On Friday, Mar 4, 2005, at 09:04 US/Pacific, Bianca Pratorius wrote:
> I have a hard time believing that the Japanese could have initiated a
> design in the cosmetic sence, which Campy would have copied years
> later.
Why do you think this? By the 70s Shimano and SunTour were spending vastly more in R&D and design than Campagnolo. Campagnolo was much more on spending on the marketing end of things, look at their ad space and team sponsorship in comparison to SunTour or Shimano at the time. Campy wasn't really about pushing the envelope in aesthetics or performance. This of course is the main reason they lost almost all their market share in the mid-80s. Campagnolo was about indestructible solid design, except of course for their flawed crank arms. If you look historically you'll see that Campy rarely ever changed something if it worked, either in the looks of a part or in its design.
As far as the start of the conical nuts on the brake looking at page 47 in the 18 bis. catalog it looks like they started at the lower end with the Victory and Triomphe brakes. best, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives Coeur d'Alene, Idaho