Campagnolo Components

Italian bike components

Campagnolo are an Italian bicycle components manufacturer founded in 1933 by racing cyclist Tullio Campagnolo.

Campagnolo are best known for their road bike transmission components, although many significant innovations in bicycle design have come from within the Campagnolo headquarters in Vicenza - with quick release hubs and skewers being just one of them.

Today Campagnolo produce a wide range of components for road, triathlon, track and cyclocross bikes. Campagnolo also founded the Fulcrum brand which produce wheels for both road and mountain bikes.

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Campagnolo is the longest standing groupset manufacturer and has been innovating cycling for over 80 years. Many riders have a romantic notion of the Italian company thanks to its longevity and reputation for high-end products. The vast majority of work still takes place at Campagnolo's headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.

Campagnolo has five groupsets but enters the road market at a higher price point than SRAM and Shimano. It's rare to see a Campagnolo groupset on a budget road bike, but very common on high-end Italian road bikes and expensive bespoke creations.

Campagnolo levers feature curved hoods to improve ergonomics and unique shifting, a single lever behind the brake lever is used to go to an easier gear, while a small thumb lever on the inside of the hood is used to go into a harder gear. This design makes it virtually impossible to mistake an upshift for a downshift and vice versa. It's also said to allow easier access to shifting while in the handlebar drops and covering the brakes.

Below is a brief description of Campagnolo's groupsets.

  • Veloce: Veloce is the entry-level groupset for Campagnolo but is similar to Shimano Tiagra or 105 and SRAM Rival and has recently been replaced with a new 11-speed entry-level groupset called Centaur. Veloce means 'fast' in Italian, which indicates it leapfrogs the recreational or fitness bike and jumps straight into performance road bikes. Even at this entry level, the Veloce levers feature 'POWER-SHIFT' which allows you to upshift three sprockets at a time. Veloce is a 10-speed groupset option that comes in a short or medium cage derailleur to cater for 29T large sprocket. The crankset comes in either a compact 50/34 or traditional 53/39 set-up with limited crankset lengths of 170, 172.5 and 175 mm.

  • Centaur: Centaur replaces Campagnolo's long-standing 10-speed groupset, Veloce, with plenty of enhancements and modern touches. The new groupset is now 11-speed, has a wide gear range capacity, cranks that fit all chainrings, two different finishes and even wheels to match. The groupset is a lower cost version of the mid-range Potenza with the stylish looks of more fancied Campagnolo groupsets Chorus, Record, and Super Record. As the Centaur is targeted at recreational and entry-level cyclists, its chainrings options include the traditional compact 50/34 and the popular semi or mid-compact 52/36, paired with a choice of 11-29T, 11-32T, and 12-32T cassettes.

  • Athena: Athena is Campagnolo's first 11-speed groupset but was replaced with the new 'Potenza' groupset at the end of 2016.

  • Potenza: Potenza is an Italian noun for power, intensity, and strength and is the new mid-range groupset that replaces Athena and competes against Shimano Ultegra and SRAM Force. Potenza features a four-arm crank and re-designed front and rear derailleur to improve shifting. While the Potenza features resemble Chorus, Record and Super Record, a mix of alloys are used throughout the groupset to cut down costs. The introduction of an 11-32 cassette is a welcome addition and requires a change in rear derailleur geometry to accommodate the larger range. The new design allows owners to fit compact (50/34T), semi-compact (52/36T), and standard (53/39T) chainrings to the same crankset.

  • Chorus: Campagnolo describe Chorus as 'the perfect solution for sophisticated cyclists searching for Super Record performance at a more competitive price'. That price is still likely to be on bikes in excess of $5,000 with high-grade carbon fiber featuring throughout the groupset. Chrous has the regular chain ring options; 53/39, 52/36, 50/34, but still only the three crank lengths; 170, 172.5, 175 mm.

  • Chorus EPS: Chorus is the first groupset in Campagnolo's range to have the option of electronic shifting known as 'EPS' (Electronic Power Shift). EPS allows the rider to make adjustments on the fly, the "mode" buttons allowing riders to check battery charge, make fine adjustments to the rear or front derailleur, and set the zero position of the rear and front derailleur.

  • Record: Record is a professional quality groupset despite having one groupset sitting above it, and is comparable to Shimano Dura-Ace. Record combines carbon fiber and high-quality alloys to create a groupset that is lightweight, provides impeccable shifting and looks stunning.

  • Record EPS: The electronic version of the already elite Record groupset. At this level it is possible to 'manage your bike fleet and personalize the way your Record EPS groupset works inline with your preferences ' via the 'MyCampy App'. You can even add the information gathered from your shifting habits to your usual riding metrics like power, speed, heart rate and distance.

  • Super Record: As previously mentioned, Campagnolo have been innovating for over 80 years, trying to push the limits of performance and with their elite performance groupset, they think they've found it. The Record groupset was already so good Campagnolo could only come up with one name for a groupset even better, 'Super Record'. Campagnolo describes this as, 'the maximum evolutional and technological expression of a mechanical drivetrain for bikes'. The differences between Record and Super Record are minor, mostly based on the inclusion of titanium and ceramic bearings, which further decrease weight and improve efficiency. Super Record is for elite cyclists or ones without budget restraints.

  • Super Record EPS: If Super Record is for 'elite cyclists or ones without budget restraints', Super Record EPS is even more so. The absolute top of the tree when it comes to groupsets, Super Record spares no expense or design innovation to create the ultimate groupset.