Tullio Campagnolo

Gentullio (Tullio) Campagnolo (26 August 1901 – 3 February 1983) was an Italian racing cyclist and inventor who patented the quick release skewer, as well as founder of the revered bicycle component company Campagnolo.

Many of cycling's greatest champions have used Campagnolo components, including Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, Eddy Merckx (Merckx was a close friend of Campagnolo and became an iconic symbol of the company), Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain and Philippe Gilbert.

Campagnolo was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1901 to a middle-class family, and began his tinkering of inventions at his father's hardware store. In 1922 Campagnolo began his amateur cycling career. He was an avid cyclist winning many races, such as Giro di Lombardia, Milan-San Remo and several Olympic heats.

While racing through the Italian Dolomites on 11 November 1927 with freezing weather and snow, he lost the race due to a wing nut he could not remove to change gears. The title that was lost at the Croce D’ Aune Pass encouraged Campagnolo to develop the quick release wheel locking mechanism. This quick release skewer, which is in use and famous today, enables a bicycle wheel to be removed and re-attached quickly, and was the first of his many inventions from his father’s Vicenza workshop that he is well known for.

Tullio Campagnolo was one of the greatest legends in bicycle component invention and manufacture. During his life Tullio Campagnolo applied for many patents, and many design registrations (some of these were not in the field of bicycles, or bicycle parts). His designs were extremely influential, and very widely copied. Several companies produced items that were nearly identical in design, but consumers preferred the original as a status symbol, and as a guarantee of quality. In 1930, he patented the cam mechanism quick-release skewer that became the standard for the industry, a design still used today. In 1933, the first quick release hubs were produced by Campagnolo. Also in 1933, he patented the sliding hub, dual seatstay rod-operated, back-pedal derailleur, ultimately known as the 'Cambio Corsa'. In 1949, he introduced the 'Gran Sport' twin-cable, parallelogram rear derailleur at the Milan trade show, the first modern derailleur.

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