I don't know if the nuovo/record front mech was the longest-lived campy design; the cranks, pedals, and shifters might rival it. In general, the record front changed fairly little, but there were a couple of changes that made a difference:
1) Earliest had chromed brass parallelogram arms, I'm told; these gave way to Al very early. 2) Circlip retainer was added to outer/upper pivot rather early, but I am not sure of the year. The earlier ones lacked this, and as the aluminum arm wore against the steel (?) pivot, it would gradually work its way off, leaving a couple of mm gap between the arm and the body shoulder. Bad design, but they fixed it. 3) Early models (through 65, at least) had cable housing stop as part of the body casting. After introduction of the campy bb top cable guides, they dropped this. 4) Then, as Donald notese, there were the later 70s CPSC redesigns.
harvey sachs mcLean va
+++++++++++++++++ Donald Gillies asks:
Is the campy nuovo/record front mech the longest-lived campy design ?? I mean from the outset (when was the outset?) in about 1960 or how much earlier? That mech was used for the widest front triples and it was decades ahead of most other mechs.
There were minor changes for cable stops and CPSC regulations but other than that, wasn't campy shipping the same unit 25 years later in 1985 ?? When did production end ?? What was the total lifespan ??
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA