Wander Cambio Gambato Special Road Bike 1950s

The roots of the Wander brand lie deep in history, however the very beginnings were quite humble. In the first years of the 20th century, Emilio Garlatti was one of those who have recognized the true potential of a bicycle as a serious way of transportation as well as a leisure activity. In 1909 he started to repair the bikes of the "Bersaglieri", the light infantry troops of the Italian army. Soon, his business grew big and later he opened a larger manufacture in Parma, which carried a production of all kinds of bicycles including the top level racing models.

The Wander brand was born in 1950s, when Emilio's son Alvise took over the business and carried on on the footprint of the original Garlatti company. Just like before, Wander bikes were offered in a broad palette of models and we are proud to offer you one of the finest of them.

Our Wander is a true racing bike of the highest grade. Its geometry is quite modern for a 50s bike with relatively short wheelbase and you can see on every detail that the craftsmanship is top notch. No wonder, Garatti factory produced the Riviera model for Cinelli in the same factory in Parma after all.

This bicycle is special not just because it preserved its original condition, but also for the outstanding equipment and shifting in particular. It is fitted with very rare Gambato shifting. Marcello Gambato was a gifted engeneer who designed some most advanced derailleur machanism at the time. He also cooperated with Tulio Campagnolo, who was granted one of this patents. Here you can see a rod operated shifting mechanism which can resemble Campagnolo Cambio corsa or rather Paris Roubaix derailleurs. But while the Campagnolo system was solving the problem of changing chain tension according to different freewheel sprockets by sliding the whole wheel in the rear dropouts, requiring an extra lever or a very complicated mechanism, Gambato shifting is beautifully simple. It uses just one lever and the chain is kept in the right tension by two pulley wheels just like we know it nowadays. That means you don't need to pedal back like by Campagnolo in order to change gear, you can just pull the lever and let the chain engage.

The rest of the equipment is certainly less exotic, yet equally fine. From the Gnutti crankset, through Magistroni bottom bracket, universal brakes, Nisi rims, Fratelli Brivio hubs to F.N. Bologna saddle, it is an array of the best Italian parts.

A fascinating bicycle which will be an enrichment of any collection.