DISRAELI GEARS

Gian Robert Campione (3rd style)

Gian Robert Campione derailleur (3rd style) main image

It’s hard to convey the sheer nastiness of the steel versions of the Gian Robert Campione in mere words and images. The horror of the sheet metal bending that looks like it’s part of a primary school handicrafts project, the total lack of concern for style or line, the wafer thin pulley wheels and rough, unfinished edges - I could go on and on.

I think this is a later model with the concealed parallelogram springs, the toothed pulley wheels, the hex head pulley bolts, and the logo with writing on a criss-cross background. This example has a standard 10mm hanger bolt. Particularly appealing is the urine-coloured plating that is neither gold nor silver, neither gloss nor matte.

Like a midnight kebab, it’s so horrible you have to love it.


  • Derailleur brands: Gian Robert
  • Country: Italy
  • Date of introduction: 1978?
  • Date of this example: unknown
  • Model no.: unknown
  • Weight: 282g including hanger plate but excluding the drop-out bolt
  • Maximum cog: 28 teeth? (Gian Robert claim an improbable 32 teeth)
  • Total capacity: 26 teeth?
  • Pulley centre to centre: 45mm
  • Index compatibility: friction
  • Chain width: 3/32”?
  • Logic: top normal
  • B pivot: unsprung
  • P pivot: sprung
  • Materials: steel