Campagnolo Super Record Power Meter spins HPPM Tech for Industry-Leading Accuracy
Two months ago we were the first to spot this new Campagnolo Super Record HPPM power meter crankset in the wild – in the most surprising of all places – at the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Tábor, Czechia. And now the long-rumored, long-awaited Campy power meter is finally here. Those familiar with the SRM x Campagnolo power meter option will see a lot of similarities. But this new Campy HPPM crank has packed in new High Precision Power Measurement tech with more strain gauges than we are used to seeing, to deliver industry-leading accuracy at a lighter weight…
Campagnolo Super Record HPPM power meter crankset
High Precision Power Measurement is how Campagnolo describes their new spider-based power meter. In fact, even though its arms clearly labeled it as a Campy Super Record crankset, the Italian component maker only ever directly refers to it as the Campagnolo HPPM power meter. That leans into the idea that they are focusing on the tech inside, more than updating their already expensive top-tier wireless road bike groupset.
What new tech is inside?
Now, what’s inside are 16 strain gauges arranged in 4 separate Wheatstone bridges and a 1 gyroscope. That’s so you get precise torque measurement accuracy throughout the full 360° pedaling. You get automatic accommodation for temperature changes. You also get high-frequency data sampling that measures angular velocity (cadence) every 5 milliseconds for smooth power curves (200x per second).
Those Wheatstone bridges are a bit unique in that the most accurate in-arm power meters (E.g. Infocrank) tend to use 1 Wheatstone bridge per arm with 4 strain gauges to ensure accuracy & temperature compensation. The most accurate spider power meters (E.g. SRM) tend to have 1 or 2 Wheatstone bridges per arm with 4 strain gauges each to ensure accuracy. Campy has 4 Wheatstone bridges placed around the spider (presumably at each arm connecting to the chainrings) with 16 strain gauges in total.
The resulting power measurement accuracy is said to be +/-1% (max 4000W power measurement), making the Campagnolo HPPM on par with the top
Campy Super Record HPPM power meter crankset details
This complete Campagnolo Super Record HPPM power meter crankset is said to weigh just 656g (172.5mm with 45/29T rings, bearings & crank bolt). That’s just 38g more than a standard Super Record crankset without a power meter. Or down a full 124g from 780g for the similar-looking SRM Campagnolo power meter with compact chainrings.
The Super Record HPPM crank keeps a narrow Q-factor of 148mm, up 2.5mm from standard SR cranks. (And still 17mm narrower at the BB axle with a 130.8mm U-factor to minimize crankarm rub). It uses the same new 4-bolt 121/88mm bolt circle diameter introduced with Campagnolo Super Record Wireless for the ultra-compact gearing that matches the latest 12-speed cassettes with 10T small cogs.
My Campy & Wireless compatibility
The latest version of the My Campy 3.0 app for iOS or Android lets you quickly calibrate the new power meter and check the battery charge status. The Campagnolo HPPM power meter has a claimed runtime of 5 weeks or 2500km on a single charge. It is recharged in 3 hours and 45 minutes via the same 2-prong magnetic USB cable as Super Record Wireless. And the li-po rechargeable battery inside can be replaced by Campagnolo.
The Campagnolo HPPM power meter is rated IP67 waterproof. It communicates via ANT+ & Bluetooth at 2.4GHz. Campagnolo certified it for use in North America, EU/UK, Australia, New Zealand & Japan.
What’s different than what we spotted at CX Worlds?
Interestingly, the obviously cyclocross race-ready prototypes that we spotted in February on Ryan Kamp gold Colnago G3X CX bikes were not exactly what we see here. Kamp’s prototypes all looked to include the new HPPM power meter spider. But they still were using the previous generation crankarms with the small bulge, still seen on current Record & Chorus carbon cranks. Kamp’s cranks also look to have the smaller diameter BB spindle of lower-tier cranks.
What is especially interesting though, is a new backside image that Campagnolo has provided of the new HPPM power meter reveals that the Super Record arms are fitted to the spider with a 4-toothed lockring. And appear to just be clocked with a hollow pin that lines up with that small external opening in the carbon crankarm. That suggests more crank arm options (and slightly lower pricing) will be an easy update to roll out in the future.
Campagnolo HPPM power meter – Pricing, options & availability
The new Campagnolo HPPM power meter crankset sells for $2449 / 2240€ fitted to a set of Super Record hollow UD carbon arms with an Ultra-Torque titanium axle and USB ceramic bearings. For that price, you pick from 170, 172.5, or 175mm arms and the latest SRW 45/29, 48/32, or 50/34T chainring combos. And you get the proprietary magnetic USB charging cable, that would also charge your Super Record Wireless derailleurs.
A complete Super Record Wireless groupset was already going to cost you 5200€. Deleting the standard cranks would save ~$950/1000€, presumably tallying the cost of a complete Campagnolo Super Record Wireless build with a power meter up to around $6900/6440€. We’ve asked Campagnolo to confirm groupset pricing, and that the new HPPM power meter should be available to consumers starting today. We will update as soon as we receive confirmation.
Lastly, remember that Super Record doesn’t seem to be very prominently listed in the Campagnolo HPPM naming. Read into that, what you want, but we couldn’t be entirely surprised to see an HPPM power meter spider pop up at other points in the range. Maybe on a slightly heavier, slightly less expensive set of Record or Chorus arms, or dare I say an off-road-ready Ekar HPPM power meter crank.
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