Oh yeah…as I said upthread, Campy get targeted for hate because American people don’t know how to pronounce it, think they can’t afford it, and think it’s for elitist cycling snobs. That really offends their populist sensibilities, so they rally around the Toyota of components, Shimano.

You notice it’s never SRAM posited as the Campy antithesis, always Shimano.

It’s a weird dynamic, but very real. In my case, it was SRAM whose stole Campagnolo’s seat at the table with wireless. As one of the dying breed of guys who builds up bikes from framesets more often than buying complete bikes, SRAM’s fully wireless was more attractive in terms of ease of use.

I really think that Campagnolo misjudged the way the market was developing in the way of how bikes get built. I suspect the Asia production shift didn’t scare them as it should because they held onto the dying idea that shops would be selling framesets and buyers speccing the kit they wanted. Rightly, Campagnolo presumed people would always choose Campagnolo in a good percentage. They failed to see that choice was going out the window.

The big brands leveraged deals with Shimano to turn bike shops into company brand stores, and the indie shops who used to carry and sell a variety of small brands and bits disappeared. Less buyer choice in terms of brands and components coupled with a technological imperative to integrate design and develop new standards formats all worked to land Campagnolo in the hard spot they’re in.

We’re now squarely in the DTC realm; Canyon have blown that wide open. Supply chain is therefore more critical than ever, since there is no intermediate bike shop between producer and customer. I think this may present a lifeline for Campagnolo if the can find a partner builder to strike a deal with. We’ll see. The tariffs issue and trade silo-ing is creating new opportunities because EU brands may be forced to turn away from their traditional, American market. Campy’s already got a subsidiary in Japan, production in Taiwan… Who knows.