[CR]Re: FB and Campag QR

(Example: Production Builders:LeJeune)

Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 12:47:13 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
References: <126.2d5f2a32.2c44558e@aol.com>
Subject: [CR]Re: FB and Campag QR

Stuart Tallack wrote:
>
> I will reframe my question.
> Between 1930 and 1939, Tullio devised, drew and had his QR hub put into
> production. Was this made by FB from the start?

Stuart, I was hoping you'd check the CR archives because there are many, many posts covering all of your questions. Tullio had his QR and his Cambio Corsa derailleur (note: the QR was his, the hub was Fratelli Brivio's) made by FB. The very early ones were hand-made by Tullio.
> What was patented?

There is a reproduction of the patent drawing and application in Catalogo Campagnolo. "Kingdom of Italy -- Ministry of Corporations -- Office of Intellectual Property -- Industrial Patent No. 319062 (Applied for 4 May 1933 - Released 28 June 1934) -- Tullio Campagnolo -- Vicenza -- CHAIN-TENSIONING BOLT FOR BICYCLES." The patent drawing shows a toothed dropout, long handled quick release and hub with two-sprocket freewheel on each side of the hub.
> Was it patented in all countries?

Don't know.
> When did Campagnolo first appear on a hub rather than FB?

FB supplied hubs branded with "Campagnolo" along with many other bike and parts manufacturer's names from at least the late-1940s (if not earlier), clear up through the 1960s (even stamped SIMPLEX).
> Who made the early Campagnolo branded hubs?

FB (Fratelli Brivio - Italy). I'm reasonably sure that the first hub that Campagnolo made in house was their all aluminum Record hub beginning in 1958.
> When did other QR hubs appear? (I know that the BH one appeared in the early fifties.)

There were also EB (not a typo, "E") and Gnutti QR levers with "Lic. Campagnolo" forged on them in the early 1950s or even before.
> I ask these questions simply out of curiosity, but there is a slightly more
> important point here; it has been pointed out before on this list that it is
> difficult to date equipment. If you have a frame and forks or else a complete
> cycle that has been updated during its working life, it is quite difficult to
> fathom out what was available when. I am beginning to get to grips with this but
> other than sterling efforts like Pete Paine's GB site, it is hard to find
> easily accessible and reliable information. Am I missing a source of pukka gen?

The intent of my Velo-Retro reprints of old catalogs (close to 100 currently) is to provide this information to people who are curious about learning more about the old bikes they find. The dates of the catalogs help in dating the bikes. There is a tremendous amount of date info in the CR archives and also many scans of old catalogs on Mark Bulgier's web site (there is a link on my web site links page). There is also a tremendous amount of date info on the internet that you can easily find with a good search engine like google.com that will also search out images and search the newsgroups.

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA http://www.velo-retro.com (Reprints, Timelines, T-shirts and links)

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