I have heard a couple of versions of this story.... one is that this is basically the European market equivalent of a Champion Team/Team Champion.... You be the judge...
I just got this from someone out here in Colorado who bought it used in 1977 in Fort Collins. He had swapped out many of the original parts, but I was able to see these parts, and determine:
- Original NR rear derailleur, Patent 72
- Original NR front derailleur, no circlip
- Original Record crank, no date
- Original Cinelli 1A stem old logo and crest bars (Giro D'Italia/64 I think)
The components that I got with the frame include an original 26.6 NR seatpost, original NR headset, original NR bottom bracket. It has Campy barcons, which he said were on it in 1977, but my guess is that they are not original. It also has a nice Ideale 90, which I think is original. The wheels on it were Nuovo Tipo hubs, with an AVA rim on the front and a Mavic CdM on the back - I suspect the bike originally had Record hubs...?
The frame has a lot of the same features as a '73 Team Champion I have seen, along with a Super Champion. They include:
- Unique fork crown
- Chrome "socks"
- Slightly different "M" on the head tube
- Black painted tops of seat stays
- Wood insert in steerer tube
- Script downtime logo
- "Fishmouth" treatment on ends of chainstays and seat stays
- Number 9442 on bottom of bb
- Number 54 on BB (I think this might be size)
- No serial number on dropouts (Campy front and rear)
I will start this build with the idea that this was in fact a full Campy equivalent of my '75 Champion Team....
Number 9442
54 refers to the size, I think... same number on the steerer tube...
Wood insert in the steerer tube...
Different crown from my '75 Champion Team and '75 Le Champion...
Campy dropouts, no serial number...
Super Champion....
Black painted seat stay ends...
Bit different treatment on the rear derailleur cable stop...
Chrome socks, like my Le Champion, but not the Champion Team...
As found, a hodgepodge of parts, but basically in decent shape...