Campagnolo have launched their Electronic Power Shift technology in Italy, with both the Record and Super Record groupsets to go battery powered.

Components

The electronic parts of the EPS groupsets are made up by the front and rear gear mechanisms, battery pack and the ‘brain’, which relays the message sent from the shifters to the mechs. The groupsets will then take the remaining mechanical components – brakes, chainsets, cassettes – from the relevant existing groupset.

The differences in the two EPS groupsets somewhat mirror those in the existing mechanical technology, which will continue to be available. For example, Super Record EPS uses carbon fibre for its front derailleur outer cage and aluminium at the rear with ceramic pulleys, while Record EPS will use alloy at the front and a steel cage and standard pulleys at the rear.

Claimed weights are 2,184g for Record and 2,098g for Super Record, which makes both lighter than Shimano’s top-end Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset.

Shifting

Campagnolo have moved the thumb up-shifter to make it easier to reach from the drops. One key difference between Shimano and Campagnolo’s electronic offerings is the ability to change more than one gear at a time.

While with Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 and Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets each shift needs to be individually actioned, Campagnolo Record EPS and Super Record EPS shifting is time sensitive, meaning you can shift across the whole cassette in one go. Of course, this will take some getting used to, but Campag say you only need to shift for one-and-a-half second to move across all 11 gears.

Battery

Another difference between the two manufacturers’ electronic groupsets is in the battery. Di2 is powered by a removable and rechargeable li-ion battery, while EPS’ permanently enclosed battery is charged via a small port on the battery pack itself, which, according to Campagnolo, provides improved weatherproofing, with EPS components waterproof up to a depth of one metre.

As for battery life, that stands at 2,000km when ridden 2,000km per month, 1,841km (or 1.8 months) if you ride 1,000km per month, and 1,552km (or 3.1months) if you ride 500km per month. Full charge time is 1.5 hours, good for 500 charges. The charge indicator works on a traffic light system, before an alarm sounds when the battery has less than six per cent power remaining. Time to plug it in.

Pricing

Consumer prices have yet to be confirmed but Record EPS is set to cost something close to Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, so it’s fair to assume Super Record EPS will be considerably more.

Impressed? Discuss Campagnolo’s electronic groupsets in the forum.