Campagnolo's Clothing Line Finally Collapses Under Its Own Weight

Back in 2003, Campagnolo, which had a storied history in the design and manufacture of bicycle parts, decided to launch a new business ... making bicycle clothing. Readers of this blog and our web site (www.campyonly.com) know that we were openly skeptical of Campagnolo's decision from the beginning.

Really exciting clothing. Not.

Our complaints were many: The clothing was expensive, and despite Campagnolo's many marketing claims, basically duplicated what was available from any number of other manufacturers (Assos, Pearl Izumi, the list goes on). Campagnolo entered a crowded marketplace with a product that did little to differentiate itself from the competition. Adding to the problem was that fact that the stuff was rather boring. Plain-looking jerseys, plain-looking shorts, plain-looking jackets ... was this the best that Italian design could produce?

On top of that, Campagnolo's clothing was hard to find. Campy Only stops in at bike shops everywhere we go, and we can count on one hand the number of shops in the USA where Campagnolo clothing was actually hanging on racks available for purchase in the past nine years.

Finally, Campagnolo combined the launch of their clothing line with a simultaneous crackdown on other manufacturers offering bicycle clothing with the Campagnolo logo and images on it. The upshot was that fans who wanted to show their pride in Campagnolo had one choice: Campagnolo's own overpriced stuff (if they could find it). Back when this was happening, we suggested on the web site that Campagnolo should look to the example of another storied company with a long history on which to base strong user support: Harley Davidson. Ride a Harley, and you have innumerable ways to show that pride. That's how you build a stronger brand, not by hoarding the logo in your own walled garden and charging exorbitant rates to get in.

So ... the news that Campagnolo is killing off this almost decade-long disaster won't bring any tears here at Campy Only. Let's hope that they take the energy that was put into designing next year's socks and devote it to improving the product line that really matters. And maybe they'll decide again to market the logo to a clothing company (or companies) that already know what they're doing in that world. Maybe.

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