Wondering what a set of unfinished and/or refinished 14" (7.5" x 14") Original Campagnolo Wheels would go for, without rubber. Ideas? Thoughts? Brett
I was pleased to sell my set last year for $400. Bought by a fellow in Australia who was prepared to spend another $800 for shipping.
That's pretty much what I paid for last year for a nice set (that still needed to be refinished) from California. Shipping was very reasonable at 125$. It seems like many folks want to upgrade to larger (than original) sizes.
The differential between the two sounds right. I had my Cromodora's refinished earlier this year for approximately $700.
All these numbers sound right, the lowest I have paid for a single 14" was $65. Matched sets are obviously "worth more"....
+ a lot more for repainting to perfection. The really early Campagnalo wheels are very rare as they were such an expensive option in period. There are very few 308's here that came with them as a result.
I was surprised how many sets I found that were mismatched. I ended up buying about 20 wheels to get a set of 5 plus 2 "reserves" of the early Campagnalo's. There are FIVE distinctly different types of 14 X 7.5' wheels used on 308's. I ended up with a matched set of 4 Cromodora 7.5's that I sold for $2000.
Wheels are actually very expensive to get done properly. There is a lot of prep work which is very fiddly on complicated shapes like wheels. Often 30 year old wheels are in poor shape which means even more prep before painting. If the prep isn't done correctly the end result will be rubbish, the finish may deteriorate over time, or worst of all the wheel can be ruined. A common approach is to media blast the wheels which are pretty soft. The result can be severe pitting of the surface. Once the high magnesium content wheels are stripped (sanding is best), they need to be under-coated immediately as the metal reacts with the air. They can then be painted at a later time if necessary. Then there are the correct "Campagnalo 7.5' " stickers at $100 a set or so. And then there is the risk that the wheel will be useless before you even start. Remember these things are as much as 35 years old and have seen a lot of use. You should always run them up on a machine to make sure they are have no run out or flat spots. They might be cracked............or porous with age. Given all of the above, proper refinishing is a lot more expensive than $700. Here you are looking at $200 to as much as $450 PER WHEEL.
I think many of them had an undersized spare.....or maybe they have simply been jumbled around with the passage of time.
Variety of reasons I think. I doubt most people would even pick some of the different types apart. The Euro cars all had the space saver spare. The Oz cars all had the same size including the spare. Not sure what the USA had?
Powder coating is cheap; but the paint is too thick and I have never seen the right colour on powdercoated rims.
Some years ago but i bump up the thread to ask what value is up to date? Is there a price difference between the 7.5 Cromodora and the 7.5 Campagnolo?
Well the Campys are definitely lighter than the Cromodoras(approximately 400-500 grams lighter per wheel-I have weighed them). Slight difference in the design as well(in terms of the lines of the inner section of the wheel around the lug holes) , and Campys were the first on the 308 so overall I think they are probably slightly more desirable. Price will also depend on condition of course.....
