Tag Derailleurs

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.

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

The Campagnolo wordmark in blue script, centered on a white banner

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.

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