Reviews

Campagnolo 75 years of Cycling Passion by Paolo Facchinetti is a very poorly written book. The aurthor in my opinion just found articles on Campagnolo and threw them together in order they occured. Not a complete history of Campagnolo. I wouldn't recommend anyone purchase.

I'm not a frothing Campy nut, but I do know a fair amount about the brand having been cycling since the mid-70s and working in a bike shop for 5 years in the 80s. I'd really hoped for more than the book delivered; I know it was important to Tullio having racers use his equipment and provide feedback, I just didn't need to know the month-by-month details of how racers would use Campy, switch to Simplex, then back to Campy in the 50s. I wanted more of the technical details about the equipment - especially from post WWII to the present; where the designs came from, what the manufacturing processes were, what decisions drove the development of the Record brakesets, Super Record, C-Record, the ill-fated Triomphe, Victory gruppos and then Campy's return to the pinnacle of component design, style, and execution with the current product lines. And as mentioned earlier, couldn't someone have found a NOS 1979 version of a Super Record rear derailleur and not the one that looked like it had been on a Gulf Coast region bike for 6 years? That said, it's a book still worth having, just know in advance that the authors didn't attain the heights of excellence that their subject has.

As good as "Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell" is, this book is bad. Indeed, the ONLY recommendation I can offer about the book is that the layout/graphic design is competent. Every other aspect -- photography, product selection, content, tone, writing -- is pitiful. As a Campagnolo aficionado, I suggest that if this book had been subject to the same quality evaluation as the namesake components, it would have been deemed fit only to paper a shop floor. Written more like an English-as-a-second-language press release by an Intern, there's endless laudatory puffery about "the genius of Campagnolo" at the expense of meat and potatoes information about the storied products. There haven't been that many generations of groups. Omitting detailed pictures and descriptions of them is unforgivable. High-end bike components are BEAUTIFUL. They are FUNCTIONAL ART. This book is not not bike porn. Even the Huret Allvit managed to redeem itself with ball-bearing pulleys. This, absent almost any redeeming qualities, is just plain bad. ...Sigh...

Is a well done job, for those who know the Campagnolo's influence in the top ranks of professional cycling.

I looked forward to the release of this book after I saw a copy at a bicycle trade show. They had two copies and I believe one of them was stolen! I waited for mine and it was money well spent. If you're a fan of the components from Vicenza, you'll want this book. A few errors don't tarnish the read for anyone but the fanatic who expected this to be the "Encyclopedia of Campagnolo" complete with Tullio's fingerprints and DNA. My only real complaint is the book was printed in CHINA! I would have gladly paid twice the price for a book printed in ITALY where they still do some of the nicest printing in the world.

Reviews

Nothing needs to be said about the quality of Campagnolo...they can't be beat in my book! But what I can say is the product was shipped immediately and the price was right! Viva Campagnolo!