Chrome over bronze was indeed around in the later 60's. Not sure when exactly it was replaced with aluminum, after 1965 sometime.
Don't forget that Campy made bunches of pieces, and then assembled them into deraileurs. The specifics would depend on the what exactly was lying about at the time the part was assembled. Similarly, groups were assembled from whatever components were lying around at the time - both by Campy, and by the builders (and assemblers, in the case of the smaller custom builders, or shops that built up framesets). There is likely to be minute variations among the specifics of parts even in the same year models, and I have personally seen this on lots of other Campy items.
Also don't forget that bikes of certain years often have earlier parts. It was common for constructors to either buy a bunch of parts at one time to get a deal, and then install them as they made bikes. Also to buy up older lots, either from Campy, or from other builders and distributors with overstock. I've seen a lot of bikes with 1-3 years earlier parts on them. Although this was more prevalent with 1971 parts, I think it can still be considered to hold for earlier years.
This illustrates the difficulty in dating bikes exactly from the parts.
I'd say if you can find a chrome over bronze armed, cable stop unit with no slot, in good condition, then buy it.
Also go check out Hi Campy's site. You can get some good info there, but it may not go into the 60's. Although it's in Japanese, the year's of the parts are readable.
Bill Roberts Jacksonville, OR
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of EdVintage63@aol.com Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2005 11:44 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] Campagnolo chrome-arm front D's - for those into minutae only (Ed Granger)
Hoping the Campagnolo experts will weigh in on this one.
Searching for a possible period-correct circa 1962 front derailleur recently, I've noticed a couple of Campy ones on eBay that have the coveted chrome pivot arms, along with the integral cable stop. From what I've been able to glean from the archives, this makes them early 60s, possibly first- or second-gen. Record front "changers" (the bike I'm looking for one for is a '63 Flying Scot), and the arms are chrome over bronze. My '68 Cinelli appears to have alloy arms with slotted cable stop (for easy derailleur removal). All's well so far.
Here's the catch, though: My brother Duncan's '68 Mercian, which he believes to be original spec (and which has a no-date "Patent" rear NR derailleur with brazed on stop) has a chrome-arm front D with an integral stop with the slot cut into it. From admittedly tentative timelines offered in the archives, it appears that that chromed arms should have been long gone, and the alloy arms should have preceeded the appearance of the slot (the second point making it less likely it was simply leftover stock when the bike was assembled).
Several explanations occur, one of which is that not all of the chrome-pivot-arm Record fronts are as old as previous research and speculation suggest. Could some have been chromed aluminum?
This issue is relevant to my search for a period-correct front derailleur for the Scot, obviously, and might be to others undertaking similar searches. And surely it will be of interest to lovers of Campagnolo esoterica, a dark society into which I find myself becoming increasingly drawn.
Ed Granger Lancaster, PA, USA (located increasingly near Vicenza, Italy)