CARLSBAD, CA (BRAIN)—Bicycle Retailer and Industry News recently had the chance to catch up with Campagnolo NA's new general manager Tom Kattus.
He spoke about where Campagnolo fits into the Shimano and SRAM competitive landscape these days.
"Shimano and SRAM make great products and are definitely formidable competitors," Kattus (pictured) said. "Shimano has a ton of OE spec from the low end all the way to the high end with virtually every manufacturer on the planet. SRAM has done a good job capturing some solid OE spec as well. It used to be, for all intents and purposes, Shimano and Campagnolo as your choice of components. With SRAM entering the picture, it’s forced us (Shimano and Campy) to sit up and take notice. I am a firm believer that healthy competition is a good thing; it forces all parties to be better and push the envelope of innovation and to investigate new technologies. This is not only good for us; it’s good for the distributors, OEMs, retailers and consumers. New innovations and technologies drive sales at retail which is good for all of us in the industry."
There have also been disputes on which is lighter, SRAM Red or Campy Record.
"I think SRAM publishes they are the lightest at 1928 grams for their Red groupset," Kattus said. "If that’s the case, they are lighter than us. Our lightest group is 1964 grams including chain. We are committed to producing products that have excellent performance and longevity for our customers. We produce our products as light as we feel appropriate for the parts intended application. We will not sacrifice performance and longevity to make a component a few grams lighter."
For the full Q & A with Kattus, be sure to read the July 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
—Jason Norman
