>> So Adorni, who was with Molteni like Eddy, found out and wanted to use them ...
Alberto's memory's spotty, or he was mis-quoted... Adorni and Eddy were with Faema in '68. Adorni left for Scic in 1969, Merckx went with Molteni in 1971.
The only other odd thing is the way it gives the impression that Tullio was introducing Faliero to something new... the brakes were shown at the Paris show earlier in the year and there was much discussion of them in the cycling press, right?
Here are two very large photos of Adorni at Imola in '68. As you can see the brakes are Campy (minus the O ring on the adjuster)... but the hoods don't appear to be cork, they look like regular Campy hoods to me.
http://www.vittorioadorni.com/
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA USA
http://bhovey.com/
From: FujiFish1@aol.com Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 10:40 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Cc: BobHoveyGa@aol.com ; hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk Subject: Re: [CR] Eurobike: Eddy Merckx booth with fantastic Retro Bike
On page 70 of the relatively new book, Campagnolo - 75 Years of Cycling Passion (Velo Press), Alberto Masi is quoted:
"... In the world championships of 1968, at Imola, for example, Eddy Merckx had a Masi and was using Universal brakes. Two days before the race, Campagnolo went to my father and said, 'I made two new brakes, you've got to put them on Merckx!' "How can I do that?' my father started to answer. "Put them on him, they are without name...' "So I asked Eddy if he wanted to try them, "Fine," he said. He tried them and was enthusiastic about them, but they were still rough, without rubber hoods on the levers, and using them cut his hands. So on the day before the race I covered them in cork. And Merckx raced the world championship at Imola with those new Campagnolo brakes and everyone thought they were Universal! But you know how racers are, jealous of each other. So Adorni, who was with Molteni like Eddy, found out and wanted to use them ... He put them on ... and won the world championships. ..."
I believe the world championship races at that time were held near the end of the season, AFTER the Vuelta a Espana (whose 2009 edition is being raced right now).
Ciao, Mark Agree Southfield MI USA ~ ~ ~
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:42:42 -0400 From: <bobhoveyga@aol.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Eurobike: Eddy Merckx booth with fantastic Retro Bike To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, hilary.stone@blueyonder.co.uk
Hilary writes:
>>? I do wonder whether Merckx was using the new Campy side-pulls throughout 1968 - I was under the impression that these were introduced quite late on in 1968... Certainly my De Rosa is full Campag save for the Universal 68 brakes.
The Campag brakes are mentioned in a January '69 article on Masi by John Wilcockson:
http://bhovey.com/
In the second column, Masi said that the brakes were not for sale yet and only Merckx and Adorni were using them.? Not sure exactly when this interview took place, the author only says it was in the fall (of '68) but he later mentions it was after the Tour of Lombardy and before the Gran Premio Cynar time trial so that would probably narrow it to late October, no?
Bob Hovey
Columbus GA USA
http://bhovey.com/