Seems we are forgetting that the Manufactuers primary job is to sell us the newest stuff they make,We pick on CAMPAGNOLO but remember THEY made the small stuff available all along.This is unlike the ASIAN makers who are totally geared up to sell the newest stuff exclusively (why is there no call for 1st gen DURA ACE or CYCLONE/SUPERBE hoods?) most car manufactuers provide small parts during the warranty period and then you are on your own with the exception of wear parts like brakes etc. SHIMANO for one would sometimes go thru 2 model changes in a year! We tried to stock small parts,we did very well with WEINMANN due to the popularity of the brand and also the poor availability of replacement parts from DIACOMPE. We attempted to do the same thing with SHIMANO DURA ACE and all it did was inflate the price of the replacement derailleurs to where we sold few. Today many of my customers are in the CLASSIC CAR restoration business ,I have seen them start with a few parts and create a whole car (we are talking a lot of ZER0s here) some have full time machinists (some may use PETER) some items are available from standard sources,some out of old barns and anything else they make at 10 or even 100s the original cost but of course we are talking about finished products that are worth into the millions of dollars. That all said,what would the cost of a mould to reproduce those hoods cost and would someone be willing to make those hoods in their garage? with the potential sales number of say 1000 sets, would it be financially viable? (would CAMPY even care?)
BOB''patent infringement'' FREITAS
misty MILL VALLEY,CA