Product Description
This is a rare 1970's and early 1980's shifter and chain holder from the Campagnolo Nuovo Record Porta-catena 1013/6 downtube shifter system. It's largely a standard friction shifter, but the lever has a flip lever which shifts the derailleur onto the chain holder to make removing the rear wheel easier/quicker. This was designed for racing situations where changing your wheel quicker than the next rider wins the race. It's also helpful for general riding and wrenching. Many frames with Campagnolo dropouts from this era have one or two little holes in them identifying it's made for Porta-Catena shifters and chainrest. Its a great way to identify the age of a frame when these are present.
The Porta Catena only relates to the rear shifter, and thus it uses a standard front shifter (not included)
There is a lot of mystery around the Portacatena in the bike world, as it's just kind of wonky. Helpfully, portacatena translates from Italian to "Chain Holder".
Condition
Chain holder is new in retail package. Shifter is new old stock, though it looks like it was installed once via the lightest cable marks in the groove.
