Campagnolo
Campagnolo is a Italian manufacturer of bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. These components are generally organized and sold as groupsets intended to be supplied as a near complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts.
Founded by Tullio Campagnolo, the company began manufacturing in 1933 in a small Vicenza workshop. The founder was an accomplished bicycle racer in Italy in the 1920s and he conceived of several innovative ideas while racing which later turned into revolutionary cycling products, such as a quick release mechanism for bicycle wheels and the patented "rod" gear for gear shifting. Gino Bartali made a strong impression as he won mountainous races while using this shifting system.
Despite having lagged behind in the development of integrated shifters in the mid-1980s, Campagnolo took the time to redesign the Ergo shifters which are still used today. In contrast to Shimano's approach in miniaturizing parts and adding complexity to the design, Campagnolo instead invested in material engineering to differentiate their products. This results in a simpler design with discrete parts which are theoretically more easily serviced.
The late 1990s and early 21st century saw Campagnolo start using carbon fiber parts in their groupsets, and the development of complete wheelsets. In 2004 Campagnolo pioneered the development of a complete compact drivetrain system, to ensure smoother and problem-free shifting albeit at higher costs. There are rumors that Campagnolo is developing an electric shifting system.
Campagnolo focuses exclusively on road cycling and track cycling. Its primary competitor, Shimano in Japan, produces both road and mountain bicycling components. Campagnolo sponsors many top racing teams in the UCI ProTour, such as Illes Ballears, Cofidis, Lampre Caffita, Saunier Duval-Prodir and Liberty Seguros-Wurth. Campagnolo is often associated with the victories of Eddy Merckx, who had a close personal relationship with Tullio Campagnolo himself and used Campagnolo almost exclusively throughout his professional career.
Current groupsets
Listed in approximately descending order of price and quality:
- Record
- Carbon crankset
- Aluminum crankset
- Chorus
- Carbon crankset
- Aluminum crankset
- Centaur
- Carbon crankset
- Aluminum crankset
- Veloce
- Mirage
- Xenon
- Record Pista for track use (with aluminum crankset)