Campag Flatbar stuff – At last!

At long last Campagnolo have returned to the flat bar gear control market with these rather lovely carbon Chorus 10 speed Ergopower levers. They will also be available in Mirage, Veloce and Centaur. So hopefully in a 9 speed option too.
The Ergopower Flat Bar project stems from the concept of providing Campagnolo to cyclists wishing to ride more comfortably. Ergopower Flat Bar controls incorporate the brake lever and gear shifter in one single component, resulting in a compact design and astonishing lightness. In fact we’re talking about a mere 340 g a pair, almost 100 g less than rivalling products.
Campagnolo’s engineers have claimed to concentrate on the actuating force necessary to shift the chain up and down, and that the Ergopower Flat Bar controls allow multiple gear upshifting, i.e. the possibility of shifting up more than one gear in one single action.
An adjusting barrel fitted on the brake lever allows the distance between the lever and the handlebar grip to be adjusted.

…and lovely Italian styling

However in order to maintain reliable indexed shifting, the Ergopower Flat Bar controls will require a special front derailleur. Since the drive mechanism differs from that of standard Ergopower controls – a particular kind of front derailleur geometry had to be used. More news on this later.

Will they be re-entering the Mountain Bike market soon? Watch this space…

No more shipped chains with compact drive front mech.

New front derailleurs for Record CT drivetrains
We ran a feature on
compact drive
And discussed the issues with front derailleurs. This new front derailleur has been created especially for the Record CT drivetrain. And as Campagnolo explain:
‘The smaller chainring dimensions required the cage to be more curved in order to prevent the tail from moving too far away from the chainrings. The edge of the inner cage plate in friction-resistant aluminium is higher so that the chain can be shifted easily from the smaller chainring to the larger one. When viewed from the front, one will notice an inverted “S” shape which facilitates chain shifting from the larger chainring to the smaller one.
If this particular front derailleur is not used, the chain could drop onto the bottom bracket shell and crisp shifting would not be possible when riding uphill.’

lighter than a triple, more gear options than a double

Compact Drivetrain
The Record CT crankset is manufactured within Campagnolo’s Composites Department in Vicenza, using a technology that exploits the finest characteristics of Multidirectional Carbon Fiber and Unidirectional Carbon Fiber technologies. The Record CT crankset is available with 34-48, 34-50 or 36-50 chainrings and with 170, 172.5 or 175 mm cranks. The chainrings, which have been specially treated for durability, are only compatible with Campagnolo CT cranksets.
Expect to see more Compact drive cranks in Chorus and Centaur ranges in the near future.

Carbon cranks for budget groups

Centaur has lightened up a little for 2005 with a BB and a carbon crank. There is also a Carbon bottle cage for that finishing touch. Other ranges have new finishes and more gear options. 10 speed will be throughout the range before too long.

lighter BB for Centaur

This Bottom Bracket will replace the reliable but heavy older version.

The all important finishing touch

Availablity for all of this? Hopefully before Christmas.
www.campagnolo.com