Back at the start of the month, we got Spy Shots of a prototype 13-speed wireless groupset from Campagnolo with a great look at the unreleased rear derailleur, but we couldn’t really see the fate of Campy’s love-it-or-hate-it thumb shifter button. Well, now we’ve seen it up close in person at the Giro d’Italia, and it’s coming back baby!
We spied a new lever design on two different team bikes (with two different drivetrain setups, no less) at the Giro this week – on two of the 23 Pro team bikes we featured in a mega gallery yesterday. And it looks like pro racers are fully on board…
Campagnolo SR 13 WRL & return of the Campy Thumb Shifter
When Campagnolo launched their 12-speed Super Record Wireless gruppo two years ago, it featured a new-for-Campy shift button layout – two hollowed-out buttons behind the carbon brake lever, but no more thumb button. It seemed like Campagnolo was trying to appeal to new users who were put off by their unique thumb-shifting ergonomics. But at the same time, it seemed to disappoint a lot of long-time Campy fans.
As someone who has ridden just about every shifting setup available for dropbars these days, I can say that the Campy thumb shifter is a different feel. And it does take getting used to. But personally, I really like the ergonomics, especially on the 12-speed mechanical and 12-speed EPS shift setups with their relatively short thumb buttons.
Now this new prototype 13-speed drivetrain is bringing them back, with just one hollow shift paddle behind the brake lever, and the other shift direction managed by the inward-facing thumb button.
Up close with that thumb button
This new Campy thumb shifter button looks a lot smaller than previous versions – mechanical or electronic.
But what is also interesting here, is what appears to be more buttons. It looks to us like those circles in front of the thumb shifter are probably a setup/mode control button and indicator LED like in the current 12-speed wireless and previous 12sp EPS versions. But there’s another very obvious button on top of the inside of the hood. I’d guess that should be customizable like you would find with Shimano Di2 or SRAM AXS, giving users the ability to control something like a cycling computer or even customize shift controls.
Customizable shift button functions could even be the secret to alleviating worries of anyone who’s not already a fan of the Campy thumb shifter ergonomics.
We also got a couple of good views of the inner thumb-shift button. And there is both a distinct ridge under the shift button and a rearward extension to the button itself. It is a distinctly different thumb shifter shape than we are familiar with in current 12sp mechanical, 12sp EPS, or 13sp mechanical Ekar gravel groupsets, so it’ll be interesting to see what Campagnolo’s thinking is behind the new shifter when it officially debuts.
Of note, the hoods themselves look to have a longer flat section on their tops compared to current versions. And the tips of the hoods look smaller and more rounded, more akin to designs from back in the rim brake days.
New Campy thumb shifters in the pro peloton
Interestingly, we spotted the new levers at the Giro d’Italia this week. But not necessarily the prototype rear derailleur and full 13-speed setup. Team Cofidis is racing a fleet of Look 795 Blade RS aero road bikes at the moment – with the unreleased Campagnolo Super Record Wireless shifters, but still with the current Campy Super Record Wireless 12-speed groupset.
It seems the racers prefer the classic Campagnolo ‘one button, one action’ shifter ergonomics, thanks to the return of the Campy thumb shifter, even if they haven’t yet made the full switch to a complete 13-speed drivetrain.
On the other hand, the VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè team went all-in on the prototype Campagnolo Super Record Wireless 13-speed groupset on their DeRosa 70 bikes. Prototype carbon front & rear derailleurs, the new shifters with the single shift paddle & thumb shifter button, a new R13 hollow-pin chain, and presumably new chainrings.
Campagnolo Super Record 13 Wireless SC 13-speed prototype
We already got a pretty good look at the new rear derailleur a few weeks back. Team Cofidis had been racing their Look 795 Blade RS bikes at the May Day Eschborn-Frankfurt UCI WorldTour race, kitted out with the unlabeled 13-speed groupset. And one of the rear derailleurs had a production label referring to it as ‘SR13WRLSC, which we’ll infer as Super Record 13sp Wireless SC until we get any official update from Campagnolo.
But there’s always more details to a seemingly production-ready prototype when we get another up-close look. For example…
The vast majority of the derailleur body appears to be carbon of some sort, but the shiny black finish of the outer parallelogram link suggests this is probably aluminum or even titanium.
Looking closely at the pulleys, two things jump out. First, there are different narrow-wide tooth shapes for each, presumably for improved chain retention – with longer teeth on the upper pulley. Plus, the pulleys are a bit oversized. I count 14-teeth on both upper and lower pulleys vs. the 12/12 combo on current Campagnolo road derailleurs and 12 upper/14 lower on the Ekar GT gravel bike we have on test. More pulley teeth are generally said to decrease drivetrain friction, so there’s that.
From the backside, we can clearly see the material patterning, confirming full carbon pulley cages. And under the battery, it’s clear that you’ll be able to recharge it directly on the bike, or remove the battery to recharge off the bike, as well.
We can’t wait until Campagnolo shares more official details on the new groupset. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get a higher price than the already wildly expensive Super Record Wireless 2×12 groupset!
