Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino has just reported that Campagnolo is set to make 120 of its 300 Vicenza-based employees redundant as part of a sweeping restructuring following three consecutive years of heavy losses, and that raises an uncomfortable but unavoidable question: where does one of cycling’s most storied brands go from here?

For nearly a century, Campagnolo has been at the heart of cycling. Its innovations helped shape the sport – quick-release skewers, an early (and influential) parallelogram derailleur, and some of the most beautifully engineered components ever to grace a bicycle.

The Tour de France? Campagnolo-equipped bikes have won it over 40 times, beginning with Gino Bartali in 1948. Compare that with Shimano’s first win: 2007 (after Lance Armstrong’s earlier ‘victories’ were voided). And SRAM only joined the yellow jersey club in 2009.

There was a time when, as a road cyclist, if you didn’t own Campagnolo components, you wanted to.

Fast-forward to today and the picture looks very different. How many new bikes come with Campagnolo fitted? Outside Italian brands, high-end custom builders and the occasional halo model, the answer is: not many. Shimano and SRAM utterly dominate OEM spec, and that dominance filters down into consumers’ upgrade paths, mechanics’ familiarity, aftermarket availability, and ultimately brand mindshare. Of course, you can build up a bike with Campagnolo yourself, but of the “big three” groupset brands, Campagnolo is now a distant third in terms of volume.

How come? At one time, Campagnolo offered groupsets at various levels (including mountain bike groupsets for a while), but it has increasingly become a high-end alternative. These days, you have different flavours of Super Record, a sprinkling of Chorus, and that’s it on the road side of things. You get gravel options too, but what’s Campagnolo’s competitor to Shimano’s CUES, for example? There isn’t one. Campagnolo has retreated from the mid-range and budget markets, turning instead toward a “sport-luxury” identity. And crucially, not much volume.

Remember when Campagnolo launched Potenza with a big fanfare back in 2016? It sat below Super Record, Record and Chorus in its range hierarchy, and was designed to be a direct competitor to Shimano Ultegra. It quietly disappeared a few years later. Record, once a proud second-tier option, is gone too.

> Campagnolo unveils new Potenza groupset + First Ride 

As an Italian brand that owns and operates a production hub in Romania, Campagnolo struggles to compete on price with brands that focus their production in the Far East (although some Campagnolo components are manufactured in Asia). It has aimed for the high-quality, high-end of the market – the prestige end – a little like Italian brands in other sectors, like Ferrari, say, or Dolce & Gabbana. But with reported losses of over €24 million since 2023, it looks like it’s simply not shifting the units required to support an operation of 300 employees in Vicenza.

There’s no question that Campagnolo still produces excellent equipment. For instance, when we reviewed the Campagnolo Super Record Wireless groupset a couple of years ago, we said that it offered a stunning performance and ergonomics… but it did cost £4,500.

Other component brands’ top-end kit is certainly expensive too – like Shimano Dura-Ace and SRAM Red –but those brands are selling a lot of far cheaper stuff in higher volumes too. That’s a big difference.

Campagnolo’s Fulcrum brand continues to develop impressive wheels and remains a significant player in the global market. In some ways, Campagnolo has quietly become a wheel company with a prestigious but shrinking groupset arm attached. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless the identity you’re trying to preserve is built on drivetrain excellence.

So, what’s next?

Campagnolo stands at a crossroads, and we’re not certain where it’s heading.

Will it re-enter the mid-range groupset market, launching a competitively priced alternative to Shimano Ultegra/105 and SRAM Force/Rival? Given production costs, the direction it has been moving over recent years, and the failure of Potenza to turn things around a while back, we really can’t see that happening.

More likely, it’ll double down on luxury: ultra-premium, ultra-exclusive, unapologetically expensive. That might preserve the brand’s mystique, but it risks shrinking its user base even further.

Campagnolo could also pivot more toward wheels. Fulcrum is strong. Campagnolo-branded wheels remain respected. Focusing on this segment could stabilise the company, but it would mean accepting a diminished role in drivetrain history.

Does cycling still need a prestige drivetrain brand? Maybe that’s the real question. Campagnolo’s plight suggests that in a world where Shimano 105 Di2 performs better than top-tier groupsets from a decade ago, where Rival AXS delivers wireless performance at mass-market pricing… perhaps the luxury for luxury’s sake market has evaporated.

A brand worth saving

Campagnolo isn’t just another component manufacturer. It’s part of cycling’s cultural fabric. The sport would be poorer without it. But admiration doesn’t pay wages, and nostalgia doesn’t fill order sheets.

If Campagnolo wants not only to survive but to matter,  where do you think it should go from here? We’re interested to hear your opinions.