DISRAELI DOCUMENTS

Campagnolo - catalogue n. 18

Campagnolo - catalogue n. 18 page 01 main image

Like Campagnolo's catalogue n. 18 bis, the date of this catalogue is strangely uncertain. It is generally regarded as being from 1984, describing the range for model year 1985. The fullest (possible) explanation is on campybike.com, which claims that identical versions were printed in May 1984, December 1985 and December 1986. This example is clearly coded 12/86 on page 71.

The most striking weirdness in all this is that the first printing of Campagnolo's catalogue n. 18 bis was in April 1985, a full 20 months before the last printing of this catalogue. But Campagnolo's catalogue n. 18 bis describes a complete new range, designed to replace the old 'classic' range shown in this catalogue. What is going on? My guess is more chaos than conspiracy.

So the 'old' range, descibed here, contained the following, eerily familiar, derailleurs:

  • Campagnolo Rally (5011/06)
  • Campagnolo 980 (6011/00). This is a late version, with plain faces on the nuckles, headless adjustment screws and a plastic 'slice' to stop the sdjustment screws from loosening.
  • Campagnolo Valentino Extra (2170). This is a mystery object. It differs from the Campagnolo Nuovo Valentino Extra, that we know and and cannot love, in any number of details. Most notable are the curvaceous pulley cage plates. I have never seen an example of this derailleur.