Campagnolo Super Record Wireless

Campagnolo's Super Record Wireless is its flagship road groupset, which, as its name suggests, has now gone completely wire free, bringing an uncluttered smoothness to create what I think is one of the best-looking groupsets on the market. A tweak to the ratios also means you are getting a wide-ranging setup that aids a smooth cadence, backed up by crisp and fast shifting and powerful braking. Does that all justify it being the most expensive groupset on the market, though?

Campagnolo Super Record Wireless: Performance

Highlighting the fact that electronic groupsets are slowly becoming the norm, even on lower priced bikes, the majority of bikes that arrive for reviewing these days come fitted with such technology. While I'm a big fan of electronic shifting on the whole, the one thing I do miss when using them is the feel of the actual gear change. I know, first world problems, right?

As each iteration of the range-topping groupsets from Shimano and SRAM are released they get smoother, lighter and faster. I've no real problem with that; it's advancement, progress and I'm definitely not slating their performance.

I love using them, but for me the latest Shimano Dura-Ace is almost too light. It's so smooth and quick that the gear shift is almost undetectable. For an old-school rider like me, I miss that interaction with the shifters, mechs and chain, and I don't think I'm alone. I reckon someone at Campagnolo feels the same.

That's the best thing about this Super Record groupset – it hasn't lost its Campag feel.

There is still that mechanical interaction between your finger and the components. Considering you are using an electronic button it's impressive that there is still that feeling of connectedness between the components, in just the same way as when you were actuating a cable pull on a mechanical setup.

It's not clunky or anything like that – that mythical cable glides the chain smoothly across the cassette and chainrings, but with just enough feedback to let you know that the chain is seated, and you can keep the power going through the pedals.

The gear shifting is wonderfully crisp and fast, even when under load, with the front and rear mech offering smooth and powerful operation.

The wide-ranging cassettes and smaller than traditional chainring sizes make the groupset feel very efficient overall too. If you like to spin your legs at a specific cadence then you're going to find Super Record a joy to use.

As you'd expect from an electronic groupset there is also an app that'll run alongside it, allowing you to customise things to your preferences, keep an eye on battery life and so on.

It's not just the gear shifting that's a pleasure to operate either. The braking on offer from Super Record is also very impressive. The old cliché of power and modulation is obviously going to poke its head above the parapets here, but there is no other way to describe the performance. The callipers are very powerful and deliver it in a smooth way without ever feeling grabby, so I really can't see how lock-ups of the front wheel are achievable. Everything is also quiet in operation, with no vibration being transmitted when the rotors are cold or wet.

Overall, in terms of its performance I can't find fault with the way Super Record groupset behaves.

Campagnolo Super Record Wireless: Technical details

The groupset as you'd buy it is made up of a mixture of components specifically designed for the wireless interaction combined with others from elsewhere in Campagnolo's catalogue, like the chain, cassette, and brakes. UK distributor Chicken CycleKit has the entire groupset priced at £4,500, although if you were to buy each component listed below separately, it comes to around £4,517.

Weight-wise, on our scales the groupset comes in at 2,571g excluding brake hoses, which will add just a few extra grams. That compares well with the Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 groupset we reviewed at 2,507g (including power meter) or the 2,518g of SRAM Red.

Campagnolo Super Record Wireless Ergopower Controls

Price: £613.99 (each)
Weight: 249g (each, excluding hoses)

The first thing you'll notice is that Campagnolo has done away with the thumb shifter which, if you aren't aware, sat on the inside of the hoods.

It was used on the previous version of the electronic Super Record EPS groupset, but for this upgrade Campagnolo has gone for two buttons on the brake lever. I'll admit, initially I was a little disappointed as I used Campag on my own bike for years and loved the shifter setup. But that nostalgia was short lived. This design works extremely well, especially when paired with the great ergonomics of the new shifters.

The Super Record units still maintain that traditional shape of Campag's previous Ergopower shifters, which fit your hands very comfortably, and the shape of the carbon fibre brake lever gives you good purchase when pulling on the brakes hard, ideal on rough sections of road.

The position of the brake lever can be adjusted by turning a grubscrew with a hex key, bringing it closer or further way from the handlebar. It's a simple thing to play about with as access is from the front of the lever.

These are the main control units for the entire groupset and everything is very easy to set up by way of the power button on the inside of the hood, while another button allows micro-adjustments of the mechs and resulting chain line.

Housed within the shifters you'll find the battery compartment for powering them. They use CR2032 batteries and while Campagnolo doesn't give any specific run-times, we're talking years rather than months.

When not used for 30 minutes the shifters go into a low power mode to increase battery life (a shake of the bike wakes them back up), though you can actually turn them off by way of the power button on each unit.

Campagnolo Super Record Wireless Front Derailleur/Rear Derailleur/Batteries (Pair)

Price: £674.99/£789.99/£394.99 (Pair)
Weight: 125g/257g/72g (Pair)

Both of the derailleurs talk to the shifters via Bluetooth and the fact that the whole system is wireless means they also have their own batteries, which can be removed for storage and charging. Unlike SRAM's AXS groupsets, the batteries aren't universal, so the one used for the front mech isn't compatible with the rear mech, and vice versa. This means you don't quite get the versatility to swap them over should a battery go flat while you are riding.

Campagnolo claims a battery range of around 750km (466 miles), but obviously that depends how much you use your gears. A review bike I was using this groupset on covered 415 miles and it went back with around 33% left in the batteries.

It's not a massive range, but with a short one-hour recharge time it's easy to keep on top of and should the worst happen the rear mech has an unlock system which allows you to manually move the mech up and down the cassette. It's not just for battery failure either, it also allows you to ride home after a crash.

With no wires at all, both derailleurs are very easy to fit and pair to the shifters, and the small control buttons on the levers get the whole system set up and adjusted very quickly. The MyCampy 3.0 app allows you to tweak the whole system, as I mentioned earlier, and you can check battery life too.

The rear mech is compatible with the whole range of cassettes on offer, so no need for a long or a short cage option, and it makes micro-adjustments to give smooth running in each sprocket, depending on the chain line, to whichever chainring you are using it with.

The front mech does the same, so you don't get any chain rub even when using the extremes of the cassette, and both mechs deliver excellent shifting performance.

Campagnolo Super Record Wireless Crankset/Campagnolo Pro-Tech Bottom Bracket

Price: £929.99/£29.99
Weight: 629g (48/32T)/ 53g (BSA threaded)

With its carbon fibre construction, this is one of the best-looking cranksets on the market in my opinion, and the stiffness is very impressive too. It uses a hollow construction for the cranks to reduce weight, and you also get a titanium axle.

With this new groupset Campagnolo has taken a similar route to SRAM by reducing the sizes of its chainring pairings. Gone are the larger 53/39T and 52/36T options, with the range now consisting of 50/34T, 48/32T and 45/29T.

I find smaller-ring setups are more efficient for my riding style, as I can make full use of the cassette without the need to move out of the large chainring the majority of the time. The narrower jumps in gear changes that way, rather than swapping between rings, makes it easy to maintain a tight cadence range and I barely ever find myself in between gears, either spinning too fast or too slowly.

If you are more of a big-gear, low-cadence 'rouleur' then the smaller options may not work for you, but the 50/34T still packs plenty of gear inches when paired to the 12-speed cassette. You certainly aren't going to find it too 'spinny'.

One thing that is currently lacking is a power meter option, although Campagnolo says that it is on the way. The cranks are already shaped for the inclusion of the power meter, so hopefully it shouldn't be too long.

The whole setup runs very smoothly using ceramic bearings, and you get a good choice of crank length options: 165mm, 170mm, 172.5mm and 175mm.

Our review period wasn't long enough to really gauge chainring longevity, but they are barely showing any signs of wear, and when running high-end Campag groupsets on my own bike I've never found them less durable than any others I've used.

The groupset uses Campag's Pro-Tech bottom bracket, which is actually designed for gravel riding and racing, so there shouldn't be any issues with riding in challenging weather conditions. It's available in a whole range of fitments including press-fit and threaded. Options include BSA, ITA, BB86, BB30, BB386, PF30, BB Right and T47.

Campagnolo Super Record 12 Speed Wireless Cassette

Price: £313.99
Weight: 226g (10-29T)

To match the smaller chainring combinations Campagnolo has kept the range of its cassettes quite narrow too. Whereas SRAM offers its 12-speed options in up to a 36T sprocket, the Super Record sizes are 10-25T, 10-27T and 10-29T.

The 10T sprocket means you'll have plenty of gearing to push against at high speed, and the fact that the seven smallest sprockets have just a single-tooth jump helps you maintain a smooth cadence.

The upper part of the cassette has a maximum of three teeth between the sprockets.

As I said in the opening section, the shifting across the cassette is impressively smooth and precise, even when under load. Again, the review period wasn't long enough to gauge wear, but Campagnolo claims good resistance to wear and tear – which it would say, of course.

Materials-wise Campag says it has used a 'special steel' for the sprockets – and you'd hope it is, for £313.99!

Fitment-wise, the cassette uses Campag's latest N3W freewheel body found on all of its latest generation of wheels.

Campagnolo Super Record 12 Speed Chain

Price: £57.99
Weight: 225g

The Super Record chain is 5.15mm wide and can be linked either with a traditional pin or Campag's C-Link, a quick link that works in a similar way to many others on the market. It allows you to join and separate the chain pretty much tool free.

Campagnolo Rotor 03/Super Record Calipers

Price: £48.99 (each)/Included with Ergopower Shifters
Weight: 99g/122g (140mm/160mm)/121g (each)

Campagnolo was later than most to the hydraulic disc braking game, but it was definitely worth the wait. The performance is very smooth and powerful. I wouldn't say there are any huge differences over SRAM or Shimano's options in the way they behave, and I certainly found them easy to modulate.

The callipers have a 22mm diameter piston and they also use a metal plate between the piston and the pad to reduce vibration. They work with both 140mm and 160mm diameter rotors and are flat mount only.

I think the rotors are winners in terms of aesthetics too, and use the Center Lock standard for fitment to the hubs.

Value

When you get to this sort of price point, I don't think value for money is as much of a deal breaker as it is for lower to mid-level groupsets. Campagnolo has always kind of had that style of delivering a product to the marketplace and the price is what it is – in this instance, about £800 more than its competitors.

As I alluded to earlier, for a full groupset you are looking at £4,500, which is more expensive than Shimano Dura-Ace at £4,280, and that's with a power meter included; without it, you're looking at closer to £3,700. (You can read our full review from 2021.)

SRAM's top-end Red AXS groupset is fully wireless (Dura-Ace is partial, with the mechs wired to a single battery) like Super Record, but it, too, is cheaper at about £3,700. 

Conclusion

The only place where Super Record isn't competitive is the price. For some that'll be a deciding factor, but for many it won't be.

I love the aesthetics of the Campagnolo group, especially the carbon fibre used on many of the components, and the ergonomics of those shifters make them some of the most comfortable on the market.

As for performance, it has a completely different feel from Dura-Ace and Red in the way it shifts, but neither better nor worse. As I said in the opening section, I love the feel of the gear shifting, and in terms of performance I really couldn't find a fault. The only downside is the lack of a power meter option at the moment, if you use one.

In my opinion it's stunning to use, and while the price is high, if I had the budget to be speccing any of the top-end groupsets I wouldn't feel shortchanged by paying a premium for Campagnolo.

Verdict

Huge price, but justified by stunning performance and ergonomics