We thought we might have seen it already four years ago, but for sure a Campagnolo Super Record power meter crankset is now really on the horizon. We’ve just spotted independent Dutch cyclocross racer Ryan Kamp’s shiny gold Colnago G3-X race bikes fitted with an alloy power meter spider on carbon crank arms, clearly branded with the winged hub logo of Campagnolo.
Take a closer look and speculate with us below!
Campagnolo Super Record spider-based power meter prototype
Today at the 2024 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Tábor, Czechia, we spotted Ryan Kamp’s lovely Colnago cyclocross bikes sporting some prototype power meter cranks from his Italian drivetrain sponsor.
While we spotted the bike through the trees this morning, we got some closer looks inside Kamp’s camp. And then out on the race course several times.
He’s the only rider we’ve noticed at CX Worlds riding Campagnolo. And the word in the pits is that he’s been working closely with Campy to refine their ultra-top-tier Super Record Wireless groupset to survive the rigors of cross racing.
Stay tuned, and we’ll have more on that story soon, too.
In the meantime, this is the Campagnolo Super Record power meter we’ve been waiting for since we saw Campy’s patents all the way back in 2019.
But – at least for now – power measurement is NOT integrated into a carbon spider. Instead, it uses an alloy power meter spider much like the SRM that Campy athletes have been racing for years.
Yet, it’s not quite the same as the SRM, and now clearly gets Campagnolo branding.
Customized for Cyclocross
Apparently, it features the same low-Q and standard road chainring spacing. But the pro CX mechanics have spaced the chainrings out about 3mm closer back to the centerline of the bike to better align the chainrings with the bigger/easier cogs of the cassette to deal with the slower speeds of cyclocross racing.
From the driveside, you can see one curious hollow opening of the crank arm just offset from the spindle (like the old SRM option).
But from the backside we also spotted another opening. It’s not entirely clear why either opening exists.
3 of the 4 Kamp’s bikes that we spotted in the open around the public team pits had power meters. And 2 of those 3 appeared to have a stick-on cover on the backside of the carbon driveside crankarm, at least to keep the CX mud out. In any case, it’s pretty surely a hollow carbon crankarm on this prototype power meter.
Campagnolo Super Record spider-based power meter prototype for your winter training bike
A bit of an angled look, shows the thickness of the alloy spider body on this prototype Campagnolo Super Record power meter.
This specific crank was fitted to Kamp’s training bike, and shows plenty more wear from heel rub. But interestingly, it seems Ryan Kamp has only been working with Colnago and Campagnolo since the start of January after his previous team sponsorship ended. So, this bike hasn’t seen too much long-term use & abuse, just yet.
The Shimano XTR pedals are always a nice reminder that Campy doesn’t make pedals. But those XTRs are so trusted and reliable, that we often also find them on the bikes of riders with SRAM groupsets, too.
That’s all we know officially for now. Campagnolo says no comment. But Kamp’s mechanic team seems to be pleased with a genuine back-and-forth R&D relationship, and hints that the overall Super Record Wireless groupset is constantly being refined to withstand the harshest conditions cyclocross can throw at it!
More on Ryan Kamp’s unique Colnago G3-X bike and Campy Super Record groupset for cross racing soon…
