Campa has shifted up a gear - the race is finally on. But it will be damn hard for the traditional Italian team to catch up with the Shimano team. The Japanese have a well-staggered range of innovative component groupsets at the start, which are regularly and consistently revised and always mark the state of the art. The Campagnolo team, on the other hand, has been in the race almost unchanged for around six years; in 2012, the Italians followed suit and retrofitted electronic variants including detailed improvements. However, Shimano countered in the same year, also upgrading from ten to eleven sprockets and pulling away again. To stay in the picture: At the moment, it looks as if the Japanese are moving further and further away towards the horizon, while the Campa-Squadra from Vicenza stands alone and without a chance in the wind. Or how should we interpret the fact that not a single one of the 24 bikes in our test of road bikes between €2,000 and €3,000 is equipped with Campagnolo components?
But Campa is not giving up yet. For 2015, the Italians have not only thoroughly and comprehensively revised the technology of their component groups, but have also reorganised and streamlined the range. For the three top groupsets Super Record, Record and Chorus, buyers will be able to choose between a mechanical and an electronic version (EPS). Below these, there are two mechanical groupsets: The eleven-speed Athena and the ten-speed Veloce as the cheapest way to enter the Campa cosmos. The Athena EPS and the Centaur have been removed from the range. Campa now offers a total of five series. To see what Campagnolo has done to become more attractive again for bike manufacturers and end customers, we took a look at the range in three places: At the very top, we take a look at the high-end Super Record groupset in the mechanical version - as a technology leader - and from the middle of the range - as a nominal competitor to Shimano's Ultegra groupset - the Chorus mechanical and electronic, as well as the new Athena.
THE TRIED AND TESTED REMAINS
The Italians have remained true to their principle - in contrast to their competitors Shimano and SRAM - of not completely redesigning all parts when revising their groupsets. Tried-and-tested components are carried over into the next generation untouched - for example, the eleven-speed cassettes and chains, which are known to be very durable. Even the skeleton brakes - whose design has remained virtually unchanged since 2007 - have only been given new pads. The electronic components of the EPS groupsets remain the same; the only new feature is a slightly smaller, frame-mounted battery with a nominal charge of 720 milliamp hours instead of the previous 950 mAh.
What is new, however, is that Campagnolo has tackled all groupsets - the most extensive revision of the range in six years. The biggest changes concern the high-end Super Record, Record and Chorus groupsets: the cranksets and the shifting mechanism including the control levers, rear derailleur and front derailleur are new. A recognisable feature of the new generation is the four-arm crank, on whose two bolt circles - one for the small and one for the large chainring - all chainring combinations can be fitted. The 53/39, 53/36 and 50/34 variants remain.
The large chainring has a complex design and a pronounced inward curvature. Four climbing aids and additional steel pins pick up the outer plates of the chain during shifting and lift them onto the teeth. This technology is reminiscent of the two-piece Shimano blades, but unlike them it is made from a single piece and the climbing aids are even more strongly moulded. The front derailleur now has an extended lever arm - also similar to the new Shimano groupsets: The operating forces are reduced, lever travel is shorter - and this is clearly noticeable: the function is top, nothing bends, even under load the blades shift extremely precisely and noiselessly; no longer a disadvantage compared to the Japanese competition, which was one step ahead here for a long time. The solid chainrings are slightly heavier, the new crank is slightly lighter - in total this means 20 grams more for the new Super Record than before.
The Chorus, on the other hand, benefits from the new design and is more than 50 grams lighter. The two-piece crankshaft with spur gearing is retained in the high-quality groupsets; in the Super Record it is made of titanium, in the Record and Chorus it is made of steel. Super Record and Record have ceramic bearings in two different qualities, the Chorus has steel ball bearings pressed onto the shaft halves. Campagnolo has its own adapters for all common bottom bracket systems for mounting in frames with different bottom bracket systems. There are also two eleven-speed cranks in a five-arm design without a specific group assignment with a 30-millimetre shaft for BB30 or BB386 bearings.
NEW TECHNOLOGY IN OLD CLOTHES
The mechanical control levers have hardly changed, at least externally, with only a grip cover with a new texture indicating the 2015 generation. The much-praised shape of the grip body and brake lever remains, as does the thumb lever, which allows up to five shifting steps with one click. The geometry of the rear derailleur has been changed so that the upper derailleur pulley now sits slightly further forwards and runs closer to the cassette. As a result, the chain grips each of the eleven sprockets better. Although this is not noticeable when riding - the shifting behaviour remains flawless as before - it should reduce wear on the chain and sprockets because more teeth engage with the chain.
For the front derailleur, two clicks on the thumb lever are now sufficient for downshifting: one for changing gears, another for trimming. The right-hand lever can still be used to change up to five gears to smaller sprockets and up to four to larger sprockets in one go. However, the cable routing has been changed - which means that the new shifting components can no longer be mixed with the previous single-speed components; at least the rear derailleur, front derailleur and lever must match. However, the combination of Super Record and Chorus parts of the same generation, for example, works - and is also approved by the manufacturer. For easier recognition, Campagnolo has introduced a marking that indicates the compatibility of the individual parts: There is now a printed, framed "A" on each of the new, matching components.
FUNCTION INSTEAD OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION
The scales show an unusual development: the Super Record, the Italian company's flagship, has become slightly heavier compared to the previous generation. Although it is only a mere 40 grams for the complete groupset, it is no longer the lightest complete groupset on the market; the challenge cup now goes to the SRAM Red. However, since weight is notoriously overrated, the crucial question is: does the Squadra Campagnolo have what it takes to catch up with Team Shimano after the retread? The answer is difficult.
The new mechanical groups are convincingly advanced, impeccably finished and inspiringly aesthetic. However, important aspects are missing in order to catch up with the competition. Campa has fallen behind, especially when it comes to brakes. This applies not only to the new technology of disc brakes; Campa still has nothing to offer here, but there are still more than enough road cyclists who reject this trend. In recent years, Shimano and SRAM have also come up with a number of ideas to significantly improve braking power, modulation and ergonomics, especially when it comes to classic rim brakes. Record and Super Record offer too little progress for top groupsets, the Chorus is too expensive as an Ultegra alternative. In any case, it remains damn difficult for Team Campa to close the gap to the Japanese.
INDIVIDUAL WEIGHTS AND GRADES
The final scores show how close the groups are to each other. The higher groupsets benefit slightly from the lower weight, the lower ones from more durable wear parts. The electronic EPS groupsets only have a slight advantage in terms of shifting behaviour, but are significantly heavier.
