Campagnolo’s 2025 Reset: Super Record 13 Signals a Modular, Made‑in‑Italy Future
Campagnolo isn’t just adding a cog to the cassette. With Super Record 13, the Italian icon is repositioning itself around a modular platform for road and gravel, returning to the sport’s biggest stages, and laying the groundwork for broader, mid-range expansion in 2026, while wheels like Shamal Dual Profile and Bora X underline a renewed performance push.
If 2025 felt like a hinge year for Campagnolo, that’s because it was designed to be. In its own words, the brand frames this season as “the beginning of a new phase,” one marked by a “deep redefinition” of how it positions itself, product development, communication, and visibility in the wider cycling world included.
The headline act is Super Record 13, not merely a new flagship groupset, but the company’s first 13-speed system for road and gravel, conceived as something larger than a single top-tier SKU. Campagnolo is pitching it as a modular platform that can be configured across Road, Gravel, and “All Road” set-ups, explicitly acknowledging the sport’s accelerating segmentation: race bikes that are more specialised than ever, gravel rigs that span everything from aero to adventure, and the growing middle ground where endurance road morphs into fast mixed-surface riding.
Not “just” 13-speed: the platform play
The most revealing detail isn’t the extra gear. It’s the language: platform, modular, derived solutions. Campagnolo says Super Record 13 stems from a completely redesigned industrial process, backed by significant investments in production and component optimisation. That’s not the kind of statement you make if you’re only refreshing a halo product; it’s what you say when you’re rebuilding a pipeline.
Just as pointed is the brand’s insistence that Vicenza remains the heart of ideas and development, and that Made in Italy is positioned as a “responsibility” supported by a shorter, controlled, more responsive supply chain. In a market where many components are increasingly globalised and abstracted away from their origins, Campagnolo is leaning hard into place, and the operational implications behind it.
And then there’s the roadmap. Campagnolo states it is already at an advanced stage developing additional solutions derived from Super Record 13, aimed at expanding into mid-range products in 2026 and “eventually” broader market segments. Read that again. The implication is clear: 13-speed isn’t meant to live solely at the top of the pyramid.
Grande Ciclismo: back where it’s loudest
For a component brand, relevance is earned in two places: under real riders, and under the brightest lights. Campagnolo made a deliberate play for both by returning to the international pro calendar in 2025.
The Super Record 13 platform, the company says, appeared in the Monument Classics, the Giro d’Italia, and all the way through to the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes. The release specifically highlights Cofidis and Bardiani racing with the 13-speed groupsets at the Giro, and notes that the entire Cofidis team was equipped with the new groupset at both Tours.
From a journalist’s perspective, the significance isn’t only that Campagnolo was present, it’s the kind of presence. A full-team deployment at the Tours is a statement of confidence: logistics, spares, neutral-service realities, and day-to-day reliability are part of the test. Campagnolo explicitly frames this as validation of reliability and performance in the most demanding competitive contexts.
Beyond the groupset: wheels and ecosystem momentum
A platform strategy works best when the ecosystem around it feels equally alive. Alongside Super Record 13, Campagnolo lists a set of new products introduced in 2025:
- Shamal Dual Profile, positioned as a “new high-performance road wheel.”
- Kit Ultra, described as a “technical evolution” of the Super Record 13 platform.
- Bora X, a “high-performance gravel wheel” aimed at riders chasing top performance “on all terrains.”
It’s a tidy triangle: road, groupset evolution, gravel. Whether you interpret this as a product line refresh or a signal of increased R\&D tempo, it underscores the same message, Campagnolo isn’t trying to win attention with one launch and then disappear again.
Design meets performance: Compasso d’Oro International
The year’s capstone, at least in terms of prestige, is an award with cultural weight. Campagnolo reports that at the Osaka Expo, its Bora Ultra WTO wheel received the Compasso d’Oro International, recognised for high performance and an environmentally conscious production process.
Interesting, too, is what the brand chooses to spotlight: the G3 spoke pattern, described as the “asymmetry of the seven triples of parallel spokes,” framed as both technical and artistic, creating rhythm, movement, energy. It’s not just marketing poetry; it’s a reminder that Campagnolo’s historical edge has always included design as identity, not merely watt-saving.
The media blitz, and why it matters
Numbers can be spin, but they also hint at scale. Campagnolo claims that within a few months of launch, over 600 articles covered its innovation, and more than 50 journalists tested Super Record 13 firsthand, highlighting “lightness, versatility, and precision.”
For riders, this translates to one thing: you don’t have to rely solely on brand messaging to understand a product’s intent. A broad media test programme means many hands on many bikes, across many conditions, exactly the kind of distributed reality check that modern drivetrain launches invite.
From trade shows to test rides: showing up globally
Campagnolo also emphasises physical presence: global events, test rides, “activations,” and opportunities for media, partners, and cyclists to ride Super Record 13 in the real world. The company lists Sea Otter Classic (California), Maratona dles Dolomites, Italian Bike Festival, and Rouleur Live London among key moments.
That last one stands out for UK riders because it’s where the industry meets the enthusiast crowd face-to-face, exactly the kind of environment where tactile experiences (lever feel, shift speed, ergonomics) can cut through spec-sheet fatigue.
OEM visibility: where Super Record 13 is already landing
A platform needs bikes under it, and Campagnolo’s release includes a substantial list of brands with models “currently available” featuring Super Record 13. The road list spans names like Basso, Bianchi, Cinelli, Colnago, De Rosa, Factor, Look, Pinarello, Wilier and more; while gravel mentions Ridley, Wilier, 3T and additional boutique builders.
That breadth matters because it indicates two things at once: the premium/bespoke end is still embracing Campagnolo’s mystique, and mainstream performance brands are also willing to spec it, both essential if the company truly intends to push into wider segments from 2026 onward.
A smarter narrative: the 2025 campaign stack
Even the marketing is structured like a platform, multiple formats, each doing a distinct job:
- “We Do One More” as the launch payoff.
- “Rolling Report” documenting reliability and performance in race conditions.
- “Off The Record” interviews collecting athlete and talent testimonials.
- “Bike Atel13r” collaborations with manufacturers to showcase high-end builds.
- “13 Pillars of Performance” turning thirteen key features into a structured narrative for media, digital, and point-of-sale.
There’s a confidence in this approach: not “one campaign, one video,” but an editorial ecosystem designed to meet riders where they are, race fans, tech nerds, shop-floor shoppers, and dream-bike browsers.
BIKE Magazine take: the real story is 2026
Super Record 13 is the spark, but the release makes the longer game obvious. Campagnolo is rebuilding itself around a modular drivetrain architecture, refreshed manufacturing logic, and a stronger story about place, craft, and control. The pro racing return gives it credibility under pressure, while wheels and awards keep the performance halo bright.
But the most consequential line is the one about mid-range products in 2026, derived from this same platform. If Campagnolo can translate flagship feel, ergonomics, precision, serviceability, and reliability, into more accessible price points without diluting the brand’s character, then 2025 won’t just be remembered as “the year Campy added a gear.” It’ll be remembered as the year Campagnolo built a modern foundation to grow again.
