record with carbon fiber levers.
▲
In 2010, Campagnolo spiced up the
cover by making it red, and released
Super Record 11 speed in the same color.
▲Campagnolo headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.
suit of innovation
and technological
breakthroughs which
have become Campagnolo’s trademark.
Though Campagnolo does not
usually allow factory tours, we were
granted a special
look at the ground▲On Wheel Giant’s visit, Lerrj Piazza of
breaking plant (with the factory’s marketing team said that in
the exception of the more than 3 years on the job, the plant has
never been open for a visit.
carbon fiber wheelset assembly line) and finally got an insight into its
high automation, productivity, precision, and scale
of production. Much of the automated production
equipment has been developed by Campagnolo itself, such as precision assembly equipment for 11
speed chains. All products must undergo rigorous
testing for terrain, climate, performance, rigidity,
and other riding conditions, and Campagnolo participates every step of the way.
Determination to meet every demand, commitment to high quality, innovative research and
development, and sky-high ambition have brought
about Campagnolo’s extraordinary achievements in
road bike shifting systems and other products. With
Campagnolo as a model, the Taiwan industry has
a prime example of how to stand the test of time
through continuous technological innovations.
www.biketaiwan.com
2011 Autumn BMU
53
Top Stories
An impressive array
of molds.
An inside look at Campagnolo’s
factory
54
BMU 2011 Autumn
www.biketaiwan.com
Top Stories
Plating equipment.
Self-developed automated streamlined
chain production equipment.
A variety of testing
equipment.
www.biketaiwan.com
2011 Autumn BMU
55