Special Items

RWK bicycles specialises in finding vintage, rare and unusual parts. We enjoy looking for unusual colour forms of vintage and modern parts, as wells as matching components to a colour scheme.

We have a working knowledge of Ofmega, which was an Italian component maker that specialised in very colourful derailleurs, pedals and hubs. Have a look at the Velobase articles on the company.

On this page, there are some examples of the amazing array of coloured components from our collections so you can see what is out there.

We will be putting some of our rare and vintage components on ebay soon.

Why Ofmega? Ofmega were an Italian bicycle and motorbike components manufacturer with a rather hazy history; in that, no one seems to know when they started or when they stopped manufacturing (2006, we think). This hazyness goes to the heart of their genius. Being what is expected of an avant-guard Italian company, they had periods of sheer brilliance, followed by a slow demise into producing rubbish. Their period of excellence was from the 1970s to the mid 1980s. Many of their greatest components are now considered true classics, some of which are shown here.

Have a look at our Ofmega page here.

Hubs

The hubs shown here are all from the "Competizione" groupset. They have colour-anodised aluminium shells and are all very rare. It is known that they came in red, blue, gold and plain. There were even matching anodised pedals.

The Competizione groupset was Ofmega's second string groupo from the 1970s (Super Competizione was their best). However, as with everything Ofmega made at the time, the quality is exceptional. Even the Quick Release skewers have a feel of real quality (even the QR springs feel like works of engineering art).

Derailleurs

Ofmega made several innovative dérailleurs. Shown here are some of them:

The front row (left to right):
Mundial, Mistral (2nd generation, black), Premier.
The second row:
Mistral (2nd generation, pink), Mistral (1st generation, blue), Mistral (2nd generation, pink).

The Mistral dérailleurs came in black, white, pink, blue and yellow. They came with matching front dérailleurs, shifters and pedals (called "Sintesi"). An example of the black set can be seen in the lower left photograph.

We have a few pink dérailleurs available for sale. If you are interested, please contact us at [email protected].

In 2003, Ofmega re-introduced the Mistral range with a beautiful carbon crank. Sadly, it was their last great product before they finally disappeared in 2006.

Campagnolo (known as "Campag" to their fans) are universally recognised as the very best bicycle component makers (they also make parts for motorbikes and cars). Their components are drenched in design and manufacturing quality. Most cyclists, interested in component design and the history of cycling, dream of having a bicycle kitted out with Campag components.

Derailleurs

Campagnolo dérailleurs are amongst the very best. As is usual, defining what is great, to a cyclist, is open to question but the Campagnolo Super Record, from the early 1980s, is considered one of the greatest rear dérailleurs, ever.

The Super Record (two of the three generations are shown opposite, above) used titanium and aluminium parts, as well as having the build quality and excellence of design that would be expected of Campagnolo.

The dérailleur shown opposite (below) is the classic Record Titanium 8 speed dérailleur from the early 1990s.

The Super Record and Record ranges have remained among the very finest bicycle components known. Campagnolo's thirst for innovation has led them to be the first to make dérailleurs that can cope with 11 rear gears. They have just produced an electronic gear-shifting system and re-introduced the Super Record range.

The many colours of cycling

If you know where to look, you can find bicycle components in almost any colour. However, it takes time and patience or you could just contact us and we do the work for you.

The examples here are mostly made up of vintage components from makers like Look, Fred Salmon and Ofmega. However, many current manufacturers make great coloured components, such as Salmon,Crank Brothers and SRAM.

We can find components in yellow, red, green, blue, white, black, purple and pink. There are almost certainly more colours and we can provide access to painting and anodising services.

Alongside this, we can make wheels in these colours as well. We have access to manufacturers of coloured spokes, rims and spoke nipples, as well as hubs.