Campagnolo teases new “Dream Bigger” campaign after two years of record growth for the classic Italian road gruppo maker. A big part has been the success of their late, but great Ekar 13sp gravel groupset. Having parts actually manufactured in Europe hasn’t hurt in two years of supply chain disruptions. And don’t forget that the last two Tours de France were both won on Campagnolo Super Record EPS groupsets.
But now Campy is sitting on a stack of more than 100 new technology patents, so we can only imagine what innovation is set to drop out of the Vicenza, Italy factory next? It could be any day now…
Campagnolo Dream Bigger: beyond gravel, back to road racing, too?!
The success of Campy’s late to the gravel party, but still delivered strong embrace of gravel with their unique Ekar 1x 13-speed mechanical gravel groupset has surely give the brand a boost, and a much-needed revitalization of a brand that had bordered on become a bit niche, only for ultra-premium custom road bikes.
Plus, there’s no denying that Ekar earned Campagnolo a new audience, and likely a new & younger generation of riders.
What’s changed in two years? What’s N3W?
Campagnolo says that their staff numbers have increased by 30% over the past two years and 45% increased product turnover, as they shift to meet increased demand. In fact, their Italy & Romania factory capacity has been boosted by 75% to meet that growing demand. OEM spec of Campy groupsets has grown 5x since 2019, representing a remarkable return for the company, and their strongest growth since the 1980s.
All of that means Campagnolo has both more incentive and more resources to really start innovating again. (Don’t forget they were the first to market with at least road 10-speed & 12-speed, too.)
Campy now has also registered more than “100 new technology patents since 2020″. A growing electronics engineering team especially has been key for the future expansion plans at Campagnolo. They’ve added a bunch of new experts to their existing development team, clearly looking to the future.
#What’s coming next for Campagnolo and their Dream Bigger idea?
If the rumors hold up, we could see an all-new wireless Super Record EPS groupset coming soon, as early as this summer. After Tadej Pogačar won the last two runnings of the Tour de France, we would be surprised to see a new group for the Slovenian to race this July.
Don’t forget that Campy is a legacy road racing brand, remember their gravel campaign “Born Before Roads” called back to racing road bikes before asphalt was even a thing when they started in 1933.
Campagnolo says ‘Dream Bigger’ will be the cornerstone for telling their story this year -“highlighting the aspirational mindset of the brand, with a clear call to action to customers, as the historic company enters an innovative new era“.
Innovation sounds good.
Now we just have to wait and see, what’s next for Campy?
