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TECH NEWS
2022 Campagnolo rear mech patent - 1Is a 13-speed Campagnolo road groupset on the way?
What will Campagnolo release to the market next? Back at the start of the year, we’d have put money on the Italian component company launching a new groupset in 2022. Peak launch season has come and gone and we’ve seen nothing yet, so what’s going on?
It has been ages since Campagnolo launched a new top-end road groupset. The current incarnation of Super Record EPS (with electronic shifting) was introduced in early 2019, a year after the mechanical version.
Campagnolo launch Super Record EPS 12 Speed groupset
Campag did launch its 13-speed Ekar gravel groupset in 2020 and there have been new EPS-compatible time trial brake levers and wheels this year – plus work has been done on a motorised hub – so it’s not like the R&D department has been twiddling its thumbs, but three years is about the usual lifespan of a top-end groupset before an overhaul.
Just for context, in the time since Campag launched Ekar, Shimano has launched Dura-Ace Di2, Ultegra Di2, and 105 Di2 groupsets.
Granted, Campagnolo doesn’t play by the same rules and Covid has delayed loads of product launches, but you’d expect something new about now. Beyond that, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Campag has been busy behind the scenes.
We ran stories in December 2021 and again in April this year telling you about Campagnolo’s power meter patent applications.
Is a Campagnolo power meter getting nearer?
In short, the documents suggest that Campag is developing its own power meter system that's integrated into a chainset. That’s not news, but we’ve yet to see anything resulting from this. 
Loads of patent applications are made – and patents granted – for products that never make it off the drawing board. We’d say, though, that Campag can’t be satisfied with its groupset customers needing to go to third-party brands for power measurement, so this one is a distinct possibility. In fact, we’d go further and say we think this is going to happen.
Would that power meter be released as part of a revamped Campagnolo Super Record groupset? Who knows? Campag has never released a power meter before so we have no history upon which to make a judgement, but it’s certainly a strong possibility.
More evidence that Campagnolo is planning something new comes in the shape of a patent we told you about a couple of months ago that appears to show an Ekar rear derailleur fitted with a battery. 
At present, Ekar – Campagnolo’s gravel groupset – is available only with mechanical shifting while the brand’s EPS (Electronic Power Shift) system – now found only on Super Record – relies on a central battery; the individual components don’t have their own batteries. The picture of a battery on a rear derailleur suggests a move towards a wireless system.
Is Campagnolo planning a wireless groupset?
This Campagnolo patent focuses on the rear derailleur’s damping device designed to prevent unwanted cage movement that would affect chain tension over rough roads, and one of the drawings shows what looks like a removable battery that’s clipped in place.
Again, this doesn’t prove anything but we’d be surprised if Campagnolo didn’t soon offer an electronic version of Ekar. Shimano and SRAM both offer electronic groupsets for gravel riding so it seems logical that Campagnolo would want to do the same.
Ever more road bikes are being made these days that are compatible only with electronic shifting and this situation could extend into the gravel market. Assuming Campagnolo doesn’t want to limit its appeal, it needs to offer an electronic version of Ekar at some stage, so we’d say that the battery-powered rear derailleur shown in the patent mentioned above has a good chance of becoming a reality.
If that is the case, then a road groupset using similar technology would seem likely. Why develop a wireless system for gravel but stick with wires on the road, especially with SRAM having been wireless for years and Shimano now offering semi-wireless systems?
Campagnolo also has a recent patent for an “actuator device for a bicycle gearshift system” – part of a derailleur – that contains an adjustable elastic element (for example, a torsion spring) that can be set “to elastically yield only if the stress discharged onto the elastic element is greater than the predetermined stress threshold value.”
The idea is to absorb impacts due to the bicycle falling, for example, or when it is loaded on and off vehicles to prevent damage. This patent relates to a motorised derailleur.
Okay, there’s a lot of supposition going on here but, looking at what we know Campagnolo has been thinking about, we’d say that an electronic – probably wireless – version of Ekar is in the works, and a new version of Super Record – probably wireless – is on the way too.
Beyond that, what form is new Campagnolo Super Record likely to take? Well, current Super Record (above) is 12-speed while Ekar is 13-speed. The obvious change would be for Campagnolo to make the most of the R&D work it has already carried out and give Super Record an extra sprocket.
You could argue that 13-speed is more valuable in a 1x (single chainring) system than in a 2x setup where the double chainset means there aren’t such big jumps between ratios. That’s not the only consideration, though. Apart from anything else, going to 13-speed on the road would be a point of difference between Campag and its major rivals. More is better in the marketing world, right?
Also, Campagnolo introduced its N3W freewheel body standard in 2020 to allow the use of 13-speed Ekar systems and, unusually in the bike industry, it was backwards compatible, taking cassettes all the way down to 9-speed.
N3W has the same groove profile as the classic Campagnolo freehub body but it’s 4.4mm shorter. It is directly compatible with new Campagnolo cassettes with 9- and 10-tooth starting sprockets, and to make it compatible with cassettes with 11-tooth starting sprockets, you just use an N3W ring. This means switching Super Record from a 12-speed to a 13-speed system could be relatively painless in this respect.
In terms of shifting, Campagnolo systems are controlled by two levers: a lever behind the brake and a thumb lever on the inner face of the Ergopower control. Some people find this thumb lever difficult to operate from the drops on Campag’s road groupsets whereas the curved and slightly moved Ekar lever used is more accessible.
When he reviewed Campag Ekar for us Matt Page said, “The new position makes it much easier to shift when in the drops than I've found with the road groupset offerings; it is a feature I find very ergonomic and I hope Campagnolo might consider using it for its road groupsets, as for me there is no downside.”
Maybe this design, or a form of it, could transfer over to the road.
Would Campagnolo ditch rim brakes at the top level? It would be a harder decision than for Shimano because Campag has long been the traditionalists’ choice. We’d guess that they’ll remain for the time being.
Of course, what comes next from Campagnolo doesn’t necessarily have to be top-level. The Record, Chorus or Centaur mechanical groupsets could get a revamp, but we can’t see currently 12-speed Record or Chorus going to 13-speed before Super Record. Campag couldn’t very well have a 12-speed flagship groupset with 13-speed lower down the hierarchy. That would just be weird (although Centaur going from 11-speed to 12-speed wouldn’t create an anomaly).
Plus, electronic groupsets are where all the action has been over recent years – it’s where the market is heading – so it would seem brave and/or nuts for Campag not to be focused in this direction. Second-tier Record was available in an EPS version but isn’t any longer – and there was an Athena groupset available in an EPS version, which no longer exists in any form. Campagnolo can’t be content with a single electronic road groupset when Shimano and SRAM each offer three.
This all contributes to our thinking that a new electronic version of Super Record or Ekar is the obvious next step for Campagnolo, with that technology eventually trickling down through the range.
When? Well, this is Campagnolo we’re dealing with. The brand famously releases new components only when it is fully ready. This year? The mechanical version of Ekar was launched in September 2020 so it’s not impossible that we’ll see a launch later in 2022. On the whole, though, we’d say spring 2023 is more likely. Of course, we’ll let you know if we hear any more rumours.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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27 comments
Having run Ekar for a good few months now, I can understand the desire to move to an electronic shift set up. The set-up sensitivity on the cable system makes it super hard to get the gear shifts nailed.
I can also understand why wireless on a 1x, having an internal battery just doesn't make sense.
I'm generally on board for this, however I do think back to a ride in the summer with a chap on GRX di2. He was pretty paranoid about damaging his rear mech in the knarly stuff, and I really enjoyed not having that fear. Making the rear mech 3x as expensive is a little off-putting!
Shifters will use Ekar style upshift levers.
13 speeds, utter madness, aimed at overweight, too-wealthy targets of the cycling industry, and nothing to do with real cycling. Why doesn't Road CC call out this nonsens...BECAUSE THEY ARE A PART OF IT, helping the industry part people from their money. Not really interested in sport at the ground level where we are trying to attract youngsters into cycling. You muppets are turning a cheap, simple and glorious sport into an expensive, complicated middle class cake eating pursuit to replace golf, where a key essential is a flashy motor in the car park.
U ok hun?
If you don't want expensive shiny gadgets, you don't have to buy Campagnolo at all; you can get a much cheaper 10-speed groupset from SRAM or whoëver.
But the people who buy the expensive shiny gadgets are funding the R&D and the investment in tooling for things which constantly flow down over the years and become cheap mass-market bike parts. Otherwise your youth project would still be using downtube shifters and maybe wooden rims.
In your experience, are you completely sure that 0% of youngsters are attracted to shiny new tech?
Please tell us the acceptable maximum number of sprockets on a cassette so that everyone is informed enough to partake in "real cycling".
Cassette? You get two - one on each side of the wheel - and be grateful for the luxury!
...says the poster wearing a TT helmet & visor. Proper entry level...
I wonder how many youngsters are put off cycling by the fact that there are very expensive groupsets available, which are not actually compulsory to buy, compared to the number who are put off by the presence of crusty old buggers in the clubhouse grumbling that eight speeds is enough for anyone, carbon fibre is just plastic and won't last, and indexed gears are only for people who haven't got the skill to cope with friction shifting and will never be as accurate (I was actually told that last one by a self-styled "elder statesman" when I got my first SIS-geared bike in 1986!)?
The benefits of trickledown technology are abundantly evident in the fact that a bike easily good enough for entry-level racing can be picked up for not much more than £500 new and for less than £200 secondhand. If you can't explain well enough to your youngsters that that is all they need that's your problem, not the fault of someone who decides to treat themselves to something nice for their hobby.
P.S. There's only one qualification for being involved in "real cycling", which is that you get on a bike and ride it.
One barrier to junior racing is the limit on gearing, which is a well-intentioned protection of young riders' knees I guess. Equipping a bike with said gearing isn't easy as standard chainsets and cassettes are out. You can either move limit screws to restrict the gears in use (potentially turning your 2x10 into 1x7, or hunt around for uncommon parts at significant cost.
My child lost interest in racing before I could get the parts.
Campag has lost its luster. Chasing more gears which results in ever more finicky shifting and faster chain wear is not a win in my books. The ratios between successive cassette cogs is sufficiently small even on 11 spd that I have never been found wanting an additional gear (or two).
Campag can't out-innovate sram and shimano when it comes to electronic groupsets, that train has long left the station.
What it can do instead is to keep producing lightweight attractive mechanical groupsets for rim and disc brakes.
Starting from Campag Chorus 11 speed, add compatibility for wide-range cassettes (up to 11-34) and sufficient clearance for 32 mm tires for the rim brake version.
Thing is I'm no Campy fanboi - but I'm not sure anything you say in the first 2 paragraphs is true. How is Ekar not more innovative than anyone else? How is launching EPS the exact same time that Sram launched AXS (2 years before Shimano did 12 speed DI2) not innovative?
What a load of nonsense.
The thing is, "chasing more gears" has been Campagnolo's USP for a few decades, and it's worked, even as they lag behind other manufacturers on other innovations. I'd agree that Campagnolo have long had problems with innovation; but back in the 1990s, Campag headsets might have been nasty and their belated imitation of Shimano's brifters might have had poorer ergonomics, but lots of riders lusted after 9-speed cassettes and it kept Campagnolo sales relatively healthy.
Campag's primary innovation, in plain sight, is decades of engineering in carbon fibre. Carbon is the material of choice for all performance framesets, groupsets and wheelsets. And for the same reasons. Not hokey aluminium from the 1990s, sprayed black. Try googling 'instagram thanksshimano'.
But Campag is at its most beautiful when it is fully shiny.
"Just for context, in the time since Campag launched Ekar, Shimano has launched Dura-Ace Di2, Ultegra Di2, and 105 Di2. " Really? Ekar, if I rember correctly was introduces in late 2020 whereas Dura Act DI2 was aroud 2008/9 and I was riding (and had given up on) Ultergra Di2 around 2015 so how can these have been launched since Campag released the Ekar?
Not sure if you are being pedantic but the reference is obviously to 12 speed versions of DI2. Not sure Shimano being a johnny come lately to the 12 speed party makes the point the writer thinks it makes though.... Red AXS launched in Feb 2019 and EPS in Mar 2019....
Campy launched 13 speed Ekar in Sep 2020 before lazy boy Shimano launched a 12 speed road gruppo in Aug 2021. Just sayin'
Personally I think 10 speed was the sweet spot.
The drive to more gears results in more expensive, thinner, quicker wearing drive chain.
Remember when megapixels was everything to cameras before we all realised that it wasnt the only factor affecting pictuire quality.
Rohloff purveyors of stupidly robust hub gears who gave up making virtually indestructable non-wearing chains (SLT-99) at 8 speed rather than compromise on robustness for 9sp and above.
There's an argument to made that they were right to do so.
I'd love to see an electronic derailieur that could auto-trim.
Two reasons for that:
1. Less to setup and less maintainence (although existing electronic groupos are pretty set and forget).
2. You could run any speed cassette with it. i.e. someone gives you a spare 11 speed wheel in a race and it just works even though you use 13 speed normally.
Other than that I don't think anyone's really come up with a proper solution to rubbing disc brakes yet. They're still a pain in the arse if you have to take your wheel on or off.
Do you mean a Campy mech that can auto trim?
I think he means a rear mech that auto trims.
I mean a rear mech, from any manufacturer, that doesn't need to be set up with regard to how it centres itself under the sprockets on the cassette.
i.e. A mech that can detect where its sprockets are are move appropriately.
Just set limit screws and let the electronics do the rest.
I love Di2 but this is still a pain and something that limits groupset compatibility.
Limiting groupset compatibility is likely one good reason why this infinite adaptability is not offered by any manufacturer. As soon as the rear mech can adjust to any cassette, bang goes your upgrade sales. You can buy it as a third party add-on however, have a look at the Archer components electronic shifter.
Thats a huge ask though. If it was at all easy it would have been done by now.
Are you basing that on a technical reason that you know about or just working backwards based on the what's on the market right now?
It's just that an electronic rear mech looks somewhat like a servomotor and servomotors provide torque feedback as they move that can be used for edge and collision detection.
So the mech moves from one end of the cassette to the other recording the feedback profile and then use that to calculate the layout of the cassette. e.g distance between sprockets.
You'd obviously need to take care the jockey wheel clearance and deal with chain tension. I wonder if you could measure both with a strain gauge and then just limit movement to within a safe range.
I'm sure there's better ways to do it, I'm just speculating outloud. The real point is that once you've got the expensive stuff (servos, battaries, etc.) it's not a huge jump to make it do extra, clever stuff.
If the late Mike Burrows taught us anything about bikes it's that we should question every assumption.