On a frozen November day in 1927, a young Tullio Campagnolo rode over the Croce D’Aune Pass in the Gran Premio della Vittoria race.
Snow clung onto the mountain tops as temperatures hovered around zero degrees. Testing conditions were made harder by Tullio suffering a puncture. In times gone by, wheels were secured tight by wing nuts, avoiding the need to carry a spanner as they could be loosened by hand.
But not when your hands are frozen. Tullio wrestled with the wingnut but, fingers rendered redundant by the cold, the wheel remained clamped and he had to abandon.
In such adversity, the human spirit bares its soul.
Tullio was more than a racer.
He was a creative who dared to dream bigger, who dared to upset the status quo. He knew there must be a better way. Three years later, the quick-release skewer was born… and so was the Campagnolo legend that lives on today through the world-leading road and gravel equipment that graces the bikes of every rider who dares to think big, who dares to dream.
Campagnolo’s ethos of positivity and ingenuity, of standing out from the crowds, that everything can be improved upon, is core to our new ‘Dream Bigger’ mantra.
The idea of ‘Dream Bigger’ is grounded in the philosophy of Tullio Campagnolo and the company’s focus on innovation. ‘Dream Bigger’ is about demanding more from yourself and your equipment, about seeking bigger challenges and aiming higher.
This new brand initiative will catalyse a number of new Campagnolo, including a greater spotlight on women’s racing, continued growth in emerging disciplines like gravel and a revolutionary line-up of new products through 2022/2023.
Campagnolo believes every product can be improved upon.
It’s at the heart of what every Campagnolo engineer and designer does. And respectfully evolves the legacy of our father Tullio, who developed and filed an incredible 185 patents for myriad components before his passing in 1983.
One of those was the parallelogram-shaped Gran Sport in 1950, which transformed the world of derailleurs.
Tullio managed to achieve the improbable, balancing beauty and function, and would quite rightly lay claim to being the innovator of modern shifting.
Tullio’s unique vision came down to understanding the needs of a cyclist. To understand that cyclists possess the imagination and ambition to work towards making their dreams become reality. That’s whether you’re Tadej Pogacar maximising Campagnolo’s 12-speed Super Record EPS to conquer the Alps and Pyrenees at the Tour de France, or an adventurer seeking reliability, durability and speed at Unbound Gravel via Campagnolo’s game-changing 13-speed Ekar groupset.
Tenacity and perseverance is the essence of what made Campagnolo and every ambitious cyclist who they are.
The idea of making every ride special nestles within all of us, that a hard day on the bike will always beat a good day in the office.
Tullio simply had the capacity, determination and foresight to eke these attributes out of cyclists all around the world byforging products that married Italian sophistication and unrivalled craftsmanship.
Cycling historians will reflect on the beauty of the Delta brakes and the genius of the ‘gruppo’ – the idea that all components could be produced and sold as one rather than mix-and-matching hubs, cranks, brakes, derailleurs…
Innovation is why the likes of Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali chose Campagnolo, through to Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
That innovation continues apace in the present day where Benoit Cosnefroy, Fernando Gaviria and, of course, Pogačar dominate the world’s biggest races.
Campagnolo exists to inspire all cyclists and potential cyclists to extract every ounce of enjoyment, speed and desire from their riding, so please join us as we begin our new chapter in the rich Campagnolo story.
Live your dreams with us upon steep, challenging climbs, exhilarating descents or epic gravel adventures.
Ninety-five years after young Tullio imagined a better way, Campagnolo continues to do the same with each and every collectable product line.
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