Once more I find myself sitting in Darren Kenny's kitchen, drinking hot and strong coffee and gazing upon a vision of loveliness in carbon fibre. Enough, though, about Darren's walking stick. I was here this time to revisit the joy of riding an Estrella Camino Liso through the New Forest, this time kitted out with Campagnolo's newest groupset, Potenza 11.
Potenza is Italian for 'power', and to be honest the temptation to roar "I have the POWER" like Prince Adam of Eternia was almost too great for my level of maturity. However, I resisted because I was sharing the kitchen with Rob Ellis, co-founder of Estrella Bikes, and I had to act like a grown up. I'd briefly met Rob at the launch event last year and he greeted me like an old friend. Darren checked the bike over while I got changed and we all headed out together.
As ever, the feel of the Camino Liso was sublime. The handling sure and predictable, with no pedal energy wasted in flex, no hesitation in the acceleration, no dramas in the cornering. First impressions with the gear changing in the Potenza were good - as good as its rival in the groupset hierarchy, Shimano's Ultegra.
Aimed specifically at addressing the 29-tooth limitation of Athena and up, the Potenza comfortably accommodates rear cogs up to 32. It has also been refined to be more like the electronic EPS, with the horizontal thumb button found on Athena and older Campagnolo ergo shifters eschewed in favour of one more accessible from the drops.
This means that there isn't enough internal movement for multiple downshifts, like in Chorus and above, but this is not an issue for me. I'm an Uptown Upshifty Trundler, not a Downshift Sprinty Guy.
The four arm crankset looks very cool, but not so far from Campag prius to upset the purists (I may be wrong there). The brakes, skeleton to save weight, are as efficient as any in this range specification. The 'European' set up on the bike caught me out once again and while giving a right turn hand signal, an attempted feathering of (what I forgotten was) the front brake caused a twitch and an involuntary 'wheyhey' not heard since Jack Douglas in his Carry On pomp.
The main contact point of the Potenza, the hoods, feel less rubbery than my Athena, much of the cushioning being under the surface giving them a smoother but no less grippy feel. They actually feel tiny compared to Shimano shifters, but are no less comfortable for it. The upshifters are tucked behind the nicely sculpted brake levers and have a light action, full of feedback.
One thing I particularly liked was the change Campagnolo have made to the limit screws on the rear mech. Having previously given mine a road-side mashing with an ill-fitting cross-head screwdriver, I was pleased to see they are now Allen grub screws which should be more resilient to abuse.
Another piece of good news for home mechanics (and to be fair, all mechanics) is the change to the fit of the crank, now incorporating a self-extracting system on the non-drive side. This would mean the likes of me no longer have to scour the LBS for specialist crank pullers, and someone willing or brave enough to use them.
All in all, I think Campagnolo have done an excellent job on the Potenza. Slick and light enough, both in weight and action, to please riders looking for refinement, but still maintaining their trademark precision, borderline agricultural, 'clunk' in the shifting.
With an RRP of £699.95 you can find the full groupset on offer at closer to £500 - and at that price, Potenza starts to look a tempting upgrade for anyone keen to treat their beloved to some performance jewellery from Italy.
For more details on the Potenza groupset see www.campagnolo.com.
Campagnolo Potenza is coming soon as a build option on the Estrella Camino Liso - see www.estrella-bikes.com.
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