Unsure of the differences between Chorus and Record? This detailed overview of the Campagnolo groupsets should explain a🍸ll
(Image credit: Graham Cottingham)
Founded in 1933 by Tullio Campagnolo, the quintessentially Italian cycling brand began after Campagnolo himself conceived a number of innovations while racing. Such ideas included the humble quick release and the derailleur, which we take for granted toda♎y. Campagnolo’s continual desire to improve and innovate cemented the company as one of the pioneers in the sport.
Today, Campagnolo holds its position as an aspirational, premium brand, manufacturing a range of road and time-trial components, namely groupsets and wheelsets, a🐟s well as a collection of performance-orientated clothing𒁏. It's still active at the top tier of road racing as well, though not nearly to the degree it once was.
The Italian company has a dedicated gravel offering, the 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:13-speed Ekar groupset, which bri🌄ngs Campagnolo's archetypal ethos of style, durability and performancꦍe to the burgeoning gravel bike market.
Ekar is cable operated, but Campagnolo has also updated its 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Super Record EPS electronic groupset, which now operates wirelessly. Un✅like Shimano Dura-Ace and SRAM Red AXS, there's still a mechanical option for Campagnolo's top spec groupset though, albeit the now previous version of it.
The ultimate in performance, but with a hefty price tag to match
Specifications
RRP: £4,499
Shifting: Electronic w/ Multi-Shift
Braking: Disc
Speeds: 2 x 12
Weight: 2520g
Cranks: 165mm, 170mm, 172.5mm, 175mm
Chainrings: 50/34T, 48/32T, 45/29T
Cassette: 10-25T, 10-27T, 10-29T
Reasons to buy
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Performance, adjustability
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Aesthetics
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Easy set-up
Reasons to avoid
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Price
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No thumb lever for the purists
Campagnolo's latest version of its 12-speed electronic groupset, which is currently only available at Super Record spec, has gone completely wireless. Like SRAM electronic groupsets, it uses a battery mounted on each derail🤪leur to power the shifting, although unlike SR🔯AM, these are not swappable - there's a different battery shape front and rear.
The bigger news is that Campagnolo has dispensed with its thumb shifter, in favour of two shifters mo👍unted behind the brake lever, positioned above and꧃ below each other.
Again like SRAM, it's shrunk the cass✃ettes, which now start with a 10T smallest sprocket rather than 11 teeth. This in turn has allowed Campagnolo to reduce chainring sizes and still offer a wide range with cassettes that have a 10-29T as the largest spread. The cassettes need a C💙ampagnolo N3W freehub body on your wheels.
🐭Despite the s🔜maller components, Super Record Wireless is slightly heavier than its predecessor at just over 2.5kg.
The groupset is also disc brake only, with Campagnolo having ported over its already excellent disc brakes from the grou🅷pset's predecessor.
Another part that hasn't changed in spec is the crankset, which is made from carbon fibre with a titanium axle, whi♊ch uses Campagnolo’s Ultra-Torque system, essentially locking together the two halves of the axle in the centre with a single bolt.
The wholeꦺ groupset is IP69K waterproof rated, meaning it can withstand being p💖ressure washed. The shifters feature reach adjustment, although unlike Shimano Dura-Ace and SRAM Red AXS, there is no adjustment of brake lever free-throw.
The 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Super Record Wireless groupset also includes Bluetooth and ♛ANT+ connectivity, allowing you to configure it and access diagnostics via the MyCampy app and interface to cycling computers.
Campagnolo Super Record
A world-class road groupset, more gear range and a sleek design
Reasons to buy
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Performance
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Aesthetics
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11-speed Campagnolo freehub compatible
Reasons to avoid
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Price
The Campagnolo Super Record groupset was the first 12-speed groupset to hit the road cycling world. With it came a newly designed direct-mount rear derailleur, an updated 12-spee🌊d specific front derailleur, a new hollow carbon fibre four-arm crankset, updated shifter and flat mount disc brakes.
Campagnolo Super Record 12-speed features Ultra-Shift technology, which enables you to perf💯orm three downshifts (to larger sprockets) with a single throw of the lever, and five upshifts (to smaller sprockets) with a single press of the thumb-actuated lever - more than any of its mechanical competitors. You’ll still feel each individu🔯al click and subsequent shift, so there’s little chance of shift uncertainty. The option to trim the front derailleur position enables a smooth chain line and prevents chain rub, handy when cross-chaining.
The 12-speed cassette allows a wider gear range without creating gaps elsewhere on the block. The 6 biggest sprockets are made up of two triplets, whi🐬ch were each machined from a single block of steel, increasing stiffness. Set-up and modification is simplified by having just one rear derailleur option that will accommodate all available cassettes, complemented by the four-arm chainset with a single BCD (bolt circle diameter) for all three chainring configurations.
The Ergopower levers come with Campagnolo’s Vari-Cushion rubber hoods which improve grip in all weather conditions. Using a small hex-key scr🐈ew behind the brake lever, you can adjust the free-throw to ensure a comfortable ride for all hand sizes - a feature which is available down to Chorus level.
Campagnolo Record
Top-end mechanical shifting, saving money but with a few grams of added weight
Reasons to buy
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11-speed freehub compatible
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Super Record performance
Reasons to avoid
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Price
Launched at the same time a🌠s the Super Record 12 speed mechanical groupset, Record is functionally very similar, but the difference in chosen materials - namely the omission of some titanium and carbon fibre - means it carries a bit of extra weight, whilst being a less expensive proposition.
Record borrows its cassette, chain and disc brakes from Super Record, meaning i🎉t gets the same 11-29, 11-32 and 11-34 tooth sprocket options, the same narrow 12-speed specific chain, and the AFS centre-lock rotors with a safety♐-inspired rounded external edge. It also includes ergonomically designed shifters with VariCushion hoods, which are designed to provide a secure grip in all weather conditions.
In redesigning the Record chainset, special attention has been paid to better cope with cross chaining and shifting during pedalling dead-spots. However, when compared to Super Record, the Ultra-Torque axle is steel rather than titanium, which adds 90 grams, and it relinquishe🌌s the low-friction ceramic bearings.
Campagnolo Chorus
The most affordable route into 12-speed Campagnolo road groupsets
Reasons to buy
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Choice of gear range
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Price
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12-speed range
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11-speed freehub compatible
Reasons to avoid
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No 53/39 chainset option
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Weight
The first thing you notice with the Chorus groupset is the different choice of gearing options, with Campagnolo omitting the 53/39 standard chainring configuration in favour of a 48/32, and the third cassette option of 11-34 being added to the customary 11-29 and 11-32. Chorus looks set to bring 12-speed to the masses, especially those who enjoy a bit of un💎paved adventure.
Chorus 12-speed is a mechanical groupset with a choice of hydraulic disc and mechanical rim brakes, offering both dual-pivot aཧnd direct-mount calipers for the latter, an📖d takes on a similar aesthetic to 12-speed Record and Super Record. Most of Chorus’ components are specific to the lower-spec groupset, besides the disc brakes and rotors, which are shared with its more premium stablemates.
In order to bring the cost down, the materials used tend to shy away from carbon fibre and titanium, in favour of aluminium and steel, although the cran💦kset still benefits from a carbon fibre layup, retaining stiffness and providing weight savi🔴ngs.
While Chorus forgoes the ability to adjust the hydraulic brake levers’ modulation, it does retain its ergonomic refinem🍸ent, meaning lever reach can be amended as per your preference - perfect for those with smaller hands.
Campagnolo Centaur 11-speed
Campagnolo Centaur provides 11-speed shifting for rim brake bikes at a pocket-friendly price
Reasons to buy
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Budget-friendly
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Campagnolo look and feel
Reasons to avoid
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Rim-brake compatible only
Centaur is Campagnolo’s entry-level groupset. It is an 11-speed,😼 rim-brake-only 🌱mechanical groupset, available in both black and silver colourways. It is an example of how technology can trickle down from the more expensive offerings, providing great functionality at a more affordable price.
Centaur’s shift levers are made from plastic reinforced with carbon fibre, while the brake levers are aluminium. The rear derailleur’s design enables Centaur to be compatible with cassettes up to 32 tee✅th, removing the need to choose between short- and long-cage variants.
Centaur🔜 provides a ch☂oice of compact (50/34) or semi-compact (52/36) cranksets, with crank lengths ranging from 170mm to 175mm. There are three cassette configurations, which are 11-29T, 12-32T and 11-32T. Finally, Centaur is available with either standard or direct mount brakes.
Rubber hood material while grippy is rough on hands
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No integrated left-hand gear shifter dropper post actuation
Campagnolo's 13-speed Ekar groupset offers im✱mense benefits for gravel riders. The Italian component brand used extensive rider research to evaluate what gravel bikers need. In Campagnolo's comprehensive rider survey that totalled 4,500 gravel bike owners, durability and gearing range were identified as the most desirable attributes of any gravel drivetrain, with aesthetics and double-chainring compatibility deemed nonessential.
These rider-generated preferences served as a reference for Campagnolo’s industrial designers and engineers, as they set about creating a dedicated 1x13 Ekar system. Although aesthetics were not a rider priority, Campagnolo’s Italian heritaꦕge has delivered a 1x13 gravel bike drivetrain that is both robust and pleasing on the eye.
There's also novel 13-speed shifting, with cassettes starting with 9 or 10 teeth and heading up to 44 te⛄eth in the largest sprocket offering the wide range that gravel riders need.
Campagnolo has also redesigned its thumb shifte♈r, so th𒁃at it's a bit easier to access if you're riding less smooth terrain.
Josh is Associate Editor☂ of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since t🦩he summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, b💧ut he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
