Bad Lag

I did think about it due to cash constraints. I still do think this way. I want to buy once and cry once. It is why I dislike plastic parts on almost anything - they do not last.

When my bike got repainted, I had them install braze-on cable guides and stops and water bottle bosses. I outsmarted corrosion,... sort of. Rust never sleeps.

Jeff Wills

This is an interesting discussion. It's worth noting that the president of Shimano America in 1973 was also (his other business) a Campagnolo importer: Bob Hansing. Read on: https://www.euroasiaimports.com/aboutus.asp . I think Shimano was consciously copying the market leader. It wasn't until Shimano came out with professional-level index shifting that they started making inroads in the late '80's. After that Shimano's brake/shift levers turned the tide against Campy.

I'd agree with many of the assessments above: Nuovo Record was for the hardcore racer, Dura-Ace tried to be as good but the serviceability hampered it. When I worked at Euro-Asia Imports (1988-1989) all of the NR small parts were still available. I remember us replacing the bushings in a Nuovo Record rear derailleur because the owner didn't want to give up his original part.

T-Mar

Regarding Dura-Ace small parts availability. I raised this subject with our rep (wholesaler, who distributed Campagnolo and Shimano) back in the mid-1970s. I was told that Shimano did have small parts availability. However, they did not want to invest in another large inventory of small parts. They had already done so with Campagnolo and there was a significant amount gathering dust, despite Campagnolo having the majority share of the high end market. Dura-Ace's market share didn't justify the investment. There were some exceptions, for more common replacement items, such as axles and cones. He claimed he could get any Shimano part but it may take quite a while and there would be a special order charge. For the same reason, they did not stock most SunTour small parts, though they were reportedly available too. Basically, they had tied up a lot of money in small parts inventory for European brands before the Japanese arrived on the scene and did not want to have to do so again. Consequently, they only stocked the most common replacement parts for the Japanese brands that they distributed.

Hudson308 

Mostly true, unless you bought a touring Paramount in '73.

fietsbob

BITD Campagnolo was like a little Italian village in size, Shimano a City-State..

T-Mar

I'm always puzzled by the the claims of Shimano changing things things every year or two. Certainly, they had new introductions every year or two, but that was because they generally staggered the introductions between groups.. The shortest time lag between introductions of Dura-Ace was the three years between Dura-Ace EX and Dura-Ace AX, but they ran EX concurrent with AX. Even Dura-Ace AX was available or four years. Campagnolo was just as guilty of sort periods between introductions. The Paris-Roubaix derailleur was only on the market for two year before it was succeeded by Gran Sport. The Record rear derailleur was introduced for the 1964 model year but got replaced by the Nuovo Record only four years later, in 1968.

People raise a fuss about Dura-Ace AX and failed aero styling, but Campagnolo appropriated it for C-Record. Gone were the embossed and fluted surfaces. Everything was aero profile. It was AX cranked down one notch to appeal to the more.traditional cyclist.

Shimano actually sponsored their first European pro team in 1973, Flandria-Carpenter-Shimano. They had a pretty good year, winning Fleche Wallone, the Tour of Romandie, three stages in the Tour de France and dozens of wins in lesser races. Freddy Maertens almost won the World Championships for Shimano that year, but Tullio was so worried about Shimano winning the World's Championships in it's first year on the European circuit that he had Campagnolo riders conspire against Maertens. Shimano's near victory caused Tullio to make Flandria an offer they couldn't refuse and put Maertens back on Campagnolo equipment. Campagnolo's success in European racing owes as much to his business acumen and his pockets, as to the merits of his equipment. He always tried to ensure the best riders and teams were on Campagnolo equipment.

The first big win for Shimano's New Dura-Ace, equipped with SIS, actually occurred in 1984, the year before it's commercial release. That year, the Cilo-Aufina team was using it in prototype form and Urs Zimmermann used it to win the Tour of Switzerland.

crank_addict

And then there was Bill Woodul with the cool Campy support bubble roof van ~~~

(bubbles.... reminds me of champagne ;")

smontanaro 

A couple Dura-Ace anecdotes (why BF just tossed out my original reply - expired token, WTF?)...

1. My Schwinn Volare (1978) has first-gen Dura-Ace. It seems every bit as good as Campy of the era. I just replaced the DA shifters with Simplex Retrofriction yesterday. Might have gotten slightly better yet.
2. I looked at a completely disassembled (down to unlacing the wheels!) early 70s Colnago a few years ago which had Dura-Ace componentry. The seller said his father-in-law had purchased the bike from Sigi Renz in (I think) Munich. Sigi apparently recommended the D-A saying it was good as Campy but half the price.

squirtdad

I seem to recall reading that Shimano engineers were a bit surprised by how much stuff broke when they first got Pro rides to use dura ace.

Last ride 76 

Because you are posting blasphemous rumors...