The Campagnolo Victory was a tidy looking object, created to replace the legendary Campagnolo Nuovo Record with a derailleur with a more 1980s style.

But somehow it did not quite have the quality of finish required to succeed in that role. Perhaps the expectation was impossibly high - for some years the Nuovo Record had not really justified its stellar reputation - but even that doesn't excuse some of the Victory's more cynical weaknesses. The inside parallelogram plate was often poorly polished - as were the inside surfaces of the pulley cage. And then there was the over-complex system for adjusting the swing at the b-pivot. SunTour had been showing how this should be done since the 1960s - but Campagnolo had to reinvent the wheel with something just slightly worse.

This example is a wee beauty. It is the third iteration of the long cage Victory design. The Phillips head adjustment screws and engraved main Allen bolts reflected some of the panache of the Campagnolo C-Record, and, you have to say, that the whole design felt more composed. It was introduced in the 1986 Campagnolo - Nuovo Victory, Nuovo Triomphe catalogue - in which it appears to be called the 'LX'.

Some key features of this third style of Victory are:

• The 'flying quick release' logo on the outer parallelogram plate.
• Main Allen bolts with 'Brev. Int. Campagnolo' engraved on the heads.
• Adjustment screws with small (5mm diameter) Phillips heads.
• A distinctively shaped cable clamp nut as also seen on the Campagnolo 980.

• Derailleur brands: Campagnolo
• Categories: Campagnolo - defeat snatched from the jaws of Victory
• Country: Italy
• Date of introduction: 1986
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: G010-LG?
• Weight: 202g
• Maximum cog: 32 teeth (Source: Campagnolo)
• Total capacity: 38 teeth (Source: Campagnolo)
• Pulley centre to centre: 71mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: aluminium