New ‘special edition’ groupset brings expanded gearing range, new wheels and slightly cheaper prices
Campagnolo has announced Super Record S Wireless – a new Special Edition version of its flagship road bike groupset, Super Record Wireless.
The new groupset offers a wider range of gearing choices at “a very competitive price” of £3,526 / $4,299 / €3,990.
The Italian brand says this lower price was achieved by a “more moderate use of extreme materials” and a solid, instead of hollow, carbon crankset. Campagnolo claims this adds only 150g to the overall groupset weight.
The groupset also debuts a matt black finish, with a new range of ‘Matt Edition’ Bora WTO and Bora Ultra WTO wheels to match.
A cheaper – but not ‘cheap’ – Super Record Wireless
In the midst of tough economic times across much of the world, many cyclists have been crying out for more value-focused bikes and gear.
In recent years, though, Campagnolo has shifted further towards catering for those shopping at the high end of the road market, phasing out its cheaper electronic road bike groupsets such as Record and Chorus EPS.
The Italian brand retains lower-priced mechanical road bike groupsets in its line-up, but with today’s road bikes being increasingly focused on electronics and integration, these have faded in popularity with mainstream brands.
When it launched Super Record Wireless (£4,499 / $5,399 / €5,200) last year, though, Campagnolo noted it had always trickled its flagship technology down to lower-priced groupsets.
With Super Record S Wireless, then, we finally have that – although, at £3,526 / $4,299 / €3,990, it’s perhaps not as cheap as many Campagnolo fans were hoping.
In comparison, Shimano’s and SRAM’s second-tier electronic road bike groupsets – Ultegra Di2 R8100 and Force AXS – cost £2,328 / $2,400 and £1,728 / $2,176 / €1,952 respectively, at full RRP.
In fact, Super Record S Wireless is about as expensive as Shimano and SRAM’s flagship road groupsets, Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 and Red AXS.
At RRP, those cost roughly £3,600 / $4,300 / €3,460 and £4,090 / $4,090 / €4,135 respectively.
Of course, RRPs and real-world prices often differ greatly, so we’ll have to wait and see how bikes specced with Super Record S Wireless end up being priced on shop floors.
A little more weight
Price aside, the headline changes come in terms of a small amount of added weight and an expanded range of gear options.
As previously noted, Campagnolo says Super Record S Wireless is 150g heavier than a standard Super Record Wireless groupset. This is due to the use of slightly cheaper materials and solid, rather than hollow, carbon cranks.
Super Record Wireless weighs 2,518g for a complete groupset (without a power meter), so a Super Record S Wireless groupset should weigh around 2,670g.
At the time of writing, we don’t have individual component weights, so it’s not clear whether the increases are concentrated in a few parts or spread out more evenly across the groupset.
As with pricing, this puts Super Record S Wireless somewhere in between the flagship and second-tier groupsets from Shimano and SRAM.
The Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset we tested, for example, weighed 2,579g (including a power meter and bottom bracket), while the latest SRAM Red AXS weighed 2,548g in an equivalent configuration.
In contrast, Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 R8100 groupset weighs 2,824g without a power meter and SRAM’s Force AXS groupset weighs 2,922g with its integrated power meter spider.
| Groupset | Price | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campagnolo Super Record Wireless | £4,499 / $5,399 / €5,200 | 2,520g | Excluding power meter and bottom bracket |
| Campagnolo Super Record S Wireless | £3,526 / $4,299 / €3,990 | 2,670g | Estimated weight, excluding power meter |
| Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 | £3,600 / $4,300 / €3,460 | 2,579g | Including power meter and bottom bracket |
| Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8100 | £2,328 / $2,400 | 2,824g | Excluding power meter, including bottom bracket |
| SRAM Red AXS | £4,090 / $4,090 / €4,135 | 2,548g | Including power meter and bottom bracket |
| SRAM Force AXS | £1,728 / $2,176 / €1,952 | 2,922g | Including power meter and bottom bracket |
More gearing range and choices
As well as the existing 45/29, 48/32 and 50/34-tooth chainring combinations, Campagnolo has added three larger sets; 52/36, 53/39 and 54/40t.
Campagnolo says this enables the groupset to satisfy the demands of “the simple enthusiast, the advanced amateur or the demanding professional”.
It’s perhaps little surprise to see Campagnolo taking this route, because professional riders have stubbornly refused to adopt the smaller chainrings promoted in recent years by the likes of SRAM and Campagnolo (in fact, chainring sizes in the pro peloton have grown in recent years).
When we first saw Super Record Wireless in the wild at the 2023 Tour de France, for example, it was aboard Ben O’Connor’s prototype BMC aero bike (later revealed to be the BMC Teammachine R), with the new derailleurs paired with a 54/39t power meter crankset from the previous-generation groupset.
In terms of cassettes, there are three options with Super Record S Wireless – 10-27, 10-29 and a new 11-32t option.
Unlike with Super Record Wireless, there’s no 10-25t option.
Campagnolo says the new chainrings and cassettes use “the same always precise and reliable technology”, ensuring the same shifting speed and reliability as with Super Record Wireless.
Everything else is a mystery
Beyond that, Campagnolo has only provided limited details about the rest of the Super Record S Wireless groupset.
We know the crankset uses Campagnolo’s signature Ultra-Torque construction, which sees the two sides of the crankset connected within the bottom bracket by a Hirth joint.
Likewise, the bottom bracket uses Campagnolo’s Pro-Tech sealed bearings.
From the provided images, we can surmise the shape of the integrated shift and brake levers is the same.
Super Record S Wireless also uses the same two-button shifting layout as Super Record Wireless (meaning there’s no thumb shifter).
The brakes, front and rear derailleurs appear almost identical, aside from a subtly different finish and updated logos, with the same external batteries being used.
Campagnolo says the groupset is compatible with the brand’s recently launched HPPM power meter (as well as, presumably, other existing Super Record Wireless parts), although it’s not clear whether having it with the new Super Record S Wireless cranks will help bring the price down at all.
For context, the HPPM power meter with hollow Super Record Wireless cranks costs $2,449 / €2,240.
Matt finish and new wheels
At a glance, the main thing differentiating Super Record S Wireless from its pricier sibling is its matt finish.
Despite its lower price, Campagnolo has still made heavy use of composite materials across the new groupset, but these don’t get the same gloss finish as on Super Record Wireless.
To ensure visual harmony on a prospective bike build, Campagnolo has also announced a line of ‘Matt Edition’ Bora Ultra WTO and Bora WTO wheelsets.
Campagnolo hasn’t provided any details on the specifications of these wheelsets, but we assume that – finish aside – they’ll be identical to the existing Bora Ultra WTO and Bora WTO wheelsets (which feature rims with a gloss finish).
This means they’ll likely be available with 35, 45 or 60mm-deep rims, with internal and external widths of 23 and 28.4mm respectively.
The Bora Ultra WTO Matt Edition wheels cost $4,149 / €3,800, with the cheaper Bora WTO Matt Edition wheels costing $2,949 / €2,700.
As with the existing wheelsets, we expect the difference between the two ranges will come down to things such as the carbon layup of the rims, the types of bearings in the hubs and so on.