Campagnolo’s latest Ghibli 0.9 carbon disc track wheel is the fastest they’ve ever made, and is set to help Team Italy fight for rainbow jerseys on the velodrome in Glasgow over the next week and a half. The new Ghibli strikes a slimmer profile and relies on trusted CULT ceramic bearings to cut through the wind and spin fast, but it’s the move to tubeless (and away from tubulars) in the pursuit of lower rolling resistance that’s the biggest play for the Italian wheel & component maker…
Campagnolo Ghibli 0.9 tubeless carbon track disc wheels
After announcing a renewed partnership Campagnolo partnership with the Italian Cycling Federation for Worlds and next year’s Paris Olympics, it was curious to see the focus only on wheels really – track bikes are provided by Pinarello and track drivetrain by Miche. But now I understand why.
The already fast Ghibli Discs – which Victor Campenaerts rode to his Hour Record – get even quicker thanks to a completely revised shape that is narrower overall but much wider at the rim, and of course now tubeless-ready for a setup that Campy says delivers “unprecedented rolling levels in testing, verified on the track by today’s top track riders.”
Tech details
First off, this is not a copy of the also-tubeless lenticular disc brake Campy Bora Ultra WTO TT Disc wheel in any way. In fact, the new tubeless Campagnolo Ghibli 0.9 track disc is wider at the rim. Campy says the 2-Way Fit hooked tubeless carbon wheel is a C21 profile meaning 21mm internal, with a 27.4mm external width at the tire – optimized for 23-28mm tubeless tires. (But their tech sheet lists a huge-for-track 25mm internal, which seems to be in error, as it would mean just 1.2mm width for the rim bead & hook.) In any case, that most recent Bora Ultra WTO TT Disc is still just 19mm internal.
The new Ghibli 0.9 does still use a lenticular disc shape – a double S-curve that stays narrow towards the outer edges of the rim, but curves back to a more bulbous shape towards the axle. Campagnolo says this version features a “reduced camber angle”, i.e. lees curve in profile. And of course, you get narrow 100mm front / 120mm rear track spacing, which all add up to the overall “smaller frontal profile” claim.
The “Aerospace grade carbon” shell of the new Campagnolo Ghibli 0.9 disc is entirely structural, with Campy describing the Ghibli as “the only wheel in the world constructed without internal support spokes”.
The wheels spin on cup & cone CULT ceramic bearings and bolt-on aluminum axles. Complete wheels (for front or rear) are claimed to weigh just 990g.
Campagnolo Ghibli 0.9 – Pricing, options & availability
The fastest-ever Campagnolo track disc wheel doesn’t come cheap. The new Campy Ghibli 0.9 is priced from 3418€. And yes that’s for just a front wheel, the rear likely costs a few euros more. Get yours now from your local Campy dealer.
Well, no one’s probably going to stock a 7k€ track wheelset, so you are gonna have to order it.
So it seems unlikely you’ll get the new wheels in time to race Worlds if you don’t ride for the Italian national team.
