Campagnolo brought their own hydraulic disc brakes to the road last summer. But there are still plenty of Campy fans out riding previous generation gruppos. And those looking to stick with cable actuated braking. Now Paul has a premium mechanical disc brake option with a new Campy-specific version of their popular Klamper calipers.
Paul Klamper for Campy
Paul Component Engineering developed the machined Klamper disc brake calipers a few years ago to offer top-shelf performance and durability for the many riders out there running mechanical discs. Many people prefer the simplicity of cable actuated brakes. And some riders are just downright wary of brake fluid for exploring far from home. Whatever your reason and whether you were upgrading from a more basic set of entry-level calipers or converting an existing bike to disc brakes, Paul had road, cross & mountain options by way of varying short or long pull leverage ratios. Now they are addressing the Campy crowd who has long had to compromise in disc brake setups using the short pull leverage ratios optimized for Shimano/SRAM road levers.
For the uninitiated, Campagnolo levers pull a slightly lower amount of cable than current Shimano/SRAM levers. So using standard short pull calipers results in less than perfect brake performance. To solve this, Paul had to engineer a modified actuator arm for their brakes to work with the Campy ratio. I personally ride a Campy group with TRP brakes, and while the performance is acceptable it isn’t perfect. Now riders like me can buy the $208 (per wheel) made-in-the-USA Klampers. Finally a brake, specifically designed to work with our pretty Italian Campagnolo levers and their excellent ergonomics.
Also thanks to the rebuildability (is that a word?) of the Klampers, Campy riders who already are using the short pull version can buy the separate $32 (per wheel) actuator arm kit and update their braking. That also means that if you buy Klampers now and want to change brake levers down the road (or to the trail) you can always get a new set of actuator levers for long, short, or Campy pull ratios. Yeah to future proofing!
Tech details
The Klampers are still made from a mix of machined 6061 aluminum & heat treated steel, and are available in regular all ano black or silver, with the option to add ano orange pad adjust dials. The 211g per wheel calipers now come in three cable pull ratio options to suit any setup. And if you keep your eyes open, sometimes Paul makes some sweet limited run anodized colors available as well.
