Campagnolo patents a new gear shift with a lever on the thumb

After the launch of the Campagnolo Wireless, many criticized the Italian brand for changing the ergonomics of their shift levers by giving up the thumb button to shift gears, a hallmark since integrated shifters were introduced in the 1980s. Now it seems that the Italian brand could bring back this way of shifting gears in future editions of their electronic groupsets.

Campagnolo is already working on the next generation of their electronic groupsets

Once again, a look at the patents registered by cycling brands gives us an idea of what they are working on for their upcoming products. The latest one that has caught the attention of the cycling world is the one presented by Campagnolo with solutions for the levers of their future electronic shifts.

We remind you that patents reflect lines of work and solutions devised by brands that are immediately protected so that competitors cannot use them. However, this does not mean that it is a product in development or that it will actually end up in production.

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In any case, many fans of the Italian brand would surely be pleased with what the latest Campagnolo patent shows, which includes shift levers with a thumb button. The difference is that this time it goes much further in its functionality, not only for shifting gears but also for controlling other elements of the bike, such as a dropper post on a gravel bike.

For this, the button will be able to perform different actions depending on how long it is pressed, allowing control of both gears and cogs with a single lever since the button located behind the brake lever disappears in the designs, somewhat similar to what SRAM does with their AXS groups but from a different approach.

Campagnolo also proposes other solutions in the patent for the shift button, such as an independent device that would be attached to the thumb like a ring and on which different actions on the shift could be performed, although it is not specified how.

We will have to see how these ideas are finally implemented, although the good news is that Campagnolo, despite having an increasingly marginal presence in the market, does not abandon its legendary groupsets and continues to evolve them.