So it appears just like the rumors are true and there’s a brand new 13-speed Campagnolo Tremendous Document 13 WRL SC street groupset within the works. An eagle-eyed good friend of ours noticed the Staff Cofidis bikes kitted out with the all-new drivetrain on the Could Day Eschborn-Frankfurt UCI WorldTour race yesterday. And whereas we clearly don’t have any concrete particulars but, there’s loads we will select from this up-close sneak peek of what fairly clearly is a next-gen 2x 13-speed groupset from the Italian drivetrain consultants.
Let’s take a a lot nearer look!
Campagnolo Tremendous Document 13 WRL SC 13-speed prototype
Ever because the introduction of Campy Ekar’s 13-speed gravel groupset, we’ve questioned how lengthy it might take till the Italian part maker would add yet one more gear to their street bike gruppo as nicely. Now, after launching their first WRL wi-fi street groupset simply a few years in the past, it appears like Campagnolo Tremendous Document is about to mix 13-speeds and wi-fi digital shifting.
The rear derailleur we see right here is devoid of any branding. However there’s clearly loads of carbon or molded carbon composite building that appears to be out of well-developed molds. And if it’s able to race on the WorldTour with out being hidden, it’s most likely not to date off from a whole product launch.
However, it’s not completely clear that this outer cage is a remaining manufacturing piece although, so perhaps we’ll see some change in shaping earlier than it his the market.
Campagnolo was solely actually out of top-tier street racing for a single season. However this 12 months they’re again within the professional peloton with Staff Cofidis. And so they have already got a brand new groupset to race.
So, what do we all know?
13-speeds and Wi-fi!
A detailed look underneath the hood of this prototype Campy rear derailleur appears to have the identical detachable and rechargeable battery mounted to the internal parallelogram hyperlink, similar to Campagnolo Tremendous Document Wi-fi and Tremendous Document S Wi-fi, each of that are 12-speed. A wired connection hyperlinks the battery to the motor on the B-knuckle. However there aren’t any different wires on this wi-fi shift setup.
Additionally, there’s a little bit label there saying SR13WRLSC, which I learn as Tremendous Document 13sp Wi-fi SC.
Tremendous Document already bought a extra reasonably priced S model final fall in matte carbon. So, is it attainable that this model will change into an SC variation?
After all, we counted the cogs to verify.
Sure, it truly is 13-speed!
The R13 chain was the primary affirmation, chasing appears the identical because the C13 chain of Ekar & Ekar GT, simply now with hole pins on the street just like the earlier R12 12-speed chains of Document & Tremendous Document.
As for the 13-speed cassette itself, Staff Cofidis arrange their bikes with a 10-33T cluster, making for a wider vary setup than something we’ve seen but from Campy on the street. And which can use their newest N3W freehub commonplace, launched with Ekar and which may go as small as a 9T cog.
All-new entrance & rear Campagnolo Tremendous Document 13 WRL derailleurs
Whereas the rear derailleur is totally new right here, with a sharp-edged cage and extra skeletal look total, the entrance derailleur can also be new. It encompasses a revised design, in comparison with present Campagnolo Tremendous Document WRL.
The general share is sort of related, as is the carbon outer cage. Nevertheless it appears to be shorter total, tucking the hyperlinks larger up into the principle composite physique, whereas maintaining the identical detachable battery.
We additionally spot some branding on the brand new entrance derailleur that merely says, ‘Tremendous Document’.
The prototype Campagnolo Tremendous Document 13 drivetrain elements themselves look like all new. However the shifters, brakes, and crankset seem unchanged. Fingers crossed that this means that there could also be some cross-compatibility between present and future wi-fi elements. Possibly if we’re fortunate Campagnolo may have discovered some technique to make their wi-fi system extra modular like we’ve seen to nice success with SRAM’s AXS platform.
If Campagnolo strikes in the direction of 13-speed and wi-fi in a versatile system, it might imply good issues for each street and gravel choices sooner or later.
Parting ideas & Campy Tremendous Document 13 WRL hypothesis
A number of occasions within the evolution from 8 to 13-speeds, Campagnolo has been the primary to roll out extra gears and sometimes to debut among the lightest dropbar groupsets. This new Tremendous Document 13 WRL prototype actually ‘appears’ lighter with its skinny arms, massive cutouts, and a heavy dose of carbon or at the very least carbon composites. However there’s rather a lot we nonetheless don’t know.
Trying intently at this prototype rear derailleur, I discover that the parallelogram is positioned a lot additional under the standard derailleur hanger bolt than another present Campy derailleur, maybe hinting extra on the curving Campagnolo shift patent we lined a number of years in the past.
There are additionally all-new pulley tooth shapes and narrow-wide profiles that we’ve by no means seen from Campagnolo earlier than, suggesting that this prototype street derailleur could also be making an attempt to ship extra chain retention, as nicely. May that sign some gravel crossover? The P-knuckle doesn’t look giant sufficient to accommodate any type of clutch, however Ekar GT did vastly simplify Campy’s gravel answer final 12 months, so who is aware of?
What we all know for certain is that 13-speed wi-fi Campagnolo Tremendous Document is on the horizon.
And our curiosity is piqued!
Campagnolo.com
