This is it.

The last best mechanical rim brake bicycle component group. Groupset. Gruppo? The pinnacle of fine bicycle components. True cyclismo distilled into carbon, titanium, alloy, resin, and a little bit of stainless steel where you need it. It’s all been downhill from this. Sure, we have wider gear ranges now. But the elegance is gone.

Do you remember 2009? Campganolo re-introduced “Super-Record” components, and this time, they went to eleven.

It was a big deal. The “Super-Record” name is iconic. It was first introduced in 1973, the year before Eddy Merckx won his 5th Tour de France on the fine Italian components. In 1986, the first (and only) American to win the Grande Boucle did so on Super Record. So did a badger and a professor, both frenchmen.

“Super-Record” is over the top. The best available. Acme. Bussin’ and based AF to the youngsters. It inspires feelings of inadequacy among Dura-Ace users. Rightly so.

This example is a complete set. The condition is exceptional. They work beautifully, and the condition is excellent. There is a tiny scratch on the carbon surface on the rear derailleur– look at the pictures for an idea of the condition. The tips of the cranks and the brake levers are clean. They have never been leaned against a wall. I hope they never will be, but that’s up to you.

The crankset is 50/34 compact gearing with 172.5mm arms. The rear derailleur cage is “short.” The bottom bracket threads are BSA (English). The pads are in good shape. The Campagnolo Record chain registers at .25 on my Park Tool CC-2 Chain Checker, which means “new.”

I’m sure you’ve noticed the issue with the front derailleur. A small plastic piece, the “cage clip” connecting the front and back plates of the cage, is missing. It has never been available as a spare part from Campagnolo, but I have a 3d printed replacement on its way from Germany right now. It was $30. As a temporary fix, I’ve put a fancy Monster Bolts titanium m4 bolt in the plastic piece’s place. I’ll ship with both of these fixes included.

There’s something funny about this component group– it was manufactured at the end of the era when it was in fashion among designers to add text labels absolutely everywhere, including a 9-word missive on the meaning of the “CULT System” printed on the sides of both crank arms.

But what absolutely befuddles me is the label at the top of each crank arm identifying the “Q-Factor” as 145.5mm. (that’s a racy and athletic Q-factor, if you are wondering.) How on earth did a phrase, coined by American retrogrouch and anti-carbon prosthelytizer Grant Peterson, get printed on World-Tour level carbon racing parts? Maybe an Escape Collective-reporteur could investigate and find out?

Adding to the mystery is the fact that the etymology of “Q-Factor” is an inside joke made at the expense of a classmate of Grant’s with mental health challenges, who wore a shirt “with an equator of hand-painted red upper case Q’s around the middle.” The shirt’s wearer explained, ‘“I’m living in a nuthouse down the street, but I come and go as I please. The Q’s mean, ‘quack-quack-quack-quack…’” See Rivendell Reader 44 for more info…

One last thing about these parts– and this is what the powers that be don’t want you to know: this groupset will work beautifully with any 11 speed shimano cassette that falls within the capacity limits of the rear derailleur. You DO NOT need a campy-specific cassette or hub shell to get the benefits of this group. You can literally use any shimano-sram standard 8/9/10/11 speed cassette body. It honest-to-gosh works great.

In any case, this is a good set of bike parts. If you’re interested, please reach out! Interesting offers considered…