Campagnolo are introducing a new Over-Torque chainset and bottom bracket system with wide stance bearings and a 30mm axle. Campag reckon that this, along with a redesigned crankarm, results in a 5% increase in rigidity over their current top-level Super Record chainset. There’s also a reduction in weight, so they say that the weight-to-rigidity relationship is 10% higher than before.
The idea is, according to Campag, “Not only to push the limits of both rigidity and weight but also to come in a format that adapts in a more efficient manner to frames with oversized bottom bracket designs.”
And there are plenty of those out there these days.
In terms of weight, Campag say, “The new design in the Comp Ultra version weighs in at nearly 54g less the previous lightweight offering from Campagnolo. At 563g the Comp Ultra represents a new low-weight benchmark for its class and when considering its rigidity and capability to transfer power efficiently is perhaps the new quality standard for oversized bottom bracket cranksets.”
Campag are keen to point out that they’ve not sacrificed durability here. They say that they Over-Torque chainsets were tested and validated at fatigue levels more than 10 times higher than required by regulations. They also say that they’ve corrosion tested the components beyond the standards used in the automotive industry, and that they’ve developed and patented new production processes and treatments to guarantee the quality and structural reliability over time.
The new Over-Torque technology will be available in two different chainset versions: the Comp Ultra 11s with a weight of 563g and the Comp One 11s that weigh 605g.
Both versions are available in 53x39, 52x39, 52x36 and 50x34 chainring configurations, with the option of crank lengths of 170, 172.5 and 175mm in each configuration.
Both chainsets are designed to work with 68 (width) x 42 (shell inner diameter), 68x46 and 86.5x46 standards and have corresponding bottom brackets for each version - so, pressed in versions are available and an outboard threaded version.
Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for eight years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.