Campagnolo Record 11 groupset
Astonishingly smooth crankset and comfortable shifting
The best tri-related way we can think of to describe Campagnolo and Shimano is this: Campag is like Macca, while Shimano is like Crowie.
With Macca, you get flamboyance, genius and unpredictability. With Crowie, there’s still the genius, but with it a greater degree of consistency and slightly less panache.
While Macca might be more fun in the short term, Crowie almost always pays off over time. (Of course, this analogy doesn’t take into account young pretender Pete Jacobs. He’s more SRAM.)
At least that’s how it used to be. These days the functional difference between Dura Ace, Red and Record pretty much comes down to which system you prefer, as they’re all exceptional.
But the best adjective to describe Record is ‘smooth’. Everything – from the click of the shifters and the movement of the derailleurs to the fantastic ceramic BB bearings – just works wonderfully.
The crankset/bottom bracket combination deserves special mention – it’s possibly the best we’ve ever used. Our test bike took the Ultra Torque external BB cups, so the crankset came with Campag’s own ‘Ultra Smooth Bearings’ pre-set, making set-up very simple.
From the first ride, we were astonished at the smoothness of the crankset, while pedalling was noticeably lower-friction when compared with our usual steel bearing-mounted BB30 bike.
At the shifting end, the Ergopower levers are extremely comfortable, and the thumb-shift system is something we’ve always had a weakness for.
One of the other bonuses with Campag is that you can buy every little part separately as a replacement and fit it yourself – if you’re brave enough!
Contact : www.campagnolo.com
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
