The Wrightwing

Over at bicycledesign a few weeks ago, (Most blogs on my blogroll are monthly checks, few are daily or weekly checks), James is talking about a new Campagnolo crankset design, and going further to comment on how Campy has been more of a follower on innovation than a leader as Shimano has been, and looking back at what Campy meant in the past:

As a teenager in the late 80’s, I dreamed of owning a bike decked out with the brand new C-Record grouppo (I think it replaced Super Record in ’87). If I could have afforded it, I would have gladly ditched my Shimano 600 components for sleek looking Campy parts. My preference for Shimano didn’t happen overnight. Throughout the nineties, Shimano just kept innovating while Campy seemed to be resting on tradition, and occasionally following along. I know that some of you will disagree with me, but you have to admit that Shimano came up with some great improvements to the bicycle’s drivetrain in the last 15 years or so. I, for one, am certainly not interested in going back to friction downtube shifters and 6 speed freewheels anytime soon. Of course, to be fair, I should point out that Campagnolo also has a history of innovation. I like quick release hubs as much as the next guy, but really, how long can you rest on that one?

Yup. Back when I started cycling, and graduated to my first real bike, (around 13-14 years old????, 1972-3 era), it was a Frejus ‘Tour de France’ model. Did I buy it from Mike Fraysee in Ridgefield Park, NJ?, I forget, maybe. But somewhere in NJ, not local to my town. It had the typical hodge-podge of components common back then. Huret Jubilee rear derailleur, sew-up tires, Fiamme rims, quill style pedals with real toe-clips. Was it Reynolds 531 tubing?, I think so. I think it even had Bernard Thevenet’s signature decal on it, so maybe it was later. Anyone remember French and Italian threads? Or Detto shoes with those nail on cleats?

But it had no Campy parts, and I had to have something Campy. Even as a pre-driving-age teenager, with no cash, I managed it. From Ridgewood Cycle I scored three, count ‘em, THREE, Campy cable clips to keep my rear brake cable safely secured to the top tube, in a fashion no doubt better for it’s Campy-ness.

All that said, what I really hate about today’s components is obsolescence and a lack of spare parts and reparability. Similar to electronics, many, if not all, of today’s bicycle parts are throw-aways, even those costing hundreds, even thousands of dollars. The expensive components are sold to folks rich enough to not care, or desperate enough to want the best and willing to suffer the expense if, (when), they fail, and the inexpensive components are not worth the labor to fix, unless you can do it yourself. And then finding a way to fix it makes the time involved more than it is worth for all but the most resourceful and talented tinkerers.

Not everything new is better. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is just more cynically designed and marketed. Or both.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 25th, 2006 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Bicycles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.