Original Message: ----------------- From: Chuck Schmidt chuckschmidt@earthlink.net Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:12:40 -0800 To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Italian Simplex Was: Jerseys
"Simplex had a factory in Italy and Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi won their Simplex-equipped races on Italian made Simplex."
Exactly, Chuck. And Dell is a Malaysian Company 'cause my new Dell lapto p was made there! Silcon Valley is right outside Kuala Lumpur.
Now, I suggest some prudent historic research by you Italianisti will reveal the obvious: Italy must have had ruinous duty on imported cycle components during this era. Ruinous enough to cause Simplex to have to m ake their inferior French engineered junk in Italy to sell those unknowing Italians. Mussolini would have given Campagnolo state research funds to made a rival (and of course better), derailleur. And of course, decreed that an Italian name be used. By the way, why do we still insist on usin g "peloton", "tete de la course", "Tour de...", "derailleur", "bidon". .. it is unacceptable to use FRENCH words in all this, surely. It should be in
Italian.
Honestly, I thought I was an Italophile until joining the CR List. I fee l like I am in Mussolini's Italy c. 1936 during the sanctions against the country over Ethiopia. NO foreign goods were used by any patriotic Itali an and it was argued, quite rightly by CR standards, that there was nothing o f necessity in a civilised country that was not invented by or made by an Italian. Especially if you rode a bicycle I guess.
VIVA L'ITALIA!
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/