In 2006 Campagnolo decided to take yet another shot at the market for long cage derailleurs - launching a range of 3 models. These had special names that did not correspond with the names of the racing groupsets - although the technical crossover, and commonality of component parts is obvious.

At about this time I was lucky enough to attend a stage of the Vuelta that ended south of Grenada on a mountain top in the Sierra Nevada. We toiled up towards the finish in our rented Fiat Panda. As we did so I was amazed that we kept on passing a seemingly endless stream of rotund men of a certain age, clad in impeccable team outfits and riding exquisitely beautiful bikes. They were pedalling very smoothly, but very slowly up the terrifying gradients. At the top of the climb I was equally surprised to see a large group of equally rotund women of an equal age laying out a huge feast on a forest of trestle tables. There were more lobsters, cooked in more different ways, than I have seen in one place before or since.

Suddenly, as if I had been flooded with divine light, I understood the inherent contradictions of a Campagnolo long cage derailleur. It is a derailleur with an uncontestable racing pedigree, but for the rider who cannot possibly race. It was for precisely these lobster-lovers that Campagnolo released the three derailleurs in 2006.

The derailleurs were:

• The Campagnolo Comp Triple, finished in polished aluminium and largely alumninium, but possibly with a steel inner parallelogram plate and pulley cage plate.
• The Campagnolo Race Triple which was matte black and largely alumninium, but definitely with a steel inner parallelogram plate and pulley cage plate.
• the Campagnolo Champ Triple which had composite knuckles and a steel inner parallelogram plate and pulley cage plate.

Ironically the low-end Champ Triple, with its composite knuckles, was notably lighter than its more prestigious (and expensive) siblings.

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This is a, nearly perfect, example of a Campagnolo Race Triple.

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• Derailleur brands: Campagnolo
• Categories: Campagnolo - touring with terror
• Country: Italy
• Date of introduction: 2006 (the instruction leaflet is dated 6/2006)
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: RD7-RAXL, although the tiny label on this example shows 'RD71RAX'
• Weight: 275g
• Maximum cog: 29 teeth (bike shop folklore)
• Total capacity: 39 teeth (bike shop folklore)
• Pulley centre to centre: 89mm
• Index compatibility: 10 speed
• Chain width: 3/32
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: sprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: aluminium with a steel inner pulley cage plate and inner parallelogram plate

Ref. 1466