I happened upon this article in Cycling News yesterday because ‘Campagnolo’ was in the title. The writer’s prediction is that Campy, now not even supplying one World Tour team, will become a luxury brand, like Gucci, the writer says.

CN quotes Davide Campagnolo as saying just as much last year and the price of their electronic groupset (Super Record, mind you) leads one to believe they aren’t focusing on the Great Unwashed (€4500+).

I am a long-time and loyal user of Campy products and I’m already feeling the pressure. I mentioned in a previous post that I couldn’t easily find Swiss Stop brake pads for Campagnolo; and now I’m having to find an alternative solution for a wheelset I’m in the process of ordering (more on that later). Campy was always a little niche, at least in my lifetime as a cyclist, but I always felt safe being next to Italy and I’ve never had trouble sourcing stuff till now.

This could be the nail in the coffin (I’ve already decided to go non-Campy for my next bike because the gruppo will be electronic) for me and this most stylist and dependable of machinery.