Nuovo-Chorus Barrel Adjusters for Vintage Brakes!

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Campagnolo Chorus adjusters will work with nuovo record calipers from the 1970's. However, there are a number of differences in "the look" between today's adjusters and the 1970's adjusters.

Today's adjuster bolts do not accept ferrules. They accept raw cabling.
Today's adjuster bolts have a taller top because the ferrule is built-in.
Today's adjuster bolts have a more vertical profile.
Today's adjuster bolts have two flats - large and small - vs. NR which has large only.
Today's adjuster bolts are not threaded all the way to the end.
Today's adjuster nuts don't say BREV CAMPAGNOLO on the nuts.

In this article I show hot to remove the first, second, and third differences between today's adjusters and vintage ones. This creates a barrel adjuster that is "almost" a perfect replacement for a nuovo record barrel adjuster, or a "Class-B" replacement for a suntour superbe adjuster (because a true Suntour Superbe adjuster has an O-ring covering the entire nut.)

In the first pictures, some un-modified chorus adjusters are in the middle, you can see the campagnolo bags that they come in (one per bag.) I have placed some red O-Rings on a pair of adjusters just to show someone - who might want a Class-B Suntour Superbe Adjuster - what the adjuster would look like (before modification.)

The adjuster below was my first attempt and it was not plated perfectly. After the sale closed, I fixed the plating, however, these pictures were taken before I had fixed the chrome plating, so you can see some orange (campagnolo copper) in some of these pictures.

The production process, while not secret, is laborious:

Start with a modern (2009) Campagnolo Chorus Barrel Adjuster
Use a Dremel cutoff wheel to remove the top of a chorus adjuster.
Taper the adjuster head with a dremel grinding bit and/or metal file.
Taper the adjuster head with a flap wheel.
Ream out the adjuster head to accept a ferrule.
sand with sandpaper (300, 600, 1000, 2000 grit).
Polish, and finally brush plate it with my brush plating set.
Time invested is roughly 1 hour/adjuster to do it right.

The result is an adjuster that works great and looks great in your vintage brake set. The adjuster has flats on TWO SIDES (small flat, and large-flat like a Nuovo-Record adjuster.) You have to get within 12 inches to see that it's not exactly a Nuovo/Super record adjuster, however, it IS a campagnolo adjuster so hopefully that's good enough!

I am no longer modifying these barrel adjusters because I can't get them at a decent price! I used to be able to get these adjusters 10x at a time for $6.50 each from airbomb.com (now cambria bicycles). Chrome and sandpaper materials and broken cutoff wheels probably cost me $3 per pair of adjusters to make! But now they are horrifically expensive at about $12-$15 each - too expensive to make it worth my time and effor to modify, sorry!