No, It Ain't So!!

Responding to the rumors flying around (see our post down below), Campagnolo officials have now confirmed that the company is not for sale and has not been sold. More here.

Seems that their spokesman's cryptic comment of a day or so ago--"I am not going to give you an official answer on this, as this is not an official matter inside the company"--needed to be expanded upon just a little.

So rest easy, Campy fans. You won't be riding Super Dura Ace anytime soon.

A New Crankset for the Campyonlyguy

This past weekend, we swapped out the alloy Record crankset on our custom Richard Sachs for a new carbon Chorus Ultratorque version. Once again (we have Ultratorque on our Rivendell Road) we were pleased with how very easy the Ultratorque cranksets are to install. Once the Record crankset and bottom bracket (square taper) were removed, it took less than ten minutes to install the new crankset. (Note: Campagnolo is very emphatic about using a torque wrench on the bolt that holds the two halves of the crankset together, warning of injury or death if it isn't installed correctly. Yes, we did use a torque wrench, which every home mechanic should have in their toolbox.)

Performance is also improved--the new Chorus UT crankset has much less flex than the Record. Sprints that used to result in chain rub on the front derailleur don't anymore, and the bike seems to accelerate faster (at least it feels that way).

Tour Winner Wasn't Riding Campagnolo

Remember the good old days, when Campagnolo-equipped riders stood atop the Tour de France podium year after year after year? Those days are long gone (blame Shimano-using Lance Armstrong for that), and this year brought another non-Campy winner in Alberto Contador.

Campy fans can take some solace in the fact that Contador's Trek used components that at least looked like Campagnolo (and is wasn't ShimaNO). His ride was equipped with SRAM's "Red" gruppo, which features levers that look very much like Campagnolo's but work very differently. More info and photos here.

Campagnolo Sold??

Rumors are flying that Campagnolo (a privately held company) has been sold. No word on who the buyer is (if the sale has in fact taken place), but one web site quoted a Shimano spokesman as saying that they were not involved.

We're Back!

The Campyonlyguy recently completed an epic ride: 1,120 miles with more than 50,000 feet of climbing in 11 days of riding. The ride was Wheels North, a fundraising ride from Santa Rosa, CA, to Seattle, WA, that retraced an historic 1909 ride. Information on the ride is here: http://www.wheelsnorth.org and http://wheelsnorth.blogspot.com

Coming up is a Campy-equipped double century next weekend, another in September, and a series of brevets next year. 2011 will bring the next edition of Paris-Brest-Paris, a ride that we completed on a fixed gear bicycle in 2007. For '11, we'll be riding a Campy-equipped bike with gears.

See you on the road!

Campagnolo at the Tour de France

A great guide to who's riding what is available online here. Check it out and then root for riders who use our favorite stuff.