Campagnolo looks set to retire its Record groupsets, leaving a hole in the Italian firm’s line-up that I, as a long-time Campagnolo rider, will mourn.
According to a report by Escape Collective, the Record name is being retired after 62 years, with Chorus becoming Campagnolo’s second-tier option, behind the flagship Super Record groupset.
The Record name is synonymous with the storied Italian brand, dating back to 1963 when Campagnolo brought out the Record (1020) rear derailleur, representing the pinnacle of racing technology at the time.
It has since been usurped at the top of the tree by Super Record, for which the first components were introduced in 1974.
Record was last updated in 2018, when it went to 12-speed in both rim brake and hydraulic disc brake guises. Since then, Campagnolo has launched Super Record Wireless and Super Record S Wireless.
Escape Collective reports there were first whispers of Record’s demise on The Paceline, a US-based buyers' forum, where users were complaining about the difficulties of purchasing a groupset. Campagnolo has now all but confirmed the retirement of Record in an email statement to the publication:
“Certainly, the market needs and interest in wireless groups lead Campagnolo to rationalise the production dynamics and to reposition our range of mechanical groupsets in a more refined way, maintaining Super Record and Chorus”.
That statement very much suggests Record is going the way of the dodo – let’s analyse what this means for the brand.
A quick recap of the hierarchy
Until 2023, it was pretty straightforward to understand the top of the Campagnolo road bike groupset hierarchy.
- Super Record
- Record
- Chorus
Super Record sat at the top of the tree – the no-expenses-spared groupset that used the very best materials to show what Campagnolo is capable of.
Record sat underneath it, using a virtually identical design albeit with a slight weight penalty.
Then, there was Chorus, which Campagnolo claimed was positioned between Shimano Ultegra and Dura-Ace in terms of quality. Many riders got on board with that sentiment, with Chorus often being touted as the best Campagnolo groupset due to how it balances (relative) value with performance.
Below Chorus, though, was a movable feast – Xenon, Mirage, Veloce, Centaur, Athena and Potenza have all occupied various levels in the range over the last 15 years or so.
But that all changed in May 2023 when Campagnolo released Super Record Wireless, which saw the brand cast out rim brakes and controversially ditch the iconic thumb shifter.
When Davide Campagnolo, grandson of founder Tulio, introduced Super Record Wireless at the media launch, he referred to the groupset as the pinnacle of ‘sport-luxury’.
The sport-luxury market is what Campagnolo has been targeting ever since (at least on the road), with Super Record S Wireless released in September 2024, as a slightly ‘cheaper’ $4,299 groupset with a minimal weight penalty over Super Record Wireless.
Campagnolo’s Super Record, Record and Chorus 12 groupsets have also remained listed in the range on the brand’s website, as well as the most recent incarnation of Centaur, launched in 2017. Bizarrely, Super Record 12 EPS (the electronic pre-cursor to Super Record Wireless) also remains listed, meaning the brand appears to offer three versions of an electronic Super Record groupset alone.
Until now, Campagnolo hasn’t uttered a peep about its plans for its mechanical groupsets, but they’ve remained available for purchase, suggesting the brand is still manufacturing them.
Why I’ll lament Record 12’s loss
There’s no doubt, then, that Campagnolo needs to simplify its range, even if Campagnolo Record 12 is a top-performing groupset.
When Super Record and Record 12 launched in 2018 (with Chorus following a year later), they arrived at a time when both Campagnolo’s competitors, Shimano and SRAM, had paused on innovating their top-end mechanical groupsets.
Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 had launched in 2016 and was still at the height of its circulation, and SRAM released its murdered-out black edition of Red 22 soon after Red eTap launched in 2015. The groupset was largely identical to the original Red 22 that launched in 2013, only with a few technical revisions and a cosmetic facelift.
I’m lucky enough to run a Campagnolo Record 12 groupset on my Pinarello GAN K – I was so impressed with the groupset’s quality that I included it in my Gear of the Year 2022 round-up.
The shifting is brilliantly precise and the hoods oh-so-comfortable, with the carbon crankset a work of art. And then, there’s the hydraulic disc brakes, which I’ve sung the praises of in many of my articles over the years.
To all intents and purposes, the rim-brake variant of Campagnolo Record 12 was similarly luxurious, with many praising the smaller hoods (that didn’t need to house a hydraulic reservoir) and the quality of the dual-pivot ‘Skeleton’ brakes.
Super Record S Wireless is Record in sheep’s clothing
However, while I’ll mourn the loss of Record 12 (as I know many others will) – and the retirement of the fabled Record name – there’s a clear reason for what may initially seem like a moment of Campagnolo madness.
Super Record S Wireless is very much the Record equivalent to Super Record Wireless – a very similar groupset, albeit with a slight weight penalty (which is what Record always was).
The weight differences between Super Record S and Super Record Wireless are very marginal – there’s some material differences with the rear derailleur as well as a different outer cage plate design, and the carbon crankset is of a solid rather than hollow construction.
On launch, the brand claimed the Super Record S groupset has only a 150g weight penalty over Super Record Wireless – distinctly similar to how Record has always been pitched against Super Record.
So why hasn’t Campagnolo just kept the Record moniker? Would it not make sense to create a simplified and slimmed-down groupset hierarchy once again, with a single Super Record groupset and a single Record groupset?
That approach would seemingly make sense, but Campagnolo has firmly planted its flag in that sport-luxury market, and seems to be doubling down here by removing Record from the equation altogether.
After all, if you’re going to be running a road bike groupset that’s worth £3,526 / $4,299 / €3,990 on its own, as is the case with Super Record S Wireless, you hardly want it to be ‘second-tier’.
By having the ‘Super Record’ name plastered on its components, it gives them more of a premium aura.
But I also think this is a concerted effort from Campagnolo to forge a different path – which may or may not be the right one – and it’s had to ditch some of the semantics of the past in the process.
The Wireless ecosystem is very different from its legacy offerings, and so it should stand apart in terms of its structure.
Where is Chorus Wireless?
With Record disappearing, and Super Record S only hovering below the ultra-premium Super Record Wireless, it’s baffling that Campagnolo hasn’t released a true second-tier groupset yet.
We’re still waiting for a true second-tier competitor that can duke it out toe-to-toe with Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8170 and SRAM Force AXS – a portion of the groupset market that’s hotly contested.
This is where a hypothetical Chorus Wireless comes in – an electronic version of Chorus would undoubtedly appeal to a wider audience, not just the sport-luxury market, and give Campagnolo a larger market presence.
This wouldn’t be the first time an electronic Chorus level has existed – the 11-speed variant had an electronic EPS version and a Chorus Wireless groupset (or equivalent) would help the brand attract a wider base of riders.
As for my Record 12 groupset, you’ll have to pry what is likely to become a highly desirable relic out of my cold, dead hands…
