Somec Supercorsa

SOMEC (Società Meccanica) was founded in 1973 in Conselice, near Ravenna, by the mechanics Oliviero Gallegati, Pierino Scarponi and Giuliano Montanari. At the beginning, the workshop concentrated on making frames for professional use only and selling them to customers in the area. However, word quickly spread that the craftsmanship of this forge was of very high quality, which is why the first international trade fairs led to sales abroad. The varnishing and pantographs were also very important to Somec, which is why the talented frame painter Mario Marini personally painted each individual frame between the 70s and 90s, making them unique.

The Campagnolo Super Record groupset was the ultimate derailleur of its time. All sorts of strange claims were made: the aluminum was some kind of super special alloy, the black anodizing was some kind of super special coating, etc. The truth is a little more banal. The aluminum used is exactly the same alloy that was used on the Nuovo Record. The black anodizing is - wait for it - black anodized. The real technical differences were the use of exotic material for the two large Allen bolts and a larger "flange" on the pulley cage. The derailleur feels good in the hand, has a timeless look and feels valuable simply because it was once so absurdly expensive. It's hard to define what makes a classic, but whatever it is, the Campagnolo Super Record has done the job.