July 26, 2012 (Vicenza, Italy) – Pedal was recently invited to an exclusive 2013 product launch in Italy at Campagnolo, one of the most recognized and revered brands in cycling. Next season will be a big year for Campagnolo as it marks its 80th anniversary. Tulio Campagnolo founded the company in 1933 in Vincenza, Italy and it has grown into a house-hold name in cycling being ridden by many of cycling’s greatest stars to countless podiums from grand tours to legendary one-day classics.

One doesn’t become the oldest company in modern day cycling by resting on your laurels and for 2013 Campagnolo has again sought to redefine their place in the market. Traditionally Campagnolo has been known as an aftermarket company, however with the introduction of the new more cost-conscious Athena 11-speed EPS groupset, Campi has placed a strong emphasis on their increasing OEM business. For 2013 you’ll see bikes from brands such as Specialized, Trek, Cervelo, Ridley, Focus, Felt, Fuji, Lapierre and Time sporting Campagnolo parts.

The new 2013 Athena EPS boasts the same performance and design as the more expensive Super Record EPS and Record EPS but at a low price point by manufacturing the group using less costly materials. The new group will weigh 2,452g with Athena aluminum cranks and will be roughly 100g lighter with Athena Carbon cranks.

Athena EPS boasts a new interface and will not be compatible with Super Record or Record. We lucked out and got to ride the new group around the hills of Vincenza, Italy and I can tell you it certainly preforms quite nicely. Campagnolo is known for delivering a very ‘smooth’ feeling drivetrain and the new Athena is no exception.

Campagnolo is also known for a very positive feeling when you shift and company engineers insured this was carried over to all their electronic groupsets. Ergonomics are consistent with Campagnolo’s latest generation of levers and shifting and braking are comfortable whether in the drops or on the hoods. No pricing is available yet but Campagnolo says it will be competitive with Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 that was introduced last summer.

Campagnolo has also introduced a 52-36 chainring option on their Super Record, Record, Chorus and Athena carbon cranks. The idea being to offer an option that provides the best of both a standard 53-39 and a compact 50-34. The 52-36 option will be compatible with their EPS groupsets as well as their traditional mechanic groupsets.

Centaur Cassettes have been improved and now offer newly machined profiles of the sprockets and teeth to improve shifting. Two additional gearing options are also on offer, a 12-27 and a 12-30.

The 80-year veteran has also re-introduced triple drivetrains into their line up. There was a strong demand for the triple from the French market and now the rest of the world will also benefit from the increased gearing range a triple can offer. A triple option will be offered with the Athena, Centaur and Veloce groupsets. All three triple drivetrains were completely redesigned just for the triple and boast long cage rear derailleurs, triple specific front derailleurs and a dedicated front shifter for triples. Athena will be an 11-sp group whereas Centaur and Veloce will be 10-sp.  All three groups offer the best Q and U factors for triple cranksets on the market.

The Scirocco wheelset has been redesigned with a new 35mm profile and will also be offered in a CX version with improved seals. Weight has been reduced 70g to 1,725g and torsional stiffness has increased 12.5%.

For more information on Campagnolo visit www.campagnlolo.com.