ascherer 

Some of you know I've been hoping to find a Campy front drop bolt to use on my Paramount. I found some "new old stock" listed on a few of the usual online places but I was sure they weren't old. Digging further they seem to be coming from Poland, and were available for 38 USD shipped on racevelo.com so I decided to take a chance. The site threw some unencrypted data errors, and I never got an order acknowledgement so I was doubting the wisdom of my actions but a few days later I got shipping info from the Polish mail service. Today the package arrived:


Wrapped in 4 layers of food advertisements, it looks good...

Its a good fit. Spring pressed in just right. Top view.

Side view

It's a perfect fit for the frame drilling and blends right in.

I won't be able to ride it until next weekend, but I have every reason to expect it will perform as it should. Bottom line: if anyone's in the market - this one looks like it works and it doesn't break the bank (much).

Bad Lag

That looks very nice and appears to be nicely made. Installed, it just disappears (as it should).

jdawginsc 

The food wrapper is so clear it almost looked like you laid the piece on a roll.

bulgie 

Thanks for the report, might well help another BFer find the dropbolt of his dreams. I too have ordered some bike parts from Poland, and they were good too, no problems to report. The recent ones that come to mind were adjusting barrels for Campy sidepulls, good look-alikes with the fat rubber O-ring, but in light alloy. Nicely machined.

Fun Fact, Campy never made a front drop bolt. Any fronts that you find are aftermarket. A rear, with its shorter shaft, can be used in front if you drill the back of the crown and use the extended nut that reaches deep into the crown. Concours points lost on a nice vintage bike that's supposed to have the nut on the outside of the crown like God intended, but 100% functional.

Ya know though, I can tell from your pic that this brake would have reached even without the dropper. They drop you by 6 mm, and you have that much slot below the pad. Did you just not like the braking with the pads all the way down? You do get a bit more mechanical advantage (leverage) with this setup, at the cost of fender clearance.

Mark B

repechage

Looks good, perhaps share more clearly the site.
BUT…
that is a short reach caliper.
my hunch as the pads are now at the midpoint of the adjustment…
a normal reach caliper would have worked.


this is a normal reach caliper - pads are about mid adjustment.

roadcrankr 

Agree with this assessment. Moreover, if you installed this brake on your '72 Paramount, Campy first sold this version later in the 70's.
I listed a very nice front normal reach on eBay last week. Still unsold, but hoping to get at least $150.

repechage

first sighting for me of the piccolo reach was early 1974 on a Talbot’s imported DeRosa.

not to be seen again for a year, unless imported from Italy on a bike.

OldForerunner

Very nice. Super clean OEM look. I just couldn't do it for the ~$40 I'm finding on eBay. Which is really silly considering how much I've peed away on other things.

roadcrankr 

I judged the vintage by the QR lever.
Guessing his Paramount originally came with the below version.

ascherer 

I didn’t know that, Mark. Thanks! The blocks did make contact with the tire. I beveled the top edge as a quick and dirty fix.

racevelo.com. Search for “drop bolt”
You’re both right. this was a parts bin all-NR build except for the brake levers from Mad Honk and a sweet 14-32 Perfect freewheel from pastorbobnlnh. These were the calipers I had and they’re just fine. I’m not entering it in anything but my personal admiration society

ascherer 

I’m confident it’s the same seller on the site I listed above, 30USD + 8 shipping. He’s also selling them on Etsy. I suppose those are Artisinal.

bulgie 

I said the brake would reach without the dropbolt.
Oops sorry, never mind! My eye-crometer needs recalibrating.

Though if it's that small a discrepancy, I have no qualms with extending the slots downward with a chainsaw file. The metal you remove is lightly stressed and extremely unlikely to cause a problem. I even had a Weinmann that cracked there, due to a manufacturing defect as far as I can tell (not filed), and it stayed that way, on a bike I rode frequently for 30-some years. Even with some heavy-ish loads sometimes (it was a grocery-getter). The crack never opened up any further, though it was broken clear through, at the bottom of the slot. Confirming to me that the metal is nearly unstressed there.

I didn't notice the brake was a Piccolo. That is a quirky combo, Piccolo + dropbolt, but it definitely gets you down the road.

Mark B

ascherer 

Eye-crometer, gonna steal that! I thought about extending the slots but I’m happy to have the drop bolt and leave the calipers unmolested.

unworthy1

I think with Etsy sales you actually get that seeded roll!
(but might be a little stale from long ship-time so "Caveat Emptor")

RCMoeur 

As compared to a "vern-peer"?

daviddavieboy

thanks for bursting my bubble. I thought this one was genuine, especially where the chrome is near perfect. BTW it is part of a bunch of stuff I am selling. EDIT nevermine I just comprehended you said FRONT drop bolt. I haven't had my coffee yet, sorry.

Mr. 66

Interesting, I was looking at a 50's frame and that had drop bolts front and rear. I just guessed that both were Campy, giving the frame was being sold with the calipers.

Now I'm thinking that, at least the front bolt must have been Diacomp.

Shimano also made a drop bolt, I have one for the rear. I am not aware if Shimano made a long bolt version.