Confirmed: This IS the Ugliest Campagnolo Gruppo Ever

Campagnolo has confirmed that next year's gruppo upgrade will feature what is possibly the ugliest crankset ... nay, the ugliest single part ... ever produced by Vicenza.

Here's a photo from the official press release.

Campagnolo calls this "fresh and cutting edge aesthetics." We call is the ShimaNO-ization of the once great design house in Vicenza.

Among the benefits of the new, ugly cranksets, according to Campagnolo, is the use of a single, 4-bolt pattern for all cranks in all lines (Super Record, Record, and Chorus). From the press release:

"The new bolt pattern allows for all 3 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 8 bolts and two chainrings."

That's a great idea--the bolt pattern on the current compact cranks is inexplicably different from everything else--but the benefit is predicated on buying ... all new cranksets. All of the millions of riders who currently have Campy cranksets will have to wait 'til theirs wear out (or the peer pressure on the weekend club ride becomes too much to bear).

"Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and with the seal of approval coming from the Campy Tech Lab as well as top professional athletes, these new groupsets are now worthy of bearing the Campagnolo name."

So says Campagnolo. What do you think? 

 

Davis Double Century Workers Ride 2014

Our latest video! Nine riders set out the week before the official Davis Double Century to ride the 200-mile course. Here's what we saw:

Newest Record Group the Ugliest Campagnolo Ever?

We here at Campy Only wonder if ShimaNO has infiltrated the design studio in Vicenza, with the obvious motive of creating perhaps the ugliest crankset to ever bear the Campagnolo name:

More info here from the folks at BikeRadar, who spotted this prototype.

What do you think of the new design? Let us know in the comments, right there below this post.

Why Do Cyclists Ride in the Middle of the Road?

In the midst of what seems to be a spate of cyclists-killed-by-car news comes this well-reasoned article from a motoring site in the UK.

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do-they-ride-in-the-middle-of-the-road-_62617http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do-they-ride-in-the-middle-of-the-road-_62617

Cycling for a Great Cause

That's our good friend, Walter Dawes, riding the velodrome in Houston to raise money to help veterans suffering from PTSD: www.expeditionbalance.org

Way to go, Big Dog!

Today's Retro Blast: Tour of the 1930s

Great photo from back in the day, when men were men, bikes were steel (and fixed gear!), and beer was the libation of choice on those long, all-day stages. Cheers!

Today's Video: Sacramento's Historic I Street Bridge

We ride all over the place ... including the historic railroad bridge connecting West Sacramento and Sacramento. Enjoy.

Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York Poster Unveiled

The folks over at the Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York have unveiled this year's official poster. It's nice, and the Campy logo is there, but ... where's the Campagnolo on the bike?

Rain Ride 3-29-14

Video from today's ride to Sacramento. About 25 miles in the rain, which seemed better than the 200+ miles in the rain that I had planned to do (a 400K brevet from San Francisco to Hopland).







Here's hoping that the Santa Cruz 400K on April 26 isn't as wet as today's ride.

Cyclists Who Violate Traffic Laws, and the Motorists Who Kill Them

Cyclist Killed in Ohio yesterday, March 22, 2014, while riding a  brevet.

A recent Facebook post by a friend, and my response:

The Post:

John C____: The big problem Steven B______ is that those pissed off drivers never retaliate against the rider that pissed them off. It is always another rider down the road. Another problem is that there are a lot more drivers than there are riders. They have a much stronger voice it getting new legislation that can harm our ability to ride anywhere we like. Public perception is very important to us as a whole.

My Response:

Let me just say that I'm deeply saddened by the fact that John's comment about a motorist retaliating against a cyclist can be made so casually? Retaliate? How? By hitting a cyclist with their car? Running them off the road? Killing them? What a harsh and severe penalty for something as trivial as breaking a traffic law. OK, we shouldn't blow through traffic signals or stop signs. Nobody should. But to say that a cyclist somewhere (maybe your friend, or brother, or father) will be the subject of "retaliation" with a deadly weapon (yes, cars are deadly weapons) is really tragic. Let's put an end to that sort of mindset, starting right here and right now. There is no such this as "retaliating against a cyclist." It's murder (or manslaughter) or assault, and it too often means the death or serious injury of someone we know. 

What do you think? Let everyone know in the Comments, below.

Is Campagnolo Planning to Introduce Low-Priced Electronic Shifting?

A recent court decision out of Canada is shining a light on Campagnolo's plans to come out with a new group of components with the name, "Potenza." According to information available online, the company plans to expand its current line of electronic derailleurs into this new gruppo, which has not been formally announced.

 

The case arose when Bridgestone, which owns the trademark for its line of automobile tires, sued Campagnolo SRL, claiming that consumers would be confused if Campagnolo used the trademark for bicycle parts.

The court disagreed, clearing the way for Campagnolo to use the name.

So, what is "Potenza"? According to court filings, Campagnolo is planning to release a complete gruppo:

"Bicycle parts and accessories, namely, pedals, hubs quick release devices and hubs comprising said devices, rear derailleurs, front derailleurs, crank arms, gear wheels and gear wheels assemblies, crank arms with gear wheels, sprockets, sprocket assemblies, transmission chains, drive or control means for front derailleurs or rear derailleurs (mechanic and electronic), cable guide, knobs and control levers, shafts and bearings for crank arms and for pedals, head sets for steering assemblies and bearings and bushings thereof, cables and casings, fastening clamps, bottom brackets, bottom bracket assemblies, and cycle computers to detect, monitor and display functioning and performance data, but not including tires, brakes, wheels, rims and spokes."

That's all we know so far, but the Potenza name sounds to us suspiciously like a lower-priced gruppo--it just doesn't have the "ring" of Record or Chorus. If that's the case, it's interesting to note that the line is planned to include electronic derailleurs, pointing to an expansion of electric shifting across a wider range of gruppos. Campagnolo, it seems, may see electronic shifting as the wave of the future, and a way to attract buyers away from Shimano, which does not offer a low-priced electronic groupset.

 

Tell us what you think in the comments!

Pi Day Ride 3-14-14 - A New Campy Only Video

Trying out a new video camera for future Campy Only videos:  Pi Day Ride 3-14-14 - YouTube:







Camera is a Garmin Virb, which operates in tandem with my Garnim GPS unit. I've got more electronics on the bike than all of NORAD in the 1960s.

Luxe Gios Could Be Yours!

Reader Fernand is selling this Super Record-equipped Gios from his home in Luxembourg. For info, email him: supervisiontrafic@cfl.lu

Updated 3-16-14: We had mislabeled this machine as a Colnago. Typing a little too fast!

SFR 300K 3-8-14

SFR 300K 3-8-14, a set on Flickr.

A few video snapshots from this past weekend's 300K brevet by the San Francisco Randonneurs. 400K brevet is on March 29--Campy Only will be there!

Today's Video: Time Lapse Cycling

We took our new Narrative Clip camera out for a ride, then used iMovie to stitch together the 660 photos it took. Here's the result:

So far, the Narrative Clip is working well. Watch for more videos from this year's brevet season!

 

Posted with Blogsy

New "Ride-Logging" Camera

Campy Only is the proud owner of a new "Narrative Clip" camera, a small, clip-on camera that takes a photo every 30 seconds while it is being worn. Here are some sample photos from the first outing with the camera, which we plan to use to record our rides:

More photos from the first "ride-logging" adventure here.

Carbonholism in Vicenza

Campagnolo offers 19 different wheelsets, but only two silver alloy cranksets.

Who are they building components for? Use the "comments" feature below to tell us what you need that Campagnolo isn't building.

The Latest CampyOnlyGuy Video: Camino Real Double Century

Film and video from this past weekend's double century in SoCal:



Direct link to the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/24KJmRZ2XhY

First Double Century of the 2014 Season

Well, the first double century that I (Campyonlyguy) will be riding is coming up this Saturday, Feb 15. It's the Camino Real DC, a 200-mile ride from Irvine, CA, to Oceanside and inland San Diego County and then back again.

Weather is looking great for this annual ride (it can get nasty out there), which will kick off my 25th season riding the California Triple Crown double century series (I'm still the only rider to have finished the CTC each of the 24 years it has been run).

Follow the Campy Onlly Twitter feed on ride day for live updates. We're at @Campyonlyguy

P.S. Apologies to all our fans, but the folding bike we'll be riding it not Campy equipped. Mea culpa.

 

Today's Retro Bike: 1978 Colnago

Riccardo V's very nice 1978 Colnago came to us via Twitter:

Follow Riccardo @riky_76
Got a retro bike you'd like to share? Email us (enorris [at] campyonly [dot] com) or message us on Twitter: @campyonlyguy