Originally in the traditional Bianchi Celest, this frame had already been restored once in the early ’60s b y J E James, and sprayed black with Red-White-Green seat tube panels. I have kept that finish with corrections to the decals and panels.
Campagnolo’s early offerings in the world of derailleur gears were beautifully precision-engineered ‘Cambio-Corsa’ models with a characteristically ‘out of the box’ inventive design. This bike’s ‘single-lever’ mech combined the actions of the earlier ‘two-lever’ model. That is, firstly releasing the rear wheel to allow it to adjust for the different chain lengths needed for different sprocket sizes, then secondly, shunting the chain across these sprockets.
To change gear:
Make sure the rider behind has a safe gap to you, you’re about to lose speed as you freewheel.
Make sure you have a safe gap to the rider in front – your right hand will be too busy with the gear change to worry about control of your front brake.
Reach down and find the gear control lever behind your right knee.
Stop pedalling and rotate the lever outwards 45 degrees. This unclamps the rear wheel quick release and engages the chain striker. The wheel is now free to trundle back and forth in the dropouts. It’s kept in alignment because the axle has slots engaging with corresponding teeth in the top edges of the dropouts.
Important! Don’t pedal forwards – the wheel will shoot out of the frame.
With the control lever pointing outwards the mech has engaged with the striker plate embracing the top chain. Start back-pedalling and waggle that control lever to select the gear you want. Chain tension is automatically adjusted by the weight of the rider encouraging the wheel to walk back in the dropout if a smaller sprocket is selected, or forward (for a larger sprocket).
When you have the gear you need, stop back pedalling then re-clamp the wheel by rotating the lever so it’s forward-pointing again. The chain tension would be a bit high (depending on rider’s weight) so a natty bit of the design backs off this tension as the wheel is clamped. The striker has now been disengaged and is free to ‘float’ over the chain.
Resume forward pedalling (assuming you haven’t already come to a dead stop). Start making your way back into contact with the peloton.
In 1948 Gino ‘Il Pio’ Bartali took to the mountains of the Tour de France with a Campagnolo Cambio Corsa ‘Uno-leva’ mech. A cumbersome change it may have been, but better than the ‘Due Leve’ suicide-shifter that preceded it and certainly faster than taking out the rear wheel then re-installing it the other way round to use a different sprocket.
Unfortunately Fausto ‘Campionissimo’ Coppi used the ‘Una Leva’ Campagnolo Cambio Corsa mech. when he won the 1950 Paris-Roubaix convincingly with a legendary solo break. The mech was immediately re-branded ‘Paris Roubaix’. It was very much in demand. How did Coppi do it? Well, Paris-Roubaix is gruelling but pretty much pan-flat. There hadn’t been much gear changing going on, he doubtless would have enjoyed the same success with a single-speed bike. Let’s face it, he time-trialled to victory.
The race:
The 1950 Paris-Roubaix was 247 km long from the start at St. Denis, Paris, to the Roubaix velodrome, raced at an average speed of 39.123 km/hr (24.31 mph). It was a day of torrential rain.
There were 221 starters. Rain greeted the riders as the starter’s flag dropped in St. Denis. All eyes were on Italian Fausto Coppi. The previous year’s race was remembered for the controversial finish (a tie between Serse Coppi and Andre Mahe) and Fausto’s role in the affair was soundly criticized in the press. Coppi was here to prove a point.
The Campionissimo was on his game and punished the peloton approaching the hill at Doullens. The lead group split under his pressure, just 20 riders remaining at the feed zone in Arras. Here Gino Sciardis and Frenchman Maurice Diot broke away, working together into the headwind. Nonetheless, riding alone, Coppi made the bridge to their breakaway after a 5 km chase. Coppi attacked, Sciardis was dropped, Coppi had only Maurice Diot for company.
With 45km to go Diot’s team manager Antoine Magne instructed him to stop working with Coppi, just sit in his slipstream and save himself for the finish. An angry Italian accelerated into the strong headwind . Once he had gapped Diot it was game over.. An elite group formed behind Coppi and continued the chase but he was gone. Riding a 52 x 15 all the way, he pulled steadily ahead, crossing the finish line in the velodrome 2mins 45sec ahead to claim victory in his only Paris-Roubaix.
Rik van Steenbergen (Mercier-Hutchinson) @ 8min 48sec
Oreste Conte (Bianchi-Ursus) @ 8min 55sec
Philippe Martineau (Dilecta-Wolber) @ 9min 15sec
Adolphe Braeckeveldt @ 9min 18sec
Marcel De Mulder @ 11min 6sec
Alphonse Devreese (Peugeot-Dunlop) s.t.
Ettore Milano (Bianchi-Ursus) s.t.
Maurice Bloome s.t.
Angelo Menon (France Sport-Dunlop) s.t.
Edouard Klabinski (Mercier-Hutchinson) s.t.
Albert Sercu (Bertin-Wolber) s.t.
Emile Vanderveken (Starnord-Wolber) s.t.
Albert Ramon (Bertin-Wolber) s.t.
Albert Dubuisson (Rochet-Dunlop) s.t.
Alfredo Pasotti @ 11min 47sec
Nello Lauredi (Helyett-Hutchinson) s.t.
Antonio Bevilacqua (Wilier-Triestina) @ 13min1sec
Roger Decock (Alcyon-Dunlop) s.t.
Antonin Rolland (Rhonson-Dunlop) @ 13min 22sec
Ferdy Kübler (Tebag) s.t.
Roger Queugnet (Peugeot-Dunlop) s.t.
Eloi Tassin (Dilecta-Wolber) s.t.
René Walschot (Dilecta-Wolber) s.t.
Henk De Hoog s.t.
Pino Cerami s.t.
Fermo Camellini (Elvish-Fontan-Wolber) s.t.
Raphaël Géminiani (Métropole-Dunlop) s.t.
José Beyaert (Helyett-Hutchinson) s.t.
Jean Rey s.t.
Roger Duquesne s.t.
Wim Van Est (Garin-Wolber) s.t.
Jean Bogaerts s.t.
Serge Blusson @ 13min 56sec
Maurice De Muer (Peugeot-Dunlop) @ 14min 30sec
Jean Brun (Cilo) @ 15min 31sec
André Blin @ 16min 51sec
Robert Bonnaventure @ 16min 57sec
Etienne Tahon s.t.
Frans Gielen s.t.
Julien Van Dycke s.t.
Elias Walckiers s.t.
Roger De Corte s.t.
Albert Decin s.t.
Marcel Molines @ 18min 26sec
Jean Lauk s.t.
Henri Van Kerkhove s.t.
Marino Contarin @ 20min 55sec
Antoine Frankowski @ 21min 42sec
Jean Malléjac @ 21min45sec
Ange Le Strat @ 22min 50sec
René Janssens @ 23min 19sec
Roger Roux @ 25min 7sec
Jean Engels @ 27min 38sec
Roger Prévotal @ 28min 38sec
Paul Giacomini @ 31min 46sec
Julien Janssens s.t.
Eugène Van Roosbroeck s.t.
François Bussemey s.t.
Emile Teisseire s.t.
Serge Meneghetti @ 32min 12sec
Roger Buchonnet s.t.
Coppi’s 1950 Paris-Roubaix is considered one of the great rides in cycling history.
Legendary French journalist Pierre Chany eloquently wrote in l’Equipe the following day: “For 20 years I have watched the greatest champions break themselves here like ships on a reef. I have seen riders with the most graceful pedaling action reduced to mere tool grinding…but yesterday against the elite roadmen of his era… Fausto was sublime .
“…Fausto Coppi, the totally prodigious, has crushed Paris-Roubaix” – Jacques Goddet (French journalist and director of the TdF 1936 – 1986).
From the Campagnolo web site: “On this day in 1950, Fausto Coppi won his one and only Paris-Roubaix title with an incredible solo attack 45km from home. Before the race Tullio Campagnolo had gifted him a specially evolved version of the Gran Sport derailleur designed to excel on the brutal cobbles of ‘The Hell of the North’. Coppi is said to have hugged Tulio at the finish.”
Coppi never used that ridiculous mech again, switching to Simplex with its caged twin jockey wheel design used everywhere today. Mortified, Campagnolo saw the light and in 1952 applied his precision-engineering prowess to the caged twin-jockey wheel Gran Sport mech. This used a parallelogram action rather than Simplex’s plunger spring to move the cage. It swept the board.
The ‘P-R’ mech held sway with some time-trial devotees for a few years as it was lightweight, robust and above all. didn’t incur any drag guiding the chain. Flat time trials are one thing, but surprise, surprise, its tortuous operation never found favour in bunch racing.
As purchased July 2017
As restored 2024
Matt Newton – JE James – Argos288640Bianchi chainring: 1/8″, 48 teeth.Headset and crown.Universal
