Here's my show and tell pics on my own set with my Weinmann's version of the Delta next to it for reference:
Nice things to note:
They are beautiful, very sleek and sculptural. A pefect brakeset to put on that 80's/early 90's Italian "Grail" bike you might be building up
In NOS form, the quality is almost jewel-like. Campagnolo really put in some money into the finish work for these brakes.
Most people who used them don't seem to consider them as "death brakes" as many times rumored out there, so I suspect that they work good enough to keep most out of trouble.
They will certainly get your bike noticed as the brakes are still considered as must haves especially for 80's Italian bike enthusiasts.
"Bleh" things to note:
As noted the Campagnolo version is quite heavy, maybe at least a third more in weight than the Weinmanns. I think the version I have is the third version that Campagnolo issued. And proportionally, they are much bigger than the other two Delta brakes of the time. Making them smaller might have improved their "aeroness"??
The aluminum alloy used on the cover and body seems to be softer than most, as they get scratched so easily. Road grit thrown off by the tire treads tend to "sandblast" the anodizing and etch/scratch the aluminum itself. Most used Campy Deltas will have this damage to some degree.
The unsealed caliper housing tend to catch and trap a lot of dirt thrown from the tires (Modolo and Weinmann's idea of including a rubber sealing jacket for their "pro versions" must have come up because of this very reason). regular cleaning should be done to keep things working smoothly. Not easy to get behind the mechanism to clean it out as the pivot/spring assembly needs special tools and care to disassemble.
What makes these a bit difficult to tune up is the way the cable clamp is situated right above the tire. Not much working space to manipulate the cable with the wheel on plus there's always the problem on how much cable to leave dangling above the tire.
Spare parts are very expensive. I tried to bid on replacement wheel guides and the NOS set went for somthing like 75 - 80 bucks!
I've also seen the little rubber bellows on the top of the calipers priced at just as much!
The cost of getting my set to the condition I want them to be has slowed down efforts to put them on one of my bikes.
The pad toe-in mechanism on my version seems needlessly over the top compared to other brakeset. I suspect most just set these to maximum adjustment anyway, so what's the point with the screw-in adjusters.
Some earlier versions seem to experience cracking at the knurled cover retainer collars. Lots of theories why it happens but I don't think anything conclusive. A problem cause all these parts cost lots of money to replace.
It's also a wonder why Campagnolo decided to cheap out on their company logos on the brake calipers. Thay are just silkscreend in Campy blue on to the face of the caliper covers under the anodizing instead of casting or engraving them on. Result is, most of these logos have faded away just from UV exposure or the sandblast effect from the wheels. Unfortunately, Delta brake seekers use this as a sort of gauge on how to price used ones so many expect big price breaks on logo-less examples, even though the rest of the caliper is in general fine condition.
Despite these issues, the brakes are still worshipped by many and go for lots of money NOS and used. Campagnolo eventually abandoned the Delta design maybe because it was just to much trouble to come up with a final fix for them.
As for its Swiss cousin I have in the pics, the general concensus for the Wienmanns is, to avoid them. It's weak braking performance (which is suppsed to be very similar to the Modolo Kronos) supposedly puts it in the "death brakes" category....but they still look kinda nice, don't they, and at usually just a third of the price.
