“Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo”
So… what do we know about Campagnolo?
The A to Z of HMHB
The A to Z of HMHB
There are 14 Half Man Half Biscuit albums, plus two roundup compilations, as well as 4 EPs and a handful of one-off songs. No 'Greatest Hits'. Indulge yourself by starting here.
In which we chose the nation's favourite Half Man Half Biscuit song. For the next four years, anyway.
Search for any lyric, reference, song title ...whatever.
The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project website © 2007—2021 Chris Rand • All lyrics are the property of their owners
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nigel, no not that one (nx3TO)
Not a lot.
I’m Shimano on all three of mine.
Apparently Shimano wears out and Campag wears in.
27 March 2014
Graeme
One of the longest-established brands in cycle component manufacture, but still at the cutting edge (some might say the bleeding edge) of cycle technology.
Family owned (still) with Tullio Campagnolo’s son at the helm.
Tullio, a successful bicycle racer, set the business up in 1937, the apocryphal tale being that he couldn’t unto a wing nut (the normal method of fixing the rear wheel into a bicycle at the time) at the top of the Croce d’Aune pass in the freezing temperatures of the Italian spring. He lost a race and as a result, set to designing the first quick release, on which the later success and indeed pre-eminence of the company was founded.
Credited (incorrectly, strictly speaking) with the invention of the parallelogram rear derailleur, the company was without serious competitors at the very top of the sport until the 1980s when the Japanese industrial giant Shimano (and to a lesser extent, Suntour) hove into view.
A fairly disastrous flirtation with mountain bike components, which Shimano did very well with in the mid-80s, coupled to adesire to keep component manufacturing in Europe, led to Campagnolo having to give best to Shimano in terms of OE supply (which is, in very simple terms, why far fewer Campagnolo-equipped bikes are in the market than Shimano-equipped ones) pushed Campanolo’s profile downwards, but the equipment is still at least as technically advanced (and in some key areas such as electronic shifting and composites technology, more so) as their main competitor and it is still most professional bike riders’ favourite.
The components retain a high degree of reliability and sublime Italian design, with 85% of manufacture still being in Europe.
Serviceability of the components is high and contrary to the popular wisdom, spares are easily found from the main UK Service Centre and from ProShop retailers.
27 March 2014
Brumbiscuit
I meant to say that! 😉
Campag already have 11-speed on the market – at a price. Shimano are only thinking about it.
Sadly, the lilac Harry Quinn picture on the song’s thread has disappeared (scan a copy in, CtSO, g’wan), but it was a really high end work of 70s beauty and with high-end Campag equipment. A mechanical thing of beauty.
27 March 2014
Cynical Uncle Charlie
Campagnolo Elektron – best looking car wheel ever.
28 March 2014
John rufford
NX3TO; spot on, still riding my 1983 Super Record derailleurs, cost me £75 the pair which I earned at £1/h after school loading scaffolding lorries, been through many chains and sprockets, but they’ve never let me down, and still look great (and i could probably still get £75 for them on ebay!). The blue Brian Rourke I bought them with is also sadly deceased, that Reynolds 531Pro was just too thin-walled…
10 April 2014