Just to toss in my two-cents... I know there is no such thing as KOF parts on CR, but the use of clips and straps is certainly part of the on-topic way, and I think people might be able to make use of some info about Campy toe straps. Remember, this is a company that was making three models of top-of-the line clip and strap pedals* c. 1988, at the time that almost all racers were on Looks and Times. *(Record platform, Record Ergo, Record TBS)
As far as I know, and I'm really as certain bout this as I am about any matter Campy-related, there were no Campagnolo brand toestraps prior to Victory and Triomphe, and those groups practically define the off-topic era. The 1970's Campagnolo toestraps mentioned earlier may have been the product of an enterprising strap manufacturer or distributor. It would be (vaguely) interesting to know if the use of the Campy name was licensed.
The Triomphe and Victory straps were nylon. The Triomphe were blue and Victory were white with blue stripes. They Victory came with blue shield logo pulls. The Triomphe pulls were blue or light grey, I can't remember. Both types had knubby rubber pads right below the buckle.
When C was introduced the pedals came with very pretty but very cheesey non-laminated white leather straps with blue script logos (in two places along the strap). As I recall the pulls were light grey, and there was a light grey nubby rubber pad below the buckle. There never were black Campy toestrap pull, nor were there pulls that were truly white. (Sorry Wayne!)
I never could understand what Campy was thinking with those straps. Laminated straps like the Binda Extra (and later the Prestige, which was like the Extra, with a wide section near the buckle) were standard fare by the time, and it's almost like Campy decided to include nice looking but low cost straps with the assumption that people would just toss them away and install good straps... which many did. Look back at pics from races from 1986 when C-rec first was used in the peloton to c. 1990, when clips were pretty much history. No white Campy straps, just Extras and Prestiges.
I remember hanging out near the Campy neutral support pit at a criterium in 1987 and a rider came in with some sort of problem took a free lap and jumped back in with a Serotta Colorado (with full C-Rec/Deltas/Campy Freewheel/ Record rim$$$$) and came back around on the next lap with a broken Campy toestrap. Ironically, under the USCF rules at the time, a broken strap was the only failure that didn't merit a free lap.... that was specifically written in the rulebook.
Around 1988, Campy revised all their straps. Late Victory, as well as newer groups like Chorus and Athena had off-white non-laminated leather straps. There was also a non-laminated leather strap with a widened area below the buckle (Croce?). Record straps were laminated off-white leather. There was a straight one and one with a widened area below the buckle. One catalog I've seen shows a third version, aparently liaminated, with removable widened pads both below the buckle and at the instep. I've never seen a set and wonder if ther even made it to market. If anyone has a set, or has even seen a set, please let me know... and sell them to me. This third style look just like the offerings from Sliva, which makes sense becasue as far as I can tell Silva made all the buckles for Campy straps from day one, and probably the complete straps. I think their name may even have been stamped into the buckles. In any case, Campy buckles, and many late Cinelli buckles (like on the uber-gucci Class straps) were more or less identical to the Silva buckles. I think Silva made other stuff for Campy under contract, including the puller for the C-rec hub dustcaps.
I know someone is going to tell me this is OT, but I thought some of you might want to know exactly which Campy strap you are actually looking at as you scrounge for user replacements for your Con Dentes.
Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA USA
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