Campagnolo electric gears on Staf Scheirlinckx’s Time (Cofidis)

The Tour de France is surely the biggest road test any new item of cycling equipment
can face and the 2007 edition has seen a few new bits on riders’ bikes. In London
we spotted the new Shimano
carbon Dura-Ace cranks. Now the Tour is back in France, the Campagnolo electric gear system has made
an appearance on the Cofidis team bike of Staf Scheirlinckx.

A number of manufactures have been associated with electric gear shifting. The Mavic ‘Zap’ system was used with some success by Chris Boardman
in time trials in the late 1990’s, but the later Mektronic production version fell foul of the UCI and failed to convince
the buying public. More recently, Campagnolo has been working on an electronic system for over two years now, and has refined the design to the point where it is being used regularly in professional competition. Shimano also have a system under test, but whilst that looks
rather crude with a large battery pack zip-tied to the down tube, the Campagnolo
approach looks almost ready to go.

The bug bears of ‘Zap’ were twitchy switches and short and unpredictable battery life. The new system sees the
Campagnolo battery neatly combined with a carbon water bottle cage. The system’s
use in the Alps would suggest that the power it delivers works the system well
enough. However, on this and other aspects of the system Campagnolo is staying very tight-lipped.

click to enlarge
The battery is combined in a carbon water bottle cage	The levers look very familiar	Left lever
A very tidy looking front mech	The front mech	Staf Scheirlinckx’s bike atop the Cofidis team car