Aha! maybe this is the time to finally resolve a question that has bugged me for years.
In Europe up to about 1983-ish I don't recall anything other than European manufacturers. For example, your commuter bike would have had a 3-speed Sturmey Archer gearbox inside the rear hub and your fancy road bike would have had Campagnolo (if you could afford it: they were infamously expensive).
And then out of (what seemed like) nowhere Shimano shows up with all these innovations. Index shifting, non-circular chainrings, cassette freewheels, 7-speed or more blocks.
Was there a reason that Shimano suddenly showed up in Europe with all these innovations?
Europe is big. From a German POV Sturmey Archer were exotics, and allegedly not that good compared against anything (well maintained) by Fichtel&Sachs. I don't even remember what was on my early road bikes anymore, but certain it was neither Campagnolo or Shimano.
Later on I rode Campagnolo, they were reliable and easy to maintain. Anything Shimano I cursed and avoided like the plague. Because that was sensitive shit, not good to maintain, and degraded fast. It was like it was made to be thrown away after few uses, just to save a few grams.
All that aside, this gave you a real advantage: <a href="https://connexchain.com/en/" rel="nofollow">https://connexchain.com/en/ :-) They were called different at the time, just Wipperman maybe, but didn't really matter.
You just asked your dealer for the good chains made in Solingen, and got these.
kjellsbells · · focus · HN ↗
In Europe up to about 1983-ish I don't recall anything other than European manufacturers. For example, your commuter bike would have had a 3-speed Sturmey Archer gearbox inside the rear hub and your fancy road bike would have had Campagnolo (if you could afford it: they were infamously expensive).
And then out of (what seemed like) nowhere Shimano shows up with all these innovations. Index shifting, non-circular chainrings, cassette freewheels, 7-speed or more blocks.
Was there a reason that Shimano suddenly showed up in Europe with all these innovations?
LargoLasskhyfv · · focus · HN ↗
Later on I rode Campagnolo, they were reliable and easy to maintain. Anything Shimano I cursed and avoided like the plague. Because that was sensitive shit, not good to maintain, and degraded fast. It was like it was made to be thrown away after few uses, just to save a few grams.
All that aside, this gave you a real advantage: <a href="https://connexchain.com/en/" rel="nofollow">https://connexchain.com/en/ :-) They were called different at the time, just Wipperman maybe, but didn't really matter.
You just asked your dealer for the good chains made in Solingen, and got these.