Campagnolo Gotta Wake Up!

[NoMoreParagon]

With gravel race circuit pretty much as popular as ever, and pros even abandoning the pro peloton tour in order to race gravel I simply cannot understand why Campagnolo remains so behind.
I get it they all race oriented, but guess what? The most captivating races happens to be gravel races these days. Pros DO race gravel and with many bikes Campy is simply not an option due to their limiting gear range and the lack of a 1x or clutch RD.

I was a big die hard Campagnolo, spending extra to equip my frames with Campy but, as it is now, there is simply no product matching my requirement.

It would be so damn easy to introduce a rear derailleur with some clutch mechanism and those guys never listen to what the average use needs/wants.

And, by the way, Movistar just dropped Campy in favor of Sram...


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[tuscanyswe]

I think 1x is overrated. That said i think campy should cast a wider net so i agree.

[colker]

Campagnolo is an european brand. Is gravel that popular in Europe? Is cycling as popular in the US as in Europe? Sincere questions.

[zambenini]

Originally Posted by colker

Campagnolo is an european brand. Is gravel that popular in Europe? Is cycling as popular in the US as in Europe? Sincere questions.

Important. Campy seemed to work on the white roads fine, and Europe is far more tame and way less "wild" than North America. Europe's roads, tracks, and byways have been seeing traffic for thousands of years and bike trekking on roads and tracks there is culturally a thing, whereas road riding will get you killed here. Drivers seem to feel and enjoy the same Wild West experience every day on their way to In-n-Out Burger, that we're chasing on gravel roads. Inverse relationship between the advent of smart phones and the health of the road scene here, maybe? I've all but abandoned road, in favor of MTB, with gravel when I can. Seems like it depends on how much of the North American market Campy needs to command to stay alive. We're Norte Americanos, mostly. They may be looking at their European sales and how riding is going over there and not be worried a bit.

[AngryScientist]

i think campy is keeping pace nicely with mild gravel offerings.

i was pleasantly surprised when they introduced a sub-compact offering in chorus, and cassettes with a 32 large cog.

i do believe that they will see that sub-compact crank was their feeler to dip the toe in the water of lower gearing, and they'll see it sells well and is in demand, which will pave the road (haha) for more low gear range offerings.

they'll get there, but for now, for me personally, i'm satisfied with the options they currently offer.

[bigbill]

IMO, the only thing that really matters in gravel rides/racing are wheels and tires. You can make anything else work. I did a year of racing on a Gunnar Crosshairs with TRP mini V's, 8S Dura ace STI, and a 12-26 cassette, basically just a cross bike. I like my Coconino gravel bike with disc brakes and such, but I'm not any faster.

[eBAUMANN]

Originally Posted by bigbill

IMO, the only thing that really matters in gravel rides/racing are wheels and tires. You can make anything else work. I did a year of racing on a Gunnar Crosshairs with TRP mini V's, 8S Dura ace STI, and a 12-26 cassette, basically just a cross bike. I like my Coconino gravel bike with disc brakes and such, but I'm not any faster.

See for me, my priority is never "being faster" on gravel/mtbs...it's serviceability, simplicity, functionality. Parts that work well, are hard to break, and easy to fix. Also traction, traction is important

[Dave]

Not all areas have gravel roads to explore. I live in a rural area of northern Colorado, but the only gravel roads are short stretches of road through private neighborhoods. Nothing exciting about that. To ride mtb, my neighbor makes a 20 mile round trip in his truck, just to get to the start of a good trail. I make that same trip, part of one of my regular road bike routes. I like riding from my house, not packing the bike up to travel to the start of a ride.

I do have Campy's latest low gear offering - the new Chorus 12 speed 48/32 with 11-34 cassette. That works great for the steep hills in my area.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Dave

Not all areas have gravel roads to explore. I live in a rural area of northern Colorado, but the only gravel roads are short stretches of road through private neighborhoods. Nothing exciting about that. To ride mtb, my neighbor makes a 20 mile round trip in his truck, just to get to the start of a good trail. I make that same trip, part of one of my regular road bike routes. I like riding from my house, not packing the bike up to travel to the start of a ride.

I do have Campy's latest low gear offering - the new Chorus 12 speed 48/32 with 11-34 cassette. That works great for the steep hills in my area.

Surprising, isn't it..there are a few dirt roads north of the republic but not many...I see LOTS of disc brake bikes these days BUT..all on the YUGE road offerings around and north of, the republic.

But ayup..Chorus 12s, mid compact, 32t cogset, 2by, really superior disc brakes, a BUNCH of wheelsouttaboxes, disc brake offerings(Fulcrum too)..yup, I think they are doin just fine, thanks. Expect to see more of this filter down to Potenza and Centaur..

Chorus is way more 'dirt ready' than a across the board same level, group by sram or shimano(DA/ultegra or red/rival)...

[CO_Hoya]

This is a bit surprising to me, as I’m cobbling together a budget gravel bike to climb the dirt roads above Boulder and avoid traffic (e.g. Sunshine).

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Surprising, isn't it..there are a few dirt roads north of the republic but not many...I see LOTS of disc brake bikes these days BUT..all on the YUGE road offerings around and north of, the republic.

[gdw]

Originally Posted by CO_Hoya

This is a bit surprising to me, as I’m cobbling together a budget gravel bike to climb the dirt roads above Boulder and avoid traffic (e.g. Sunshine).

I live on a dirt road between Boulder and Nederland in an area that offers some amazing gravel riding but rarely see anyone on a gravel bike. Most of the folks venturing up here are pretty strong riders and are riding road or mountain bikes. I guess we need a coffee shop on Magnolia with a nice brick wall to lean your bike against to lure the cool kids up here so that I can see one of those gravel specific bikes in the flesh.

[CO_Hoya]

Yeah, most of the roads are fine for a road bike, but being able to ride on 38mm is nice.

And I’m certainly not a strong rider or cool kid, and I avoid the steeps on Magnolia. I do rest at Gold Hill Store though.

Originally Posted by gdw

I live on a dirt road between Boulder and Nederland in an area that offers some amazing gravel riding but rarely see anyone on a gravel bike. Most of the folks venturing up here are pretty strong riders and are riding road or mountain bikes. I guess we need a coffee shop on Magnolia with a nice brick wall to lean your bike against to lure the cool kids up here so that I can see one of those gravel specific bikes in the flesh.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by eBAUMANN

See for me, my priority is never "being faster" on gravel/mtbs...it's serviceability, simplicity, functionality. Parts that work well, are hard to break, and easy to fix. Also traction, traction is important

For me, survival is important.

for many of the gravel rides i do, if i were on old 8-sp stuff with a low gear of 39/28 or some such nonsense, i could not finish.

sub 1:1 gearing has allowed me to ride longer rides, and be happier doing it.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by eBAUMANN

See for me, my priority is never "being faster" on gravel/mtbs...it's serviceability, simplicity, functionality. Parts that work well, are hard to break, and easy to fix. Also traction, traction is important

My gravel bike is mostly 8000 Ultegra with an 11-32 and a 36/46 crankset. Other than new bb cups once a year, I don't think about it. My MTB is 1X and other than a weird chainline at the extremes, it has been flawless.

[eBAUMANN]

Originally Posted by tuscanyswe

I think 1x is overrated.

Agreed, it has jumped the shark (thanks to the industry). But it existed for a LONG time in CX before SRAM decided to mainstream it...so I'd argue it was UNDER-RATED far longer.

1x on "road racing bicycles" is stupid. Maybe for crit racing where you are in your big ring all day anyways it works but otherwise it's dumb.

For gravel/mtb I appreciate the reduced complexity of 1x and will likely never go back.

Definitely agree campy is far behind the curve for some unexplainable reason...