Campagnolo does the most Campagnolo thing ever and drops a range of hop ups to make your Super Record Superer

Have you ever spent close to $5000, or £4000, on a groupset and decided that what you really need to do next is upgrade it? No, me neither. But Campagnolo are betting that there are some cyclists out there whose desire to jazz up their drivechain is as deep as their pockets.

The Italian brand is now offering some component upgrades to its top-tier Super Record 13 gruppo, designed, it says, to “enhance the performance and aesthetics” of the existing kit. These come in the shape of a carbon chainring, a titanium cassette and bottom bracket ceramic bearings.

Let’s start with the chainring. It’s made of a carbon fibre bearing structure with aluminum teeth. Campagnolo says the carbon increases rigidity, which translates to better power transfer. The 7075 aluminium teeth have been given an anodized heat treatment to deliver improved longevity.

So there’s the performance aspect. As for the aesthetic improvements, the made in Vicenza chainrings bear the Ultra logo, while the carbon is a nice match for the crank arms made from the same material. Claimed weights for the 50t and 52t versions are 78g and 102g respectively, which for $/£330 will save you 34g and 28g over the stock chainrings.

The cassette is made from aircraft-grade titanium, which I'm sure will be pointed out during a few club run café stops. Machined from a solid block of the stuff, again in Campag’s Vicenza facility, it is offered in a 36t (with 5 Ti sprockets) and 33t (4 Ti sprockets) version, with claimed weights of just 238g and 215g respectively. Again these deliver weight savings from the stock Super Record cassettes of 30g for the 10-33 cassette and 44g for the 11-36t and feature enhanced visuals. At $/£620 a pop it’s not an upgrade for the faint hearted or for those who view cleaning their drivechain as a chore and do it sparingly.

The fancy trio is rounded out by the Ultra Ceramic BB. The bearings are made from silicon nitride, “selected according to international aerospace standards” reads the press release. This means a pure and round ball bearing with an optimum surface quality that should result in great performance and durability. The internal bearing cage has also been redesigned, made from resin to reduce both noise and friction. This is combined with a double-seal system, with an internal seal sitting between the inner and outer rings to offer better protection. Oh, and it's around 3g lighter.

All told, the Ultra upgrades will shave 81g off your existing Super Record 13 groupset. And it’s not the only thing that will be lighter. Your wallet will be down some $/£1,114 for the three items combined.

Naturally these kinds of products are divisive and tend to light up the online comments section as people lose their heads over products that they don’t have to buy. And that’s really the point. Yes, this Ultra upgrade kit is ludicrously expensive and, for most of us, largely pointless, given that the existing Super Record 13 chainring, cassette and bottom bracket all performed splendidly during our recent test. But fancy upgrades have long been a component of cycling culture, as has the pursuit of faster and lighter. And the choice to partake is yours, and yours alone.