Vintage Components - Gnutti skewers

On this page: We have no Gnutti parts in stock at the moment. We have left the page up for its cycle history information.

Here is the set we had in stock

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The Carlo Gnutti company started in the 1920s as a small firm making parts for agricultural machines. By the 1940s Gnutti was also making bicycle parts and after the war that's what the company concentrated on. Gnutti components were of a very high quality, well-finished. They were just a notch below Campagnolo. Gnutti steel cottered cranks were slim and elegant looking. The hubs were 3-piece steel, as was standard in the post-war years.

Great pros used Gnutti components, such as Antonio Bevilacqua, winner of the 1951 Paris-Roubaix and world pursuit champion that same year.

Gnutti components were made into the 1970s, but the company seems to have ceased making bike parts and moved on to other industrial manufacturing pursuits, such as the production of diesel engine parts. The Gnutti company now has factories in Italy, India and the USA.

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Gnutti skewer set - late 1940s, early 1950s. Sold, not in stock

There are three generations of Gnutti quick-release skewers. Our set is first generation. It has an embossed note just under the "Gnutti" name: "Lic Campagnolo". These skewers were made under license from Campagnolo, which at the time still had a world-wide patent on the modern cam-type quick release. In fact, the quick-release skewer, patented in February, 1930 was Tullio Campagnolo's first great invention.

From that embossed note, we date these these skewers to the years just after the war, since patents in Italy are valid for twenty years.

The next generation of Gnutti skewers look much the same, but the "Lic Campagnolo" embossing is gone. And, I'm sure the royalty checks from Carlo Gnutti to Campagnolo were just as gone.

More than 50 years old, and still in great condition. The front (bottom in picture) skewer does have more rust than the back skewer.

Close-up of the levers. You can see the "Lic Campagnolo" under the Gnutti name in the front lever.