Super Record level components represent the ultimate in bike component design, aesthetics, and innovation. Campagnolo has always used the the group as a signature statement. Anyone who is familiar with this high level of Italian design understands that the premium materials are applied not just for show, but to enable premium performance. For Super Record since 2010 this has been most boldly stated with incredible carbon fiber construction processes that not only reduce weight, deliver incredible component strength and stiffness, but enhance performance at the highest margins of the sport of cycling. yes, it also delivers serious bling and a personal statement about the owner as well. A single glance at the Super Record 12-Speed Crankset encapsulates that story. And we warn you, a single glance won't suffice. Regardless of your personal aesthetic response, the carbon spider of the driveside arm will sharpen your focus, hold your attention, and inspire your soul.

Before delving deeply in the carbon construction we should point out Campagnolo's commitment to creating a crankset set-up, dimensions, and q-factor that match what the Italian manufacturer has produced for over a decade. With the breathtaking 12-Speed drivetrain system the designers faced the realities of wider frame spacing for larger volume tires as well as the reality that the chainline needed to effectively handle rear dropouts from 130mm-142mm wide. Campagnolo's engineers solved the challenges via the crankset and chainring designs without changing their traditional 145.5mm q-factor or ultimately changing the UltraTorque crank / bottom bracket system. As such you get the same split axle system with the splined Hirth coupling, pre-installed bearings and 10mm Hex center-axle fastening bolt- accessed from the non-drive side. The cups that the bearings ride on still function in the same way, and have the same frame-specific options (threaded, PressFit, etc.). The special material refinements are largely difficult to see, but the striking visual effect of the UD carbon crankarms and spider system are the exception.

To make the teeth of the chainrings thinner for the 5.15mm chain and tighter spacing of 12-speed, as well as pitched properly for the chainline, Campagnolo needed to make the Super Record 12 driveside crankarm / spider assembly stronger and stiffer. Some of that gain was made in the UD carbon fiber used and how the carbon lends itself to lightweight, stiff construction. Two 4-hole chainring BCD mount standards, one for the outer (145mm) chainring, and one for the inner (112mm) chainring created very stout mounting points so that each ring was secured directly to the carbon via a shorter bolt, and more in line with the circumference of the ring, maintaining better overall stiffness closest to the stress point created by the chain riding on the teeth. The second design feature impacting the stiffness of the 4-arm asymmetric spider is the gradual wasting of the wide carbon "arms", which extend much further outward towards the circumference and connecting between the arms that bridge the greatest stress zones under load of the large chainring, adding incredible ring reinforcement and support,delivering the incredible aesthetic of this amazing design. Yet is the ultimate performance benefit that drove the engineering, with the visual effect surely enhanced- but not the raison d'être.

Super Record 12's performance is also maximized by the highest quality materials overall. The SR-level crankset also carries a lighter weight titanium axle with CULT ceramic bearings. The combination delivers exceptional power transfer with reduced friction and an impossibly smooth feel while pedaling. The attention to detail follows in the sculpted aluminum Super Record 12-Speed Chainrings, which are not only maximized for paired performance in up and down shifts, but also how they manage the chain when not shifting. The inner ring features fully symmetrical teeth, which hold the chain better while the chain is under slightly less tension, especially under the extended angles of wider spacing and the full cog ranges of a 12-Speed Cassette. It is also sculpted to reduce weight over the Record 12 version. The large ring features the most specific shifting technologies, with gates, pins and pick-up zone primed for the the lightning fast responses required of 12-speed. The pins and gates vary with the double chainring combination selected, thus a 34-50 has fewer, the 39-53 has more. All positions are optimal for each set-up. Campagnolo is using a surface treatment to harden the rings and teeth, as well as fight corrosion and wear while promoting lower friction on the chain.

If Record is the standard bearer, Super Record is the ultimate build and promotional tool for the Campagnolo brand. First, the aesthetics, materials, enhancements and performance are all of the highest level. Second, none of that comes cheap. Yet Super Record 12 will be fully available and always sells. It is no one-off creation meant to impress but a fully functional, at the highest level, component specification. With the Super Record 12 Crankset not only do you gain the proven efficiency of CULT ceramic bearings, the increased stiffness of the outer chainring and spider, as well as the other harder to quantify aspects of the construction, but you also save 92 grams from the Record 12 model. We aren't all gram counters, but that is an impressive number off the already lightweight Record 12 Crankset. When you factor in that every Super Record part and component is subject to the same design, material selection and engineering processes you can see not only see, but feel the difference across a groupset. That is Super Record 12- not a badge, a graphic nor money grab, but the ultimate enhancement of a top-level, pro tour ready component system.