Tag Component Makers

Campagnolo, Component Makers

Tullio Campagnolo: The Legend, the Patents and the Record

Eleven Campagnolo catalog covers arranged in date order on a dark background, from the black Catalogo N. 12 of about 1955 to the white catalogue n. 18 of 1986

Campagnolo says its founder invented the quick release after a snowbound race in 1927 and patented it in 1930. The record tells a richer story: a first patent filed in May 1933, the cam quick release in April 1943, a parallelogram derailleur he perfected rather than invented, magnesium wheels for Lamborghini, a signed account of his life that never mentions the snow and a 1981 conviction that English-language histories leave out.

Eric Anschutz
October 22, 2026

Campagnolo, Component Makers

Campagnolo History: A Timeline of Key Patent, Product and Racing Events

A dated timeline of Campagnolo from Tullio Campagnolo's birth in Vicenza in 1901 to the minority investment of 2026: his first patent of May 1933, the cam quick release of 1943, the Cambio Corsa and the Paris-Roubaix, the Gran Sport, Record and Super Record, magnesium wheels for Lamborghini, C-Record, Syncro and Ergopower, with the Croce d'Aune story marked as the legend it is.

Eric Anschutz
October 22, 2026

Campagnolo, Component Makers

How to Identify and Date Vintage Campagnolo Components

The Campagnolo Prodotti Speciali oval with the striped globe and the blue Campagnolo script, from the cover of Catalogue No. 16, centered on a white banner

A practical guide to dating vintage Campagnolo parts from the firm's own catalogs of about 1951 to 1986: when each model came and went, the changes you can measure on the part and what the numbers, the patent words and the address on a catalog or a box can tell you.

Eric Anschutz
October 22, 2026

Component Makers, Idéale

How to Identify and Date a Vintage Idéale Saddle

A practical guide to dating an Idéale saddle — why there is no date code, what the initials on the badge tell you, which models arrived when, how the alloy stamps and the rodée main mark narrow the window and how to date the paper.

Eric Anschutz
October 7, 2026

Component Makers, Mafac

How to Identify and Date Vintage MAFAC Brakes

1977 MAFAC product range poster showing labeled line drawings of brake calipers (Competition, 2000, Racer, Raid, S, Criterium, Cyclo-Tandem, Jacky) lever types (racing, promotion, ville, guidonnet, inverted, perforated, safety) and a tool-kit set, with a photo of a center-pull brake at top

A practical guide to identifying and dating Mafac brakes — why there is no date code to rely on, how the Racer's arm markings changed, which models arrived when and how to read Mafac's own three-digit lever code.

Eric Anschutz
October 7, 2026

Component Makers, Reynolds

How to Identify and Date Vintage Reynolds Tubing

A practical guide to reading a Reynolds transfer — what each mark actually guarantees, how its small print and the tube it names date a frame and how to tell a respray from a reproduction, drawn from Reynolds' own literature of 1972 to 1990.

Eric Anschutz
October 7, 2026

Component Makers, Maxi-Car

Maxi-Car History: A Timeline of Key Bearing and Hub Events

Maxi-Car did one thing and did it better than anyone else: make great bike hubs. The marque is a braid of three separate French houses that include a Lyon artisan who patented the application of demountable annular bearings to the…

Eric Anschutz
September 4, 2026

Idéale, Image Gallery

Idéale Saddles Image Gallery

An Idéale 64 Cyclo-Touriste in tan leather on a chrome seatpost, its hawk bill nose and Croupon Garanti oval catching the light above the coiled rear springs

Idéale saddles were made at Pont-Saint-Pierre in the Eure for most of the 20th century, first by the Tron family, as F. Tron and later Tron et Enfants, then from 1928 by Tron et Berthet, and for much of that…

Eric Anschutz
August 20, 2026

Image Gallery, Spécialités TA

Spécialités TA Advertisement Gallery

Illustrated advertisement with cartoon mascot Fifi holding aloft a TA crankset with integrated bottle cage mount, TA Champion du Monde du Leger

Step back into the workshop of Spécialités TA, the small Clamart firm whose duralumin chainrings and cranksets carried some of the biggest names in cycling for over 70 years. This gallery gathers the company’s period advertisements, catalog pages and technical…

Eric Anschutz
July 14, 2026

Component Makers, Idéale

Model Guide: Idéale Saddles and Clips

Tron Berthet Ideale Model 57 Catalog Cover

A reference guide to the Idéale saddle and clip lineup, covering model number, category, top material, rail material, size, weight and technical notes for dozens of historic models. Use this table to identify, compare and date saddles from the Idéale catalog.

The Ebykr Digest

A monthly letter on classic lightweight bicycles

New articles, timelines, catalog finds and registry activity — assembled from the archive once a month. Your address is never shared.

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