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TECH NEWS

Campagnolo launch Chorus EPS electronic groupset

Third tier road groupset gets the electronic treatment, plugging the gap between Record and Athena

Campagnolo is launching Chorus EPS (Electronic Power Shift), an electronic version of its third tier road groupset, to add to the existing Super Record, Record and Athena EPS options.

Campag initially announced EPS in Super Record and Record versions in 2011, skipped Chorus and added Athena EPS in 2012. Now they’ve filled the gap.

“The Campagnolo Chorus EPS groupset takes a great deal of its DNA from its mechanical counterpart as it represents a more accessible version of Campagnolo performance, quality and attention to detail but delivers it in the laser-like precision package of an EPS drivetrain,” according to Campagnolo.

Chorus EPS comes with composite brake levers and like all the existing EPS groupsets it has a thumb shifting lever positioned on the inside edge of the shifter body. Unlike the lever on Campagnolo’s mechanical shifters, it’s angled down towards the ground so it’s easier to operate whether you’re on the hoods or the drops.

Campag say that the shifting performance of Chorus EPS is exactly the same as that of Super Record and Record EPS.

“Its extremely powerful motors are capable of producing levels of torque without rival in electronic shifting which guarantee precise and effective shifting no matter the conditions or circumstances,” say Campagnolo. “Shifting even under heavy load is no problem for the Chorus EPS transmission and mud, grime and debris have met their match against such powerful motors. With an IP67 waterproof rating on the entire system rain gear is only necessary for the cyclist, not his groupset.”

The power comes from an EPS V2 battery that sits internally within the bike frame. Campag say this keeps it safe from impact and contamination as well as improving the looks of your bike.

The two mechs look very similar to (although not exactly the same as) the existing Athena versions. We don’t have weights or prices of any of the EPS components yet, nor details on availability.

We showed you Campagnolo’s new Super Record, Record and Chorus mechanical groupsets last week, including the redesigned chainsets with 4-arm spiders. With unequal gaps between the arms, the largest gap being opposite the crankarm, they look vaguely similar to newer designs from Shimano.

Like Shimano, Campag have gone to one bolt circle diameter for all sizes chainrings.

“Gone are the days of having a dedicated bolt pattern for standard chainrings and another for compact rings and no longer will changing from traditional to compact, or vice versa, translate into the obligatory purchase of a completely new chainset,” say Campagnolo.

“The new bolt pattern allows for all three chainring standards – 53/39, 52/36 and 50/34 – to be built upon the same crankset. Changing between compact and standard is now as easy as changing eight bolts and two chainrings.”

Campag say that the new Chorus chainset is more rigid that before.

“The new design incorporates an eight bolt pattern with a spider arm design that not only holds the chainring in place by way of the bolt but also supports the chainring and in doing so, increases system rigidity,” say Campagnolo.

“In addition to completely redesigning the spider, Campagnolo engineers dedicated a great deal of energy towards a completely new crankarm that is a great deal stiffer than previous versions. Add this new highly rigid crankarm to the new four-arm spider design and you have a complete crankset that not only excels at transferring power more than any previous version but one that is also more versatile with respect to gearing.”

The newest version of the Chorus crankset will be available in 170, 172.5 and 175mm crank lengths and in three chainring configurations: 50/34, 52/36 and 53/39.

Campag intend to continue with mechanical versions of each of their groupsets rather than forcing riders to use an electronic system.

“The goal of Campagnolo is not to decide for a given athlete if he or she should choose mechanical or electronic, nor does it intend to take a stance in the mechanic vs electronic debate,” says Campag.

“EPS and mechanical drivetrains represent two different options to achieve the same goal: fantastic and race-winning transmission performance.”

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, 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 winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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16 comments

Avatar
CanAmSteve | 9 years ago
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I miss the beauty of alloy groupsets, Just sayin'

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truffy | 9 years ago
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Definitely prettier and more organic than the Ultegra Di2. And I for one prefer the look of the 4-arm crank over the 'spirograph' look of the original.

It's just a pity that their cassettes top out at 29. And no disc brakes until next year.

Shimano wins by default  2

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truffy replied to truffy | 9 years ago
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truffy wrote:

And no disc brakes until next year.

Immediately after I posted that, I started wondering how/if Formula's disk brake shifters might work with Chorus EPS. Any ideas?

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matthewn5 | 9 years ago
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That 4-arm crank is the ugliest thing since Ultegra 6700 cranks. The way they obviously had to add that fillet of carbon above the crank arm. The horrid 'styling lines' on the crank arms. Campag's classic 5-arm cranks were a thing of beauty. RIP.

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ajmarshal1 | 9 years ago
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Oh Campagnolo. Here was me thinking that I was going to manage to get my next build under £3k. They knew didn't they?

Shite, better continue saving.

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giobox | 9 years ago
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Which wiring system does this use? The one from Athena or The from Record? (in a very shitty move, campy flipped the polarity of the cables to stop people mix and matching Athena eps and record eps).

I really love that shimano have settled on one standard for all their Di2 kit.

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srchar | 9 years ago
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Is it just these pics, or does the standard of finish on the plastic/carbon parts of the derailleurs look a bit iffy?

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leqin replied to srchar | 9 years ago
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srchar wrote:

Is it just these pics, or does the standard of finish on the plastic/carbon parts of the derailleurs look a bit iffy?

google 'chorus eps' and then select images and you'll find a bigger pic of the rear derailleur over at bikerumour and in fact looking further the whole groupo looks pretty damn nice, so yes the pictures we have here seem a little iffy/anti ale~arsed imho

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WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
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You'd need to take a link of two out I've found to go from a 53/39 to a 50/34.

The Chorus looks ok. I'm still using a 2009 Centaur which is apparently a rebadged 2008 Chorus. It's perfectly good but I suppose it's like Triggers spade. The shifters and the mechs are the only original items as the cassette has been changed twice, the jockey wheels upgraded to ceramic and the chain set swapped out to a compact. A new chain every year is the answer.

Still. A cost would be nice.

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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"Changing between compact and standard is now as easy as changing eight bolts and two chainrings."

I've never had to do this job before, wouldn't you also need to add/remove a link or two from the chain, or will the rear mech take care of the slack?

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unconsoled replied to notfastenough | 9 years ago
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I used to swap between a standard and a compact on my old centaur setup (2009 I think, anyway the one just before they switched it from UT) a lot and never had to mess with the chain. Suspect it depends on the rear mech and the size of your chain (which would itself depend on the frame).

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Gordy748 replied to notfastenough | 9 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

"Changing between compact and standard is now as easy as changing eight bolts and two chainrings."

I've never had to do this job before, wouldn't you also need to add/remove a link or two from the chain, or will the rear mech take care of the slack?

Ultimately it depends on your rear derailleur. On my Centaur bike, I have the long-cage derailleur on it so swap between 50/34 and 46/36 chainrings, and between a 12 - 30 and a 13 - 26 cassette without changing the chain.

On most newer Campagnolo group sets the rear derailleur seems to be longer than the old short/ medium/ long option years. You could probably change bentween standard and semi-compact (53/ 39 to 52/ 36) or semi- to full-compact without taking links out, but I doubt you could go from standard to compact without changing chain length.

This creates a fundamental issue. With Campy's 11 speed chains removing and adding links becomes fiddly and expensive (so you'd probably want 2 chains each with a quick link).

Another fundamental issue is adjusting the front derailleur. On my Centaur bike the compact rings are between the CX ratio so it doesn't make a difference, but if I got a crank like this for my road race bike to swap between standard and compact rings then I'd have to start fiddling around with the front derailleur height.

I guess that's not so bad with EPS but on a cable setup it's a right faff.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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Yebbut, how much is it going to cost?

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pirnie | 9 years ago
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Do we know what the bottom bracket for these chainsets will be yet? Are they all going to be OverTorque, or will UltraTorque still be used?

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othello | 9 years ago
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Looks very nice, but I still don't like the 4-arm chainset (grumble, grumble)  39

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Nick T replied to othello | 9 years ago
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othello wrote:

Looks very nice, but I still don't like the 4-arm chainset (grumble, grumble)  39

Campag have done 4 arm cranks for donkeys years now, they've just done away with the hidden crank bolt.

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