The group set

When it comes to parts for racing bikes there's always the Campagnolo versus Shimano question. In which I have a standpoint for years:  Although I tend to believe that overall Shimano would be the slightly better choice in terms of engineering and quality, I'm a Campagnolo fan by nature. Purely for its great design and appearance. So, especially the famous Italian retro bikes should have the Campa outfit in my opinion. Which made my choice for the newly acquired Tecnos clear. But not easy. The Tecnos is a bike from the middle nineties when things were changing. Carbon did Its entry and also new mechanical techniques saw the light. Until that period in time, in terms of mechanics, things had been clear and stable for decades. Currently living in the disc brake and electronic shifting era, which does not (yet) seem to appeal to me, I realize that my favorite bike outfit is something of its own. A combination of steel frame tubing and the advantage of carbon wheels with the old-fashioned mechanical rim brakes with cables sheltered beneath handlebar tape. A personal taste when it comes to appearance and available techniques. Anyhow, my new to-acquire Tecnos would have a Campa outfit. And there I turned-out to be lucky again.. Very lucky in fact..

At the time of starting the project, I already had a clear idea about the bike's gear: All parts should be new and the frame in the best possible condition.  Upon starting my search for parts and wheels months before, I had soon noticed an advertisement at Marketplace. Offered was a complete Campagnolo Veloce bike parts set in New Old Stock from the mid-nineties. New and still in its original boxes. A rarely offered item which, in light of my current project, I knew would perfectly fit my needs. The set included crank and bottom bracket, front & rear derailleurs, chain, shifters, brake calipers, and complete cabling. So I expressed my interest to the seller and agreed to have a look at the parts on the short term. It was a lucky opportunity as the advertisement showed to be there for months already and interest was low apparently. Which made sense of course. Retro bike parts are not exactly hot. A slowly emerging market for sure, but still low valued in this period in time as I was to find out myself soon.  I however still realized that this was an opportunity not coming by too easily and which I should grab immediately. The seller, Gerard, had meanwhile reacted & agreed we should meet soon & awaited my proposed date and time. Which actually turned out to be the date of buying my Tecnos from Sophie. As geographically, Gerald's residence was perfectly situated on my way back home Just north of Gorinchem, in the village of Hoogblokland. So upon leaving Sophie I sent an app to Gerald which luckily was answered soon & we agreed to meet in 1,5 hours.  Gerald turned out to be a very sympathetic person and bike lover & we could close the deal fairly: The skeleton brakes were not to my taste, the front derailleur had an old-fashioned mounting clamp, while my frame had a cam, & the bracket cups were not Italian threaded, so Gerald was willing to keep these parts and we fixed an in-between price. Gerard turned out to be well-skilled bike-technically and enthusiastic about my fresh Tecnos purchase and gave me some good advice about fitting the crank and new to-buy bottom bracket. He also showed me his own magnificent full carbon Colnago C-50 with Campa Record outfit: A lightweight Masterpiece in bike technique.  All in all, it was a great day for a bike lover. My drive back home was a happy one.