> Chuck... Raleigh started featuring Campy Gran Sport > components in 1962 in their USA catalogues with the > Gran Sport (wonder where they got that name?!). Was > this prior to Schwinn? And did not Raleigh sell a > lot more lightweights than other manufacturers at > this time??? No doubt Campy stuff was available to > the cognoscenti in the USA well before this, I am > just wondering when and who started establishing it > as "the" component of choice. Peter, Those Raleigh Gran Sports may have been in the catalogue but there weren't many on the road - at least not where I lived (N.Y.C.) nor the city where I visited often (D.C.). My recollection of Raleigh in the '60s is that they sold many 3 speed bicycles. Wait - I remember seeing a Carlton or two and they must have been owned by Raleigh by '66 or '67. I almost forgot - my first 10 speed was an Armstrong which was in fact made by Raleigh (and was essentially the same frame as that eBay Phillips). Believe me, though, it was the only one in the neighborhood. Anyway, none of those were Campy equipped. The vast majority of the derailleur bikes that I remember were either Schwinns or Peugeots. Now, for someone who was in fact a "cognoscento", it was simple to find an Italian bicycle like Atala, Frejus or Legnano. And these usually had Campy derailleurs even if the other parts came from other suppliers. Perhaps this was regional. Perhaps it even depended on what neighborhood you were in. When it warms up a bit, let's go for a ride and we can talk about what sort of lightweights people were riding in the '60s and early '70s. Regards, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
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