I have noticed a difference in the compound of various brake hoods. Remember the old white Carlton hoods? Real stiff, lasted forever (though they usually looked grundgy), but they were slippery. I was muscling up the back road over Rochester Mountain here in Vermont yesterday on a bike with shield-logo Campy hoods, thinking about how much I appreciated the quality of the material that improved the grip and helped keep them from slipping on the metal housing. I also appreciated the ridges on the back side of the hoods that also helped the grip. I needed all the help I could get!
I have not handled the Euro-Asia hoods, but the photos I have seen of them makes me wonder how much different they are in feel from the originals. I also would want the hoods to be the same thickness as the originals. While I would like to put a nice pair of world logo hoods on my wife's pristine Paramount ( it only has a few hundred miles on it, and if she puts another hundred on it, I'll be pleasantly surprised), I ride all my bikes. I like the natural gum color, but beyond that, I just want the part to function well. It doesn't have to be original equipment.
If CR hoods were made, and were similar to the originals in function and appearance (none of those weird mold lines, like the E-As), I would purchase at least 2 pairs.
--Steve Barner
> Steve:
>
> Good point. However, I would guesstimate that 90+ percent of the demand
would
> be for gum ones. Also, remember that the white and black ones were
probably
> never made in the older compounds, as they (the white and black hoods)
didn't
> exist back then.
>
> We would do them in a more modern compound (like the final-run Euro-Asia
> shield-logo ones were molded in I presume?) that would hold up better than
> the old natural gum rubber compound.
>
> So far, the concensus seems to be forming off-list that CR listmembers are
> cheap and wouldn't buy enough of them put in your hat. I hope that's not
the
> case. Anyone willing to commit to any with a (refundable if the project
> doesn't fly) cash deposit?
>
> Greg Parker
> A2 MI USA
>
> Not an injection-molding Engineer, but I play one on TV....
>
> In a message dated 6/20/02 12:37:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> questor@cinci.rr.com writes:
>
>
> > Another fact not yet discussed is that some colors of Campy hoods seem
to
> > last better than others.
> >
> > White hoods seem to last longest, followed by Black hoods, and in a
distant
> > third, Gum hoods. The deterioration problem is caused by the rubber
> > materials used at that time. Different colors used various chemical
> > formulas to enable the hood colorations.
> >
> >
> <snip>
>
>
> > Regards, Steve Neago
> > Cincinnati, OH
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <GPVB1@cs.com>
> > To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 12:05 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CR] Repro Campy hoods
> >
> >
> > > Hi Ben:
> > >
> > > I don't see anyone on CR "expecting" Campy to make us any hoods.
> > >
> > > What folks are concerned about is the fact that there aren't new hoods
> > > currently being made anywhere in the world, ergo the supply of this
common
> > > wear item that's on hundreds of thousands of old Campy-equipped bikes
will
> > > run out at some point. To imply that what's out there now (much of it
> > already
> > > twenty+ years old) will last forever is just plain silly!
> > >
> > > Let's do some math: perhaps $10,000 US for a mold. Sell 2000 sets at
> > $50/pair
> > > (that's less than what NOS world-logo ones are selling for right now.
Like
> > I
> > > said, this won't be cheap). That's a ten-to-one ROI, perhaps reduced
to
> > > five-to-one after other costs are considered. Sounds laughable to me -
> > not!
> > >
> > > If there's money to be made, someone will do it eventually.
> > >
> > > FWIW, my recollection is that replacement world logo hoods were about
> > $15-30
> > > per pair in the late '70s.
> > >
> > > Greg Parker
> > > A2 MI USA
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Ben wrote:
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > > none of this becomes the CR list.
> > > >
> > > > would my life be richer if i had an original remote for 4 year old
sony
> > VCR
> > > > - no the Tandy universal model for $14.99 does just as well. sony
would
> > > > laugh at my request to remake one for me just as Campy is laughing
at
> > > > requests for their hoods. its cute and flattering but they will
never
> > take
> > > > it seriously as they are in business to make money. if tullio were
alive
> > his
> > > > response would be the same. it should have dawned on some of you
that
> > what
> > > > you live for isnt getting cheaper.
> > > >
> > > > ciao,
> > > >
> > > > ben "still waiting on repro door sills for my Yugo" kamen NYC