February 2001:  Because of the snow and cold, today (28 degrees F) was the first day I could get out on the Trek in a week (although I have been riding my 1987 Masi on the indoor  trainer). I hardly used the rear single pivot brake (I looked at the old 2000 record rear brake and it has almost no wear after 6000 miles, but over that distance the front pads are half gone).

Road Test/First Impressions: 2001 Record rear single pivot calipers 

The 2001 Record rear is smooth, but doesn't seem to have all the finesse of the double pivot (perhaps it is because the springs are not as beefy...it really is a throwback to the original Campy brakes). The new version also looks a lot better than the original Campy single pivot brakes which were really a makeover of the 1960's Weinmann, etc., side-pull brakes. However, Campy certainly makes a good point that the double pivot is overkill for the rear wheel (both stopping power and weight), so expect to see them be a trend setter (i.e. for other Campy gruppos and ShimaNo). Unless you are a fanatic about gram weights and have to have the latest model/technology, stay with the 2000 double pivots (they're on closeouts now). I'll keep you posted of my longer term impressions as the year goes by.

Some personal history: I've been riding Campy Only Record brakes since 1970. The best I've ever had are the 2000 double pivot set, and the worst ever were the the 1987 Record C Deltas. Although the Delta model was cool looking, relatively easy to adjust, and in theory should have been great, they were not only heavy but were really fatiguing to use (I also had installed the special Campy composite pads). By comparison the double pivots require just a light touch with a consistent feel through light to hard braking. I won't ever part with my 1996 Record double pivots on my tandem where the power is a necessity (I don't have a disk brake). 

Road Test/First Impressions: 2001 Record Cranks (180 mm) 

Just a quick comment...I've ridden 165 Campy cranks on the track, and 170, 172.5, 175 and now 180 mm cranks on the road. I'm not really sure after all that whether or not the longer cranks have helped me on the climbs here in New Mexico but I like to think that they do simply on the basis of increased leverage. However, I know that my rpms have gone down with each increase in crank length (and for serious road sprinting/criteriums I wouldn't use anything over 172.5).

That's it for now.