Retro Cycling Vintage

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The first product to be branded under the banner of  Campagnolo's "Record" was a front derailleur in 1956. Two years later Campy introduced a Record crank with bolts of 151 mm, which allowed an inner ring of at least 44 teeth. The same year saw them introduce  aluminum alloy hubs, always marked with the Record insignia, available in both high flange and low flange options.

The first change to the Record groupset was introduced in 1963, while a new version, the Nuovo record, in 1967 saw aluminum alloy and not chromed bronze in the first version of the derailleur.

1967 also saw the introduction of a new crank i smaller than 144 mm, a measure intended to become a world standard for years, which was used to accommodate a minimum of 41 teeth ring.

In 1973 the group Super Record was introduced in both road and track versions.

Production of the Super Record continued until 1987, while the year before had seen the introduction of two new versions: Campagnolo Record and the C-Record.

Since then, the term Record has come back and is the only indication of the  top of the range groupset from the masters at Vicenza. In recent years it has had continuous innovation in technology with the introduction of Ergopower (a gear shifter integrated with the brakelever ), the first 9-speed rear transmission (1997) and finally 10 (2000). Both use increasingly valuable materials such as titanium and carbon in place of the now conventional aluminum. The 2007 version, which came into production in late 2006, provides the new Skeleton brakes and crankset with integrated pin to crank with the Ultra-torque.

The current Record group includes:

* Crank: with cranks carbon rings and aluminum, available in classic or in the 53-39 compact (rings from 48 or 50 external teeth, 34 or 36 inside). It is also available with aluminum cranks.
* Ergopower: with carbon brake levers
* Rear derailleur with parts in carbon and titanium screws, available in short or medium rocker (for the triple or up to 29 tooth sprocket)
* Front derailleur: with carbon fork and aluminum. It is available in versions for double, triple and compact.
* Bottom bracket: with box and carbon caps in aluminum, steel pin. The axis length is 102 mm for double crankset and 111 for the triple.
* Chain: lightened and the reduced width
* 10 Speed Gear: 6 of which in steel and titanium 4, available in scales 11-21, 11-23, 11-25, 12-23, 12-25, 13-26 and 13-29. Versions 11-23, 12-25 and 13-26 are also available entirely in titanium with aluminum supports.
* Hubs: with the body, axle and aluminum tape
* Seatpost: Carbon fiber with aluminum head

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The Campagnolo Nuovo Record is a groupset manufactured by Campagnolo  which represented the top of their component range in the 1970s.

The first members of the gruppo to be introduced were the bottom bracket and rear derailleur in 1967, which  showed no significant differences in design than its predecessor, except for being composed of aluminum instead of chrome-plated bronze.

Initially the change was part of the previous Record groupset, and then the other components were produced, again without significant differences compared to Record. The crank, initially with round 151 mm bolts, soon adopted the new measure from 144mm to allow the use of chainrings slightly smaller, up to 41 teeth, although the standard soon became the 42 teeth, and only after some years Campagnolo introduced the chainring from 41 teeth to complete the range that went from 42 to 57.

It eventually went out of production in the early 1980s after a decade in which it had become the most desirable groupset that any cyclist could aspire. Is still a group much sought after by collectors.

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The Campagnolo Super Record is a groupset manufactured by Campagnolo  which was the pinnacle of their range at the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s. It was introduced as a complete system for both road and  track in 1974. Early versions of the Super Record such as  earlier versions of the New Record and Record, are now particularly sought after by collectors and have a value far greater than those produced later.

In 1979 the groupset underwent a major overhaul, in particular the rear derailleur shifted from the classic version with the writing in relief to those with "Campagnolo" in black on the parallelogram. This version is the most common, that all collectors know and love. A particular version of the Super Record, with parts numbered and plated in gold, is the prestigious Grouppu di Cinquantenaire, released in 1983 to celebrate fifty years of the company.

The production of the Super Record components ended in 1987 when for two years were those of the new products group, the C-Record.

In October 2008 Campagnolo released the new Campagnolo Super Record. With a change from the previous weight it has an exceptional Ergopower lever by the innovative shape designed to make the grip more secure and comfortable and this Ergopower now consists of carbon fiber. Also new is the rear derailleur format entirely of carbon and titanium screws with gold. The cranks' dark finish are more or less the same as the previous Record, just having less weight and more resistance to twisting. The brakes were tightened and made more lightweight, the chain is reduced by a few millimeters and thus also the sprockets to host the eleventh gear. The derailleur, still in carbon with gold and titanium screws and the headset is unchanged. This is currently the best groupset  on the market when you consider the bigger picture -   for lightness, precision, speed of change and the high price.

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The Campagnolo Gran Sport  was the first bicycle gear system that used the principle of the derailleur parallelogram, now universally adopted as the defacto bicycle gear changer and effectively what you can expect to see on your own modern day bicycle even now. It was designed and patented by the Vicenzan Tullio Campagnolo, owner of the Campagnolo company and presented to the public for the first time at the Paris Cycle Show in October 1949.

The first version was a model with two cables. It was never sold and produced in only 10 prototypes: one of two cables used to drive the chain to the largest sprocket, the other would move it over to the smaller one. A pulley with two wheels then served by tension, so that the chain would always be the correct tension. The revolutionary aspect of this change was the fact that the cyclist could continue to pedal forward (even though the change  often required to stick a pedal backwards for placement) without having to slow or even stop.

The following year  the single cable model was created, the ancestor of all modern derailleurs. While pulling the cable carrying the chain on the largest sprocket, you could go over small ones that cable release, thanks to the strength of a spring located in the derailleur.

During the 1950s the  Gran Sport gear system underwent many changes and innovations, becoming the derailleur in wide use among professional cyclists. Campagnolo also started to mark "Gran Sport" on other components, from the pedals to the front derailleur.

During the 1960s and 1970s saw the introduction of other components  to the Gran Sport range. High quality components but less than that of the premeir Record gruppo including cranks, pedals and seat post. This new change involved releasing them as a new groupset and this was given the  name Nuovo Grand Sport.

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Taken from the original Suntour manuals-

To convert a conventional derailleur geared bike into an Accushift Plus indexed equipped machine you will require the following essential components:
A Suntour Accushift Plus rear derailleur
A set of Suntour Accushift Plus gear levers and cables
A Suntour AP freewheel or freehub
A Suntour AP transmission chain
Suntour cable stops and guides unless your frame already has these brazed on

All Suntour Accushift Plus components can be mixed 'n' matched so unless you are buying a complete groupset please make the following considerations:
Intended use, touring, racing , mtb etc
Choose a gear mechanism that has a designated capacity within the variation of the teeth on the freewheel and chainrings.
Choose a lever set that matches the number of sprockets on your freewheel.

For accurate and trouble free index shifting certain basic pre fitting requirements must be complied with and the following visual checks should be made on your bike
Rear wheel should align properly in the frame
The chainwheel should be in line with the middle sockets on the freewheel (fit shorter or longer BB axle)
The mounting hanger on the rear dropouts must not be damagedor bent, should have a centre-centre drop dimension of 24 to 28mm and the stop tab should be at an angle of 30 degrees to the perpendicular.
Suntour Blaze and Alpha derailleurs are fitted with a detachable bracket for fitting to dropouts which do not have an integral hanger.

All of these we take for granted these days, everything has to be in exactly the correct place otherwise we know that shifting will be well out. In the early days of index shifting though this was a novel concept with all manner of systems being bodged together!

The manual goes on in much more detail about fitting and then  adjusting the barrel adjuster to get smooth shifting. All this for 6 or 7 gears too! Bear in mind that the shifters were levers mounted in the classic downtube position and still had a d-ring adjuster that meant you could switch to friction mode if your indexing became messed up!

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The Baron died in extreme poverty at the age of 65 years and a marble bust was erected in 1896 outside his home in Karlsruhe, which has served as a place of pilgrimage for thousands of cyclists who arrive to pay tribute to him from every part of Germany. However, the British were to continue his work in refining the bicycle using iron and thereby triggering the beautiful tale of the "steel horse".
All changes, still stubbornly refused by the Baron, were made after his death, or without his knowledge during the last years of his life. The British inventor Kirkpatrick McMillan invented the trolley lever, a rudimentary device that allowed the foot to act on the rear wheel and that was even equipped with a brake, but the most important and decisive step was made by a young French blacksmith , Ernest Michaux , who was only 14 years old when he was asked to make repairs to a bike that was battered and badly built.
The young blacksmith had the idea to replace the one that seemed to use a footrest attached to the front wheel hub, and was able to operate the wheel like a millstone. The front wheel, now driving the bike, grew in diameter than the other and the same Michaux replaced the seating platform with a real saddle, which was much more comfortable for the rider.
This Michaudine quickly took the top spot in design so much that in 1861 it was the undisputed master of the market and Michaux, along with his father Pierre, formed a society which emerged immediately.

Even this was not successful though, with prospective owners having to shell out the fabulous sum for those days; more than 100,000 francs to purchase one. This led to the Michaux  ending up in utter poverty, with Ernest dying, abandoned by all in a Paris hospital and his father a year later in an asylum.
The Michaudine, greeted with so much fanfare on their appearance, had the front wheels of 110 cm in diameter front and 90 rear spokes and were provided with very coarse, about twenty each, much like the wheels of carts. But heavy as they were, they could reach the speed of eight miles per hour and gave an idea of what would lay ahead.

However, the changes occurred very quickly throughout Europe: A German named Meyer, who lived in Paris, first used  iron pipes to build the frames and had the first idea of using circles to allow cable fixed solid tires. Soon after that Jean Suriray managed to insert the ball bearings in the hubs of the wheels and pedals, and later also to invent a saddle leather while in England, in order to increase the speed bicycles were built with front wheels disproportionately large (up to 160 cm. in diameter) and smaller and smaller rear wheels.
In 1869 Paris held the first exhibition of the velocipede, but the real bike, more or less as we know now, was probably born the following year, even with the war between France and Germany, with the invention of the wheel drive chain…

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With millions of bicycles on the roads  today very few people can remember the name of the inventor who died in poverty in a small friary in Karlsruhe. A German baron, stubborn, unfortunate, with a complicated name: Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig von Drais . Its true that a form of bicycle already existed, created during the turbulent years of the French Revolution by De Sivrac - a kind of two-wheeled hobby horse, which consisted of a board placed across two wheels that was propelled by running  their feet on the ground (and no mechanism for steering!). The idea of German baron was precisely that of constructing half which had a remarkable advantage: the mobility of the front wheel on a vertical axis that allowed the driver to turn right and left, avoiding obstacles and to follow the direction of the road.

Karl Drais introduced his invention in 1816 at the Congress of Vienna, but received little enthusiasm. Only the government of Baden Baron Karl Drais was able to get one of the few pleasures of his life with that safeguards patent his invention, he was awarded the title of "professor of mechanical engineering." In Germany, however, his invention continued to have little success and then the enterprising Baron went to France, to Paris, where he fixed his agent where he became renowned for being arrogant and stubborn, always refusing to make any changes to his invention.
From France he moved to England where he was put in touch with  Dennis Jhonson , a representation of the rail-car but was built of iron instead of wood: such was the success that the manufacturing  permission was granted even to another mechanic in London; Mr De Knight. He sold many, but the high  cost prevented it from becoming too popular a vehicle.
In Italy, the bike had made its appearance in 1819 prompting a notice of the Directorate-General of Police of Milan: "Having thus shown that the running of the so-called cycles can be dangerous to passengers, the Directorate General that order: it is forbidden to  ride at night on cycles throughout the regions and squares of the inner city.”  It was tolerated, however, the riding of these on the ramparts and squares outside of city.

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Shimano’s real advance came in beating its competitors in becoming the dominant force in the early mountainbike marketplace with the creation of dedicated off road thumb shifters and beefed up brakes that could withstand the extra demands that off roaders required. By the late 1980s Shimano were the standard on off the peg mtbs.

This led to further expansion of the product range with off road shoes being added in 1988 and rapidfire underbar shifters in 1989. In 1990 Shimano revolutionized off road pedals with their SPD range of quick release pedals.

In 1995 Shimano developed its hub gearing credentials with its Nexus range of four and seven speed internal hubs for cruiser and city style bicycles as well as a lockable hub gear that could prevent a bicycle being stolen and ridden away. This was released in Japan in 1997. In utility cycling Shimano excelled as Chinese demand for higher quality bikes increased. Previously the majority of bike in china had only one gear, but as the economic fortunes of China increased so did the number of gears on their bicycles with Shimano thought to have equipped around half of the 320 million bikes sold there.

It was not all plain sailing for Shimano during this era, the largest recall of bicycle parts ever was for their cranks which had been reported as breaking do to a design fault. 2.5 million were recalled which cost Shimano $15million, an expensive downside to their popularity on virtually every mountainbike sold during that period.

Success against their main rivals Campagnolo on the road began in 1988 with Andy Hamsten’s victory in the Giro d’Italia but was cemented in 1999 when they were ridden to their first ever Tour De France win when Lance Armstrong began his winning streak, further removing the dominance of European cycling brands from this traditional area of cycle sport. One that is continuing to this day.

Shimano Innovations:

Biopace chainrings – non circular chainrings

Nexus – Internal geared hubs with coaster brake

Dyna Drive – A pedal system with no pedal axle. Did not catch on.

Freehub body – Combined rear hub and freewheel body. Allowed Sprockets to be easily changed. Did not succeed originally but was re-introduced when more sprockets were being fitted to gearing systems.

Hyperglide – ramped sprockets to allow for easier upshifting

Hollowtech Cranks - pressure die cast cranks as tubes open at the pedal end and forged closed before being threaded for pedals.

ServoWave brakes – Cams fitted to brake levers to allow more cable to be pulled at the start of the braking process and less when pads are against the rims allowing for greater modulation

STI – Gearshifts and braking all done from the same lever. Riders no longer had to take their hands from the bars to change gears.

SLR – Sprung brake levers coupled with weaker springs on the brakes themselves giving the impression of easier operation.

Some classic Shimano Groupsets include

Dura Ace

Ultegra

600

600EX

AX

105

Sante

DeoreXT

Deore XTR

Deore LX

Deore DX

Deore

Hone

Saint

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Shimano's 1990 clipless pedal and shoe combo were sneak previewed at the end of 1989 and hit the stores in 1990. Originally designed for serious racing  the double sided PD-M737 pedal sold in the UK for £100 and the grey SH-M100 shoes, which featured a recessed cleat design to give tough grip walking and maximum performance for riding for around £60.

Advertised under the banner of "Bike it or Hike it" Shimano took out full page advertisments in just about every bike magazine going. Describing the SH-M100 SPD Shoe "Recessed design cleat and rigid nylon mid sole for pedaling power. Soft rubber puter sole for comfortable hiking" and the PD-M737 SPD Pedal "Includes special cleat that mates to the SH-M100 shoe for improved pedaling performance"

Shimano SPDs For Sale

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NOS Shimano 6 Spd 365 mm HyperGlide UniGlide Spacer    US $4.99

NIB Silver Shimano SPD PD A520 Clipless Road Touring    US $45.00

Shimano SH MT40WL Cycling Shoes 38 5 SPD NEW    US $55.00

SHIMANO M520 CLIPLESS SPD PEDALS ROAD MOUNTAIN TOURING    US $29.95

Shimano SPD PD A520 Road Pedals Brand New w Cleats    US $61.67

SHIMANO M540 CLIPLESS SPD PEDALS ROAD MOUNTAIN TOURING    US $39.95

Shimano SH MT20D Cycling Shoes 37 45 SPD NEW    US $50.00

Shimano XT PD M770 SPD Mtb Pedals Brand New w Cleats    US $90.69

New Shimano Deore XT Shifters SL M770 M770 Pair 9 Spd    US $169.99

Shimano M424 SPD MTB Pedals inc Cleats RRP £3999    US $42.07

2011 Shimano SPD SL PD R670 Pedals Road pedal NEW    US $115.00

SHIMANO SPD SHOE PLATES NEW PAIR    US $9.00

mens shoes bike cycling tan black Shimano spd sz 40 7 M    US $11.99

BRAND NEW PEDAL ROAD BIKE SHIMANO PD R540 SPD SL BLACK    US $62.99

VILANO ALUMINUM ROAD RACING BICYCLE SHIMANO 21 SPD 60CM    US $229.95

VILANO ALUMINUM ROAD RACING BICYCLE SHIMANO 21 SPD 50CM    US $229.95

SHIMANO SPD R Road Bike shoe 44 ULTEGRA Pedals    US $69.00

SHIMANO SPD SM PD21 Platform Reflector Pedal M747 M535    US $8.29

Shimano Alivio shift brake lever set pod 8 spd ST EF50    US $1.26

New Shimano SPD Pedals PD M545 Clipless pedal MTB    US $41.00

Shimano SPD Mountain Bike Pedals PD M647 Mount Bicycle    US $41.00

Shimano Bicycle SPD Pedal PD A530 Road Bike NEW    US $36.00

Shimano SPD Mountain Bike Pedals PD M520 Mount Bicycle    US $10.50

Shimano XTR SPD pedals used very little    US $31.00

Shimano Dura Ace 9 spd 7700 STI levers    US $102.50

Shimano SM SH51 SPD Cleats RRP £20    US $10.93

Titanium Ti Bolt Shimano SPD M970 M770 540 Pedal    US $15.00

Shimano Dura Ace 9 spd bottom bracket BB 7700    US $28.00

Shimano Cassettes Ultegra CS 6500 CS 6500 12 21 9 Spd    US $59.99

Shimano R540 SPD SL Cycle Pedals In Black    US $24.98

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"Shimano Pedaling Dynamics is the new generation shoe pedal interfae that lets you bike it or hike it without compromising performance.
With its leat locked tight into the PD-M737 pedal, the SPD shoe becomes part of an integrated high performance pedaling system. Off the bike, the deep tread rubber sole makes it a comfortable sure-footed hiking shoe.
Advanced Shimano design and a unique "recessed design" cleat make it possible. Get Shimano Pedaling Dynamics for increased comfort and perofmance-on or off the bike"

Look and Adidas had already come out with early pedal systems but these were designed for road use. Shimnano SPD was the first designed for off road use and were an immediate hit. The small pedals also had the advantage that there was less to break - no cages to hit against tree stumps accidentally and bend.

One early concern however was mud clearance and in Canada, UK and northern Europe this was a genuine concern, especially for mtb racers who could often be seen stamping their feet down on their pedals after a muddy running section to try to shed mud from the area surrounding the recessed cleat.,

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Today’s bicycle giant Shimano started life back in 1921 when Shozaburo Shimano founded Shimano Iron Works in Sakai City, an area known for its production of swords and gun barrels. Its first product was a single speed bicycle freewheel which was soon made in enough numbers to allow its export to China.

Shimano began production of other bicycle componentry in 1956 with production of a derailleurs shortly followed by an internal three speed hub whichbecame the default choice for the American market. With this success Shimano invested in cold forging to allow more products to be made with greater efficiencies.

After Shozaburo relinquished control of the business to his three sons Shimano made more brakes and other components although they never ventured into the complete bike market. Futher expansion led to Shimano building what was then  the largest bicycle parts plant ever in 1970 in Yamaguchi Prefecture and it was here, according to Design Week, that Shimano’s vision of modern bicycle parts began to be formed when they started recruiting engineers to create a unified look among component systems as well as elevating their performance.

Foreign expansion beckoned with a European office in Dusseldorf Germany, a manufacturing plant Singapore and a sales office in California in 1974 meaning  the company was well placed to benefit from the expanding bike market in the United States during the 1970s. During this period Shimano invested heavily in research and development that would benefit it for many years as well as branching out into precision fishing equipment.

Groupsets that many might remember today started to be released with AX racing grouppo launched in 1980 followed by its first off road dedicated groupset Deore XT, a name which still stands today. With the advent of indexed gears shimano’s fortunes increased further with sames exceeding 50 Billion Yen by the mid 80s.