Iconic Italian components company Campagnolo is to finally release its electronic groupset next month, according to Bike Europe. The Italian company was expected to announce the release of the system, to rival Shimano’s Di2, at the Eurobike and Interbike shows at the end of the summer, but for some reason was not quite ready to do so. Campagnolo will instead be presenting the new equipment to its sponsored teams and the media at a special event in Sicily on November 7th.
Movistar has been using a prototype version of Campagnolo’s electronic groupset all season, under the “Campy Tech Lab” label. The Spanish team has apparently suffered no recognisable problems with the equipment, even using it over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. Movistar has taken stage wins in all three Grand Tours this season: at the Giro d’Italia with Francisco Ventoso and Vasil Kiryienka, at the Tour de France with Rui Costa, and at the Vuelta a España with Pablo Lastras.
Like Campagnolo’s big rival Shimano’s electronic Di2 system, the Campy Tech Lab electronic group is a wired system that features a battery pack usually positioned on the down tube behind the bottle cage. Campagnolo’s pack is visibly larger than the Shimano equivalent however, since it reportedly contains the system’s processor. Unlike Shimano’s system, the Campagnolo levers – at least those used by Movistar – are identical in shape to their mechanical counterparts; they also have the same function, with a small paddle behind the brake lever to shift in one direction and a thumb lever on inside of the hood to shift the other.
The release date is reportedly set for November 7th so that the Campagnolo sponsored teams, who will be riding electronic in 2012, can get a chance to become accustomed to the new groupset before their first training camps in December.
Shimano released the Di2 version of Ultegra this year and, in response to Campagnolo’s expected release, is rumoured to be planning on launching 11-speed Dura-Ace Di2, including disc brakes, in its 2013 range.