Rumors Next Generation Campagnolo Road?

[rollinslow]

And how exactly does Campy reconcile that their top selling most highly regarded group set has a refined thumb shifter and their WRL super record felt that it should be deleted?

[m68k]

It is a new Ekar: Ekar GT.
It is still mechanic.
It seems to replace the existing Ekar.
Eventhough, I am sure, Ekar will stay in retail for a lower price until it is sold out, like all other groupsets before.

[BenCousins]

It does seem bizarre that Centaur doesn't even appear on the groupset page. Why? It costs nothing to keep the links alive.

If they aim for luxury brand status (I believe they do, and I don't believe that it will work well because luxury is at odds with authenticity)

Can you expand on this? I can think of lots of luxury brands that are also 'authentic'.

[graeme_f_k]

It is a new Ekar: Ekar GT.
It is still mechanic.
It seems to replace the existing Ekar.
Eventhough, I am sure, Ekar will stay in retail for a lower price until it is sold out, like all other groupsets before.

Ekar GT doesn't replace Ekar, it's at a lower price point and extends the capability / compatibility with e-Bike of Ekar.
The two groups will run in parallel.

[TheBeautifulOne]

And how exactly does Campy reconcile that their top selling most highly regarded group set has a refined thumb shifter and their WRL super record felt that it should be deleted?

I have bikes with Ekar, Super Record EPS and Super Record Wireless.

Thumb shifter makes IMO most sense with mechanical gearing especially during off road conditions. After 2 rides with SR WRL I am not missing thumb shifter at all. Was it of nostalgic/sentimental value? I guess so. Does it matter IRL? Not at all.

[graeme_f_k]

And how exactly does Campy reconcile that their top selling most highly regarded group set has a refined thumb shifter and their WRL super record felt that it should be deleted?

I'm not sure that such a reconciliation is necessary.

Ekar and WRL are two diferent products, aimed at two different markets.

The plain fact of the matter is, that regardless of whether some users like it or not, Campagnolo have decided on one product range, to make a change. It seems extraordinarily unlikely to me, that they will reverse that change - usually IME, once they've made a decision, they don't reverse it.

Again IME, of those users who have actually ridden the WRL system, most have liked it. Some have not. Some have both and don't find the change in the ergonomics a problem - I am one of them, with 14 bikes in the stable, most of them with various different forms of mechanical shifting but with 3 EPS and one WRL and I move from bike to bike without even really noticing the different ergonomics any more.

Campagnolo were well aware of the break in what some users were used to - they did what they did, in response to a very significant number of requests, some from elite level / ProTour riders - they were and remain aware that it may cost them some users. Their plea is the same as mine - try it. You might find you like it. Just don't pre-judge it.

[scb]

And how exactly does Campy reconcile that their top selling most highly regarded group set has a refined thumb shifter and their WRL super record felt that it should be deleted?

I have bikes with Ekar, Super Record EPS and Super Record Wireless.

Thumb shifter makes IMO most sense with mechanical gearing especially during off road conditions. After 2 rides with SR WRL I am not missing thumb shifter at all. Was it of nostalgic/sentimental value? I guess so. Does it matter IRL? Not at all.

I have some SR 11 speed mechanical, couple of SR EPS 11 and 12 speeds and SR WRL. I've been riding WRL since last July and continue to ride my other SR bikes. I find that I musch prefer WRL over SR with the thumb shifter and don't miss it one bit.

[XCProMD]

I can't say the same, unfortunately.

I've been on the fence for WRL as a very happy user of different EPS systems (at the mement I have a V2 a V3 and 2 V4 but have had all the versions on many different bikes). Having now tested WRL on 3 different rides, I agree you you learn to use it very quick, and the buttons are well placed and easy to reach, but I much prefered assigning different fingers to different commands.

I still think the rear mech could have been better packaged, and Shimano does a better job of creating an aestetically cohesive unit by placing the motor towards the spokes. Obviously there's more things to place in the SR mech, and the battery is pretty bulky, but it still looks like a collection of parts to me, instead of a cohesive unit. It is a bit of a sore thumb on most bikes too, taking so much space in all three axis.

But oh does it shift beautifully. EPS V4 is very, very fast and silent and precise with just the right amount of feedback through the buttons and the chain. But WRL is just that tad better that leaves you wishing when back to EPS V4. Especially the front mech is just unbeliavable. It feels as if it was a CVT with two fixed positions, it is hard to believe there's a chain changing sprocket there.

So in I am. Interestingly, the whole thing is not costing me substantially more than the EPS V4 units, so I'm beggining to think Campagnolo has also a problem with how the public views the inflated RRP they publish at launch.

[keaton]

I guess I am in the minority then. Been on Campagnolo for a long time, eps, etc and been on WRL since June. I ride a lot. I miss the thumb shifter - a lot. Perhaps it is because I switch between different Campagnolo bikes? But I have put several week blocks exclusively riding the wrl. In the middle of rides, quite randomly, I will find my thumb reaching for a nonexistent shifter. For the first few months I said, its great, easy adoption! But Im still reaching for that thumb shifter and that has me missing it to the extent I have thought about buying EPS again.

For me, the ergonomics work better with a thumb shifter.

What is confusing to me; I had a feeling that perhaps pro tour riders have requested a new shift layout (pogi?). But what is the point, they do not seem to interested in being in the pro tour. Maybe things will be different in the years to come. Always love Graeme's insight!

[Nickldn]

This is fast becoming the cycling version of 'Who moved my cheese?'

I too love my thumb shifter on Chorus 12s and get confused changing gear on SRAM and Shimano bikes. But for some reason never on the Campy bike, guess the thumb shifting is just too iconic to lose muscle memory.

[solarider]

So Campagnolo made a change based on the feedback of some pro riders who were paid to use their product and then swiftly abandoned the pro ranks. They made a change that people paying to use their product don't like and didn't ask for (they certainly didn't ask me, or many people on here it would appear).

Who pays the bills? Who is the customer?

'Try it, you might like it' you say? - I am not about to invest £4,500 in an experiment. I can't walk into a bike shop anywhere near to me to try it. It isn't spec'd OEM and I live miles from a Pro Shop, and even then my nearest Pro Shop doesn't have any for me to see. Nobody I ride with or see at coffee stops is using it. How exactly am I meant to try it to see if I like it?!

The constant reiteration that the customer is wrong is wearing a bit thin. What happened to give the customer what they want?

Campagnolo are fast becoming the Monty Python Black Knight of the industry. It doesn't matter what they do, how much share they loose, how many customers they loose, they simply dismiss it as a flesh wound. And don't even get me started on the 'secret menu' of groupsets that are apparently still in production but aren't promoted on their own website or readily available........

[Miller]

I guess I am in the minority then. Been on Campagnolo for a long time, eps, etc and been on WRL since June. I ride a lot. I miss the thumb shifter - a lot.

I thought I read somewhere, or imagined, that the rationale for ditching the thumb shifter is that it's offputting to the majority of people who are used to Sh/Sr groupsets which don't use the thumb as a shift actuating digit. To attract fresh users across to Campag there needed to be a shift paradigm closer to the other manufacturers. Something like that.

[velov]

The only thing attracting people to Campy now will be electric Chorus and Record options, even then it's probably too late to save the sinking ship. I hope there's a drastic change in management as I'd love to keep running Campy on all my bikes.

[NickB]

Thumb shifter is little finger shifter to me when on the tops. 42mm bars, just extend little finger. Love it.
If you go back to old cheap Shimano there was a thumb shifter and the same upshift swing lever as now. This should have been developed as it would have been the best of both worlds IMHO.

[keaton]

Thumb shifter is little finger shifter to me when on the tops. 42mm bars, just extend little finger. Love it.

This I do this a lot.