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TECH NEWS

Campagnolo Potenza gets a shiny makeover from Cycloretro.com

Wow! How a mid-level groupset can look really, really lovely

Australia’s Cycloretro.com has taken to Campagnolo’s mid-level Potenza groupset with a pantograph kit and polisher and the results are stunning.

Campagnolo Potenza CycloRetro 3.jpg

Campagnolo launched Potenza just last March so it’s in no way vintage, but it looks amazing in Cycleretro.com’s polished finish with the addition of details and classic Campag logos. 

Campagnolo Potenza CycloRetro 2.jpg

Potenza is a mainly aluminium 11-speed groupset that’s available off the shelf in both black and silver finishes.

Campagnolo Potenza CycloRetro 4.jpg

Cycloretro.com offers bike restoration services for retro and classic bikes although a full Potenza groupset isn’t going to come cheap. The groupset itself costs about £550 but then you’re looking at AUS$100 (£61) to have a rear derailleur pantograph (engraving) and polish, AUS$160 (£97) for a pair of brakes, AUS $150 (£91) for the cranks… and so on. It’s a lot of work but the finished job looks amazing.

Campagnolo Potenza CycloRetro 7.jpg

Check out our complete guide to Campagnolo road groupsets. 

Campagnolo Potenza CycloRetro 7.jpg

Why not just go and buy a classic groupset in the first place? Well, you could do that, but you wouldn't be able to have an 11-speed system controlled by ErgoPower levers, or any of the other benefits of a modern groupset. We think this is a beautiful melding of classic and new.

For more info go to www.cycloretro.com.
 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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15 comments

Avatar
Ignatz | 6 years ago
0 likes

Lovely... now all we need are some natural-rubber lever hoods and we're away...

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Bubbleanddown | 7 years ago
0 likes

Aside from the 4-arm / 5-arm crank debate this looks absolutely great!

 

Avatar
pwake | 7 years ago
1 like

"Why not just go and buy a classic groupset in the first place? Well, you could do that, but you wouldn't be able to have an 11-speed system controlled by ErgoPower levers, or any of the other benefits of a modern groupset. We think this is a beautiful melding of classic and new."

But that's the great thing about Campag; there's still so much backward compatability that you only really need a rear derailleur and ergo shifters and everything else can stay classic.

My Colnago is a mix of new Athena and older Record; all the advantages of the new drivetrain with the classic looks.

Avatar
steviemarco | 7 years ago
2 likes

Not a Campy fan but that looks very nice indeed #maybeaconvert

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1961BikiE | 7 years ago
1 like

A work of art. Just what a steel bike needs.

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barbarus | 7 years ago
0 likes

No amount of polishing can fix that crankset, but the rest of it is gorgeous.

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cyclisto | 7 years ago
3 likes

If campy made a groupset with these looks, it would sell like hot cakes. They have the brand name, why don't they try it??

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Prosper0 | 7 years ago
2 likes

Looks hot. But tbh Potenza comes in a pretty stunning silver for retro bikes anyway. I'd only miss the drilled ergolevers on the custom set.  

 

 

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srchar | 7 years ago
0 likes

That is lovely. I wonder what they could do with my aluminium Athena groupset...

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kil0ran | 7 years ago
5 likes

Unadulterated filth.

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RobD | 7 years ago
5 likes

I really hope Campagnolo take some notice of this, surely they still have the tooling for the Athena chainset, that combined with something in a finish like this would be brilliant for retro bikes. 

I know they probably don't want to be seen as backward looking, but producing a non racing, stylish groupset would really give them something different to Shimano and Sram, they look a bit odd and oversized on something with a relatively slim set of steel tubes. 

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to RobD | 7 years ago
1 like

RobD wrote:

I know they probably don't want to be seen as backward looking

Tight or wrong, I think it might be too late for Campag on that front!

Avatar
handlebarcam | 7 years ago
6 likes

Groupset manufacturers take note: not everyone wants the black/grey stealth-look that works on crabon aero bikes, in either black or cirtus paint jobs, but looks dull on anything with vaguely classic lines and round tubing.

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Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
0 likes

Not sure about the wavy rear mech but the rest looks pretty tasty.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
3 likes

That does look very cool!

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