Campagnolo
Italian high-end bicycle-components brand recognized for precision engineering, racing heritage, and premium road-cycling groupsets.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of premium bicycle components headquartered in Vicenza. Founded by racing cyclist and inventor Tullio Campagnolo in 1933, the company developed from a small workshop into one of the defining names in road-cycling equipment. Its product systems, commonly sold as groupsets, can cover much of a bicycle’s mechanical architecture, including derailleurs, shifters, cranksets, cassettes, brakes, hubs, bottom brackets, and related controls. The brand is also an important wheel manufacturer, producing aluminum and carbon-fiber wheelsets, while extending its range into components such as seat posts and bottle cages. Campagnolo’s identity was shaped by practical problems encountered in racing. Tullio Campagnolo’s quick-release hub made wheel removal faster, while subsequent derailleur and gear-changing inventions helped riders change ratios without removing the wheel. The company’s engineering culture produced more than a century of racing-oriented innovations and over 135 patents, according to company and reference accounts. Its products became closely associated with European professional road racing, especially through the use of Campagnolo equipment by Eddy Merckx and other leading riders. The brand’s principal high-end families have included Super Record, Record, and Chorus. Over time, these groups moved from traditional mechanical systems to electronic shifting and from ten- and eleven-speed architectures to twelve- and thirteen-speed drivetrains. Campagnolo also developed notable wheel lines such as Bora, Bora WTO, and Bora Ultra WTO. Its 2020 Ekar groupset brought a thirteen-speed drivetrain to gravel cycling, broadening the company’s focus beyond conventional road racing while retaining a premium, performance-led position. Campagnolo briefly entered adjacent mobility and industrial markets. During the late 1950s it manufactured magnesium components for sports cars, including applications associated with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati. It also built chassis-related hardware for NASA satellites and supplied wheels for Ferrari Formula One cars. In 1963 it produced a disc brake for the Innocenti Lambretta TV, described in reference material as the first production two-wheeled vehicle equipped with such a brake. These activities did not displace the company’s core bicycle identity. The company faced competitive pressure in the 1980s and early 1990s as Shimano and other rivals advanced indexed shifting, integrated brake-shift controls, and mountain-bike components. Campagnolo’s mountain-bike groupsets did not establish a lasting position, and the company exited that market in 1994. It subsequently concentrated more decisively on high-end road and track cycling, introducing ErgoPower combined brake-and-shift levers, carbon and titanium components, electronic shifting, compact gearing, and increasingly sophisticated wheel technologies. Campagnolo remains a privately held, specialist brand whose reputation rests on Italian design, mechanical refinement, premium materials, and professional-racing credibility. Its recent history has included periods without representation among the leading UCI road teams, but the brand has continued to develop road, track, and gravel products and to maintain a global enthusiast and racing presence.
History
Tullio Campagnolo was born near Vicenza in 1901 and began racing in the 1920s. His experience as a cyclist led him to design solutions for wheel removal and gear changes, including the quick-release hub patented in 1930. In 1933 he established Campagnolo in a workshop connected to his family’s hardware business. The company initially produced quick-release hubs and gradually expanded into derailleurs and other bicycle parts. A major early breakthrough was the Gran Sport parallelogram rear derailleur, introduced in 1949. This design made gear changes more practical and helped establish Campagnolo as an innovative racing supplier. A front parallelogram derailleur followed in 1956, while later Record and Nuovo Record components became important benchmarks in high-level road cycling. The company’s relationship with Eddy Merckx, together with its work with Colnago, reinforced the association between Campagnolo equipment and professional racing. Merckx used Campagnolo components during his successful career and on his 1972 world-hour-record bicycle. Campagnolo diversified during the late 1950s and 1960s into magnesium parts for sports cars and other technical applications. Its activities included wheels associated with Italian performance-car manufacturers, a disc brake for the Innocenti Lambretta TV, and chassis work for NASA satellite programs. In the 1970s the company also supplied wheels for Ferrari Formula One cars. These projects demonstrated the transferability of Campagnolo’s lightweight-metal and precision-manufacturing expertise, although bicycle components remained the central business. The Super Record era of the 1970s helped define the company’s premium reputation. After Tullio Campagnolo died in 1983, the company continued to update its road and track range, including the C-Record family and the distinctive Delta brake. However, Campagnolo encountered growing competition as indexed shifting, integrated brake-and-shift levers, compact chainsets, and mountain-bike systems gained acceptance. Its mountain-bike products, including Euclid, Olympus, and Icarus, were not competitive enough to establish a durable market position, and Campagnolo withdrew from mountain-bike components in 1994. The company responded by returning its emphasis to high-end road cycling. ErgoPower levers combined braking and shifting functions, while the 1990s and early 2000s brought lighter hubs, carbon-fiber and titanium parts, carbon cranks, compact gearing, Ultra-Torque crank technology, and G3 wheel spoke lacing. Campagnolo introduced ten-speed systems in 2000 and eleven-speed Record, Super Record, and Chorus groupsets in 2008. Electronic EPS shifting followed, initially appearing in professional racing before reaching broader product ranges. In 2018 Campagnolo introduced twelve-speed Super Record and Record mechanical systems. Twelve-speed Chorus and electronic Super Record versions followed in 2019. Wheel development continued through the Bora family, including WTO and Ultra WTO models optimized for aerodynamic performance. In 2020 the company launched Ekar, a thirteen-speed gravel groupset that extended its engineering platform into a rapidly growing category. Campagnolo’s recent product strategy has combined premium road equipment, electronic and wireless shifting, carbon wheel technology, and gravel-oriented systems. The company has also experienced changes in professional-team representation. Several teams that had used Campagnolo moved to Shimano between 2022 and 2024, although Cofidis returned to the brand in 2025. The reference timeline reports further thirteen-speed Super Record developments in 2025 and a thirteen-speed Record introduction planned for 2026.
- 2026
Thirteen-speed Record reported
[1]The supplied reference timeline reports a thirteen-speed Record groupset for 2026.
- 2025
Thirteen-speed Super Record expansion
[1]Reference material reports thirteen-speed Super Record road and all-road/gravel products and retirement of the Record groupset.
- 2023
Wireless Super Record launched
[1]Campagnolo introduced a wireless Super Record electronic groupset.
- 2020
Ekar launched
[1]Ekar became Campagnolo’s thirteen-speed gravel groupset.
- 2018
Twelve-speed road groupsets introduced
[1]Campagnolo launched twelve-speed Super Record and Record mechanical groupsets and introduced Bora WTO wheels.
- 2011
Electronic Super Record used in the Tour de France
[1]An electronic eleven-speed Super Record system was used in professional competition by Team Movistar.
- 2008
Eleven-speed groupsets introduced
[1]Super Record, Record, and Chorus moved to eleven-speed drivetrains.
- 2004
Compact drivetrain introduced
[1]The company introduced a complete compact drivetrain with smaller chainrings and lower gearing.
- 1994
Exit from mountain-bike components
[1]Campagnolo withdrew from the mountain-bike components market and concentrated on road cycling.
- 1992
ErgoPower levers introduced
[1]Combined brake-and-shift ErgoPower levers gave Campagnolo a response to integrated controls emerging from competitors.
Products and positioning
Premium, technically focused, Italian-engineered bicycle equipment with strong professional road-racing and enthusiast credibility.
Premium road bicycle groupset · 1973
Super Record
Campagnolo’s top-tier road groupset family. It has represented the company’s highest level of racing-oriented drivetrain, braking, and control technology across mechanical, electronic, wireless, twelve-speed, and thirteen-speed generations.
Road bicycle groupset · 1963
Record
A historically important high-performance road groupset positioned below Super Record in the premium hierarchy. Record has served as a platform for Campagnolo’s drivetrain and braking technologies across multiple generations; the supplied timeline reports its retirement in 2025 and a thirteen-speed version for 2026.
Road bicycle groupset
Chorus
A premium road groupset positioned below Super Record and Record. Chorus has appeared in mechanical and electronic forms and was included in Campagnolo’s twelve-speed road-generation expansion.
Gravel bicycle groupset · 2020
Ekar
A thirteen-speed groupset introduced for gravel cycling in 2020. Ekar broadened Campagnolo’s addressable market beyond traditional road racing while emphasizing wide gearing, low weight, and off-road durability.
Carbon bicycle wheelset · 2018
Bora WTO
A carbon wheel family developed around aerodynamic performance and wind-tunnel optimization. Bora WTO models form part of Campagnolo’s flagship wheel business alongside Bora and Bora Ultra products.
Carbon bicycle wheelset · 2021
Bora Ultra WTO
A high-end Bora wheel line for disc-brake bicycles, introduced as an aerodynamic and lightweight extension of Campagnolo’s carbon-wheel technology.
Bicycle control system · 1992
ErgoPower
Campagnolo’s integrated brake-and-shift lever architecture. Introduced in the early 1990s, it allowed riders to control braking and gear changes from combined controls and became a significant part of the company’s modern road-cycling product language.
Brand decisions
2023
Introduce wireless Super RecordProduct launchBackground
Electronic shifting had become an established premium-road technology, with wireless controls offering simpler installation and a cleaner cockpit.
Action taken
Campagnolo launched a wireless Super Record groupset.
Aftermath
The product continued Campagnolo’s move from purely mechanical controls toward electronically controlled premium drivetrains.
2020
Enter the thirteen-speed gravel segment with EkarProduct launchBackground
Gravel cycling was expanding as a distinct category requiring broad gearing and components suited to mixed surfaces.
Action taken
Campagnolo launched Ekar, a thirteen-speed groupset aimed at gravel riders.
Aftermath
The launch extended Campagnolo’s premium component strategy into gravel while preserving its focus on complete drivetrain systems.
2018
Move to twelve-speed road drivetrainsGeneration changeBackground
Road-cycling drivetrain development was moving toward greater gear range and closer ratios, while Campagnolo’s principal competitors were also advancing multi-speed systems.
Action taken
Campagnolo launched twelve-speed mechanical Super Record and Record groupsets, followed by additional twelve-speed products.
Aftermath
The twelve-speed architecture became a central part of the brand’s contemporary road range and was later extended to electronic and Chorus versions.
1994
Withdraw from mountain-bike componentsStrategyBackground
Campagnolo’s mountain-bike groupsets struggled against stronger offerings from Shimano and SunTour, while the company’s established reputation remained concentrated in road cycling.
Action taken
The company exited the mountain-bike components business and refocused its resources and brand identity on high-end road and track equipment.
Aftermath
Campagnolo became more clearly identified as a specialist road-cycling brand, with later development centered on premium drivetrains, electronic shifting, and racing wheels.
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