Re: [CR]Gran Sport Extra derail. on eBay

(Example: Framebuilders:Chris Pauley)

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 19:50:26 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Gran Sport Extra derail. on eBay
References: <3F146815.88B1974B@earthlink.net>


I was contacted by the seller within 10 minutes of my posting and informed in no uncertain terms that, "The facts are as I have stated them. This is the first "production" Gran Sport."

Well clearly and unequivocally the Campagnolo catalogs state otherwise, so at this point it is clear that the seller intends to mislead prospective buyers into thinking that they are bidding on a first generation Gran Sport, when in fact, what he has for auction is a second generation Gran Sport "Extra" (not considered "extremely rare" nor "the Holy Grail" among collectors either).

I was reminded that the last go 'round on the CR list with this seller was a Pogliaghi with dropouts that fit the chain hanger (circa '76 /'77) and the bike was represented as being years older.

My advice is to bid accordingly.

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA

Chuck Schmidt wrote:
>
> There are some very nice photos of a Campagnolo Gran Sport Extra rear
> derailleur on eBay currently (incorrectly identified by Ken Denny,
> however, as the the first "production" model "Gran Sport").
>
> eBay auction:
> http://ebay.com/<blah
>
> eBay Auction Description:
> "1950 Campagnolo Gran Sport (GS) rear derailleur. This gear is
> considered to be the Holy Grail of cycle component collecting, and is
> EXTREMELY RARE. The GS derailleur was initially developed as a twin
> cable-operated gear in 1948/, but that model was never went into full
> production, and only 10 were fabricated (source: Campagnolo). Introduced
> at the 1950 Milan show, this is the earliest "production" model, with
> extended outer pulley cage and drilled jockey wheels, non-recessed pivot
> bolts, chrome-plated, cast bronze housing and pivots. It debuted
> professionally in the 1951 Giro d'Italia by Coppi and Team Bianchi, who
> later used the modified version with shorter pulley cage and set-screw
> cable clamp (source: BellaBici Film Archive)."
> -----------------------------------
>
> The earliest complete Campagnolo catalog I have to reference is an
> undated and unnumbered one. I place the date at the end of 1951
> (printed for the Milan trade show at the end of the year?) because it
> features pictures of Hugo Koblet's victory with a Gran Sport in the 1951
> Tour de France, Louison Bobet winning the 1951 Giro di Lombardia, and
> Toni Bevilacqua's victory with a Paris-Roubaix derailleur in the 1951
> Paris-Roubaix.
>
> The "Gran Sport" derailleur shown on page 7 of this catalog has the
> set-screw cable anchor, the normal cage (no extended horn like the
> Extra) with bar end shifters (no down tube shifters existed when the
> Gran Sport was first offered). The Gran Sport part number is #1012.
>
> The next set of Campagnolo catalog pages I have (not a complete catalog)
> shows on page 21 a picture of Fausto Coppi winning the 1952 Tour de
> France, so I place the date of the catalog later in 1952. On the same
> page is shown the "Gran Sport Extra" (pulley cage with "horn" extension,
> normal bolt clamping cable anchor). The Gran Sport Extra part number is #1012/1.
>
> None of these early catalogs have the dates they were printed, so the
> dates of the catalogs are established by the photos of races shown, the
> known dates of races and who won on what parts, along with the trade
> show reports published of the introductions of new parts.
>
> The part numbers of the two derailleurs (Gran Sport #1012, Gran Sport
> Extra #1012/1) and the page number that the derailleurs appear on in the
> catalogs (Gran Sport page 7, Gran Sport Extra page 21) and even the
> names of the two derailleurs (Gran Sport, Gran Sport Extra) clearly
> establish which of these two derailleurs is earlier and which came later.
>
> I don't know why Campagnolo would start out with the "normal" (short)
> pulley cage (that they ultimately continued to use up through 1962) on
> the Gran Sport, and then try the extended horn pulley cage of the Gran
> Sport Extra shortly after the introduction of the Gran Sport, only to
> return to the normal cage again. Logically, the extended horn would be
> introduced to correct some short coming in shifting performance
> displayed by the normal cage. Strange!
>
> Does anyone else have any more info?

>

> Chuck Schmidt

> South Pasadena, CA

>

> .