The Italian component demigods at Campagnolo have announced a special edition of the company’s Super Record group to commemorate 80 years since Campagnolo was founded.

The story – almost a legend – goes that Tullio Campagnolo was racing over the Croce d’Aune pass in the Italian Dolomites on November 11, 1927 when he needed to remove his rear wheel. Unable to unfasten the bike’s wingnuts because of the cold, he swore to come up with a better way of attaching the wheel.

In 1933 Tullio Campagnolo introduced the first quick release hubs, made in his father’s workshop in Vicenza, and an empire was founded.

Thirty years ago, just before Tullio Campagnolo died and the company passed on to his son Valentino, Campagnolo introduced a 50th anniversary group with gold coins set into the components.

For the eightieth anniversary group, Campagnolo says the finish has been designed to be durable enough that you could actually used these parts. (Unlike the 50th anniversary components, most of which never seem to have made it out of their presentation boxes.)

Campagnolo says it’s used, “new finishing techniques such as humid-state microsanding on carbon fiber parts, new opaque finishing procedures on aluminum parts and new treatments for often overlooked technical pieces … to offer not only a sleek and elegant look but also one that resists the test of time and use. Even the celebratory logo is itself a product of countless hours of research and testing to ensure that it resists even the harshest and most aggressive cleaning agents.”

Only 2,013 sets will be made, each individually numbered. UK retail price will be £2,599.

More details will be available from March 4 at anniversary.campagnolo.com. Meantime, here’s some blatant bike porn of the components and the accompanying wheels.