Ridley Helium SL celebrates Campagnolo's 80th anniversary

Ridley will produce just 80 specially painted Helium SL's built with Campagnolo's 80th anniversary Super Record groupset, pictured above. Italian component manufacturer Campagnolo celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, and launched a special edition Super Record groupset to mark the occasion.

They even threw a big party last week. Our Mat was there mingling with some champions who raced on Campagnolo during their careers, including Eddy Merckx,  Miguel Indurain, Felice Gimondi and Mario Cipollini.

For this limited edition Helium SL, Ridley have produced a special paint scheme to match the super exclusive groupset.  A sleek black base colour with red accents across the frame and fork is a subtle finish, and one that nicely matches the groupset. Just 80 bikes will be built with the 80th anniversary Super Record groupset, which alone costs £2,599. The complete bike will cost €8,999.

It almost seems a shame to remove the groupset from the collector's case (below), complete with words and photos from their history of cycle racing. Functionally the new groupset is identical to regular Super Record, and is available in mechanical only (not electronic). 

Campagnolo did go to great lengths to develop new finishes that should keep the components looking good years down the line - a new humid-state micro sanding finish for the carbon fibre components and a new opaque finish on the aluminium parts. Even the application of the logo has been tested to ensure it doesn’t wear away with hours of riding and cleaning. So it really has been designed to be used and not kept on a mantelpiece.

The groupset is a claimed 1,862g while a Helium SL frame hits the scales at around 800g, so we can’t see the complete bike being much over the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit - although that weight limit is probably of little concern to potential customers, which is a shame because when we rode it we first it a frisky and entertaining ride.

Ridley have specced the matching 50mm deep-section carbon wheels too, which weigh 1,310g. They use their G3 spoke lacing pattern and the hubs have oversized flanges and CULT cup and cone bearings inside.

The chances of seeing this bike out on your local roads are slim to none. And the cost? Well if you have to ask, it's going to be €8,999. Better starting saving then...

www.ridley-bikes.com