Campagnolo has introduced the new Super Record S Wireless groupset, a second-tier electronic groupset that offers “greater affordability”, a wider range of gears and just 150g more weight than the flagship Super Record Wireless. Priced at over £3,000, it promises to deliver comparable performance for considerably less cash, and is still a “Special Edition” product so we’re told.
It’s been over a year since the release of Campagnolo’s Super Record Wireless electronic groupset, priced at a whopping £4,499 when it launched. At the time that meant the Italians only had one electronic groupset in its road groupset line-up, retaining 12-speed Super Record, Record and Chorus in its mechanical range (and 10-speed Centaur). Now there’s a second-tier 12-speed electronic groupset, Super Record S Wireless, with the ‘S’ standing for Special Edition.
According to Campagnolo, Super Record S Wireless is built on “high-quality technology, attention to detail and extreme precision inherited from the successes of the Super Record Wireless”. It embodies Campagnolo’s ‘Dream Bigger’ ethos, which emphasises standing out from the crowd. It could be argued that increasingly this is what being a Campagnolo user is about nowadays, with the brand not currently being used by any WorldTour pro teams and Campag components now much less common than in years gone by on ‘off-the-peg’ bikes from retailers.
The Super Record S groupset offers the same functionality as the higher-tier Super Record Wireless, meaning the thumb shifter prevalent on previous Campag groupsets for multiple generations is once again switched out for paddles tucked underneath the brake lever.
The carbon crankset is not hollowed out like on Super Record Wireless, adding a claimed 150g and bringing the total weight of Super Record S to approximately 2,670g. This is lighter than Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 groupset at 2,710g and SRAM’s Force AXS at 2,896g.
The new groupset features a matte black finish, which Campagnolo claims can eliminate reflections and highlights its focus on combining sleek design with functionality.
Wider range of gears
Campagnolo is renowned for its innovative gear ratios, and with Super Record S Wireless, the brand has widened its range of gears to offer more transmission combinations. According to Campagnolo, this is designed to meet the needs of cyclists of all levels.
The carbon crankset is available in six gearing configurations, adding three new combinations to the existing 50-34, 48-32, and 45-29. The S version introduces 54-39, 53-39 and 52-36 options.
The crankset is also compatible with Campagnolo’s spider-based HPPM power meter.
A welcome addition to this groupset compared to the flagship Super Record Wireless is the new 11-32t cassette, which joins the current 10-29t and 10-27t options. That said, there’s still some way to go before they’re matching Shimano and SRAM when it comes to gearing choice, with SRAM Force providing up to 10-36t and Ultegra going up to 11-34t; although by our calculations, Campagnolo’s 45-29t chainset paired with the new 11-32t cassette will offer a lower bottom gear.
> Do wide ratio cassettes for lower gears have any place on performance road bikes?
Despite the wider gear ratios, Campagnolo says it still offers precise and reliable technology with “rapid up- and down-shifting with an extremely smooth and fluid progression of gear development to guarantee a constant cadence in every situation”.
As this is a wireless electronic groupset, that means you need to charge it somehow. It appears to use the same batteries as on the top-tier Super Record Wireless, which means they are detachable but not interchangeable between the front and rear mech.
> Should you run a 1x set-up on your road bike?
The groupset also features ‘Made-in-Campagnolo’ technologies, such as the Ultra-Torque system for power transmission, lever customisation, LED interface for visible battery status and compatibility with the MyCampy 3.0 app.
What about 1x? Unlike it’s move to 1x for gravel with its 13-speed Ekar offering, Campagnolo has always been firmly in the ‘no’ camp for single chainring configurations on road bikes, and it seems unlikely this will change any time soon. The Super Record S Wireless groupset is very much a road groupset and 2x only, but who knows what the future holds.
Pricing and availability
The Super Record S Wireless groupset is available now, and is priced at $4,299/€3,900. This converts to around £3,300, although Campagnolo’s UK distributor is quoting a price of £3,525. This makes it around £1,000 less than Campag’s top-tier Super Record Wireless groupset.
Campagnolo describes this as “a very competitive price”. However, for comparison, Shimano’s second-tier Ultegra Di2 12-speed electronic groupset has an RRP of £2,399, and SRAM’s Force AXS is priced at £2,290. Still, Campag always boasted that its Record offering of old was actually comparable with top-of-the-range groupsets from the competition, such as Shimano Dura-Ace, and Super Record was in a class of its own; so a groupset with the Super Record branding priced a fair bit lower than Dura-Ace at recommended retail price would represent good value, if you buy into Campag’s claims that its products are superior.
We’ve no word on full bikes available to buy with the new groupset in the UK, and we’d speculate that any appearing at major retailers in large quantities will be unlikely, but we’ve asked Campag’s UK distributor anyway. This would be the obvious route to essentially getting Super Record Wireless S at a significant discount over the RRP, as we’ve observed recently with the launch of Cube’s new Attain that is priced at just a few hundred pounds more than the Ultegra Di2 groupset it is sold with; however, full bikes built and sold with Campagnolo are increasingly a rarity at major retailers nowadays.
Bora WTO wheels
With the launch of the Super Record S Wireless groupset, Campagnolo has also updated its Bora WTO wheelsets, extending the matte design to these models.
The Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO Matt Edition and Bora WTO Matt Edition are only available for disc brake bikes, with prices starting at $4,149/€3,800/~£3,200 and $2,949/€2,700/~£2,250 respectively.
You can get further details on Campagnolo’s website.
7 thoughts on “Campagnolo launches new second-tier Super Record S electronic groupset offering “greater affordability”… and it’ll still cost you over £3,000”
Doesnt the 45-29 crank with
Doesnt the 45-29 crank with the 11-32 give lower gearing than anybody else and pretty good for gravel and give a 2x option instead of Ekar, albeit for the price of 2 Ekars?
Ratios could be good, but no
Ratios could be good, but no clutch in the rear mech. I wouldn’t want it off road.
Well, arguably technically
Well, arguably technically yes compared to pure road groups, but then it’s not really a relevant range in the road riding market. It’s 1% easier than a Sram 46/33, 10-36 combo but 11% slower than what is already a full compact at the other end.
For gravel it’s then notably worse at both ends than a stock GRX 12sp 48/31, 11-36 – which itself gives up a lot on the low end to a typical GRX 12sp 1x or Sram mullet or XPLR setup.
I’m not sure about the move to dilute the Super Record name with a second tier group either, though I guess it’s because the shifters and mechs are identical with a different finish. Oddly on the Campag website the S derailleurs are claimed ~30g each lighter than the originals, though I think it’s a with/without battery discrepancy.
“It’s 1% easier than a Sram
“It’s 1% easier than a Sram 46/33, 10-36 combo but 11% slower than what is already a full compact at the other end.”
True, but the trade-off for that high range with the SRAM 10-36 is more gaps in the small end of the cassette. I don’t love the 15-17 gap, and I would absolutely hate the 13-15 gap. I’d give up some top end to fill those without giving up the climbing capacity. This new Campy option (45/29 crank with 11-32 cassette) delivers single-tooth steps from 11-17 and a low gear well below 1:1. Can’t get that with SRAM or Shimano, even if you mix and match road and gravel cranks and casettes.
45/11 is still enough gear to pull 30mph/50kph with a cadence in the mid 90’s. I rarely need to pedal faster than that.
But it’s a moot point if this gearing doesn’t make its way down to something in the Ultegra/Force price range
I don’t get the fuzz about
I don’t get the fuzz about the price. It’s still a top-tier group set and as the articles itself states Super Record S is price wise on the same level as the top group sets from Shimano or SRAM.
And at least for the mechanical version I would say that the Super Record always was a few notches above DuraAce. I can’t speed for electronical as I only riden the mechanicals.
Campagnolo must still be
Campagnolo must still be thriving but I’m not how they pay the bills at the moment
Ekar and wheels, I imagine
Ekar and wheels, I imagine