CAMPAGNOLO

Our passion for Italian vintage classic bicycles mostly concerns the era from 1950-1990. The bikes from this era and their beauty have been enabled in the first place by technological advances and inventions that made the sport more accessible for a wider public and also lifted the pro tour to a different level. This is mostly due to the famous founder of the brand Campagnolo, Tullio Campagnolo.

Tullio Campagnolo impacted cycling sports through several groundbreaking inventions, which revolutionized the race cycling both commercially and professionally. Even the latest cycling components are based on his original constructions.  Campagnolo is still one of the leading companies in cycling sports.

One famous anecdote about Tullio Campagnolo shows what inspired his work as a pioneering engineer and inventor. Tulio Campagnolo, aged 23 was in a race at the passo Croce d’Aune. He was leading the pack by a few miles before the finish when the steepness of the mountain became too much for the gear of his bike. As Derailleurs didn’t exist at that time, he was forced stop and get off his bike in order to put his bike in another gear manually. Due to the blistering cold and snow he was not able to do this quickly and hence was overtaken by his opponents. With bleeding fingers he screamed out loudly: „Something got to get changed here.“ Three years later he invented the quick release and two years after that he claimed his fifth invention.

AESTHETIC

But superior and always advancing engineering and technology is only one part of the fascination. Another big component is the style of the brands, the most integral part of the bike.  All the famous brands like Cinelli, Colnago, De Rosa, Gios Torino or Masi had one common trait: the perfect balance of function and aesthetics.

The idea of building something for a specific purpose while demanding style and beauty is fascinating even 50 years later. This type of artwork was perfected by Italian frame manufactories like nowhere else in the world.

Faliero Masi was the first who was truly dedicated to this goal so much so that his frames set the standard and started an intern competition between frame builders. He detailed chrome elements and color elements on the frame as perfect as his paintwork itself. Eddy Merckx, one of the greatest cycling legends who rode from 1969 – 1973, created a Masi frame in a similar fashion. For his outstanding design and meticulous work, Faliero Masi was known as „The Tailor.“

The great successes of the improved components and frames were made possible through the collaboration of the Italian manufacturers and the racers who worked closely together for the first time.

LEGENDS – Finally, in professional racing we can see what some of greatest cycling heros achieved on these bikes: 

Fausto Coppi

Born in September 1919, Coppi won the „Giro d’Italia“ for first of five times at the age of 20. In 1942 he set the world hour record, which was not broken until 14 years later. Coppi was leadoff winning both the „Tour de France“ and the „Giro d’Italia“ in 1949 and 1952.

He is the five time overall winner of „Giro di Lombardia, three time winner of the  „Milan – San Remo, and the „La Flèche Wallone“, as well as the famous race of „Paris – Roubaix“. Fausto Coppi was well known for finishing a race 10 to 20 minutes before the second finisher and became an icon for the classic Italian frame manufacturer „Bianchi“.

Jacques Anquetil

Born in 1934, he finished ahead of Fausto Coppi in the time trail race of „GP des nations“ at the young age of 19. Throughout his career he won this race nine times in total, which led to France naming him „Monsieur chrono“.

He was also the one who beat the world hour record set by Coppi. Anquetil was the five time overall winner of the „Tour de France“- winning four times in a row. He won the „Grio d’Italia“ two times and the „Vuelta a España“ once. There have only been five other race cyclist to ever win all three of those main tours:

Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong.

Felice Gimondi

Gimondi, born in 1942, was the overall winner of the „Tour de France“ at the age of 23. His major overall classifications include winning the „Giro d’Italia“ three times, the „Vuelta a España“, „Road Race World Championship“. He was the overall winner of the „Milan – San Remo“, „Paris–Roubaix“, two-time winner of the „Giro di Lombardia“ and the „Grand Prix des Nations“ and won the „Italian Road Race Championship“ one time. For the „Giro d’Italia“ he holds the record of the most podium finishes: nine in total. Gimondi started his professional career with team Salvarini and finished it with team Bianchi.

Eddy Merckx

“The most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known.” Eddy Merckx was born in 1945 and turned professional in 1965 after 80 amateur wins. Eddy Merckx was the five-time overall winner of the „Tour de France“ as well as the „Giro d’Italia“. He finished first once at the „Vuelta a España“, was world champion once as an amateur and three times as a professional. In Mexico, in 1972 he broke the world hour record on a famous Colnago bicycle which afterwards was named „Colnago Mexico 1972“. The record lasted until 1984. Merckx set an impressive record schedule.

He was the only cyclist to have won the general classification, points classification and mountains classification in the same Tour de France. He still holds several titles:

Most career victories by a professional cyclist: 525

Most victories in one season: 54

Most stage victories in the Tour de France: 34

Most stage victories in one Tour de France: 8

Most days with the yellow jersey in the Tour de France: 96

Most victories in classics: 28

Most victories in one single classic: 7 „Milan – San Remo“

Most victories in Grand Tours: 11

Merckx won the „Triple crown of cycling“ in 1974 which is achieved by winning the Tour de France, the Giro d’ Italia and the world championship in the same season.

Only Alfredo Binda and Rik van Steenbergen were able to do this before him. After Merckx, the last cyclist to do this was Stephen Roche.

After his retirement in 1978 Eddy Merckx became also a frame builder, whose frames carry his name. He learned his artisanry from the famous Ugo De Rosa in Milano. Merckx was honored several times, including in 2000 as Belgium’s „sports figure of the century“. He was given the title Baron by the King of Belgium Albert II.

Miguel Indurain

Born 1964, Indurain was also an outstanding cyclist winning the „Tour de France“ five times and the „Giro d’Italia“ two times. He was the winner of the „World Time Trial Championship“ and the summer olympics in the same year, once the „Men’s individual time trial“, twice the „Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré“, twice „Paris–Nice“, „Clásica de San Sebastián“, „Critérium International“, „Grand prix du Midi Libre“, „Volta a Catalunya“ and the „Tour de l’Avenir“