Right now, in July 2026, you can walk into a shop and buy a 13 speed groupset for your road bike. From exactly one of the big three drivetrain makers, and it's the smallest one. Shimano, meanwhile, just shipped the first products ever stamped with 9300-series numbering, and SRAM hasn't said one official word about 13-speed on the road. What follows is the full state of play with dates attached: real prices, verified specs, what this week's Dura-Ace wheel launch actually tells us, and a way to decide whether you should buy now or wait.

Key takeaways

- Campagnolo is the only brand shipping a 13-speed road groupset. Super Record 13 ($4,750 / €4,300) has been on sale since June 2025. The cheaper Record 13 (€2,399 for 2×13) arrived on 29 April 2026, which puts 13-speed at Ultegra Di2 money.

- Shimano's 13-speed Dura-Ace R9300 is still unannounced, but the evidence file keeps getting thicker: 2024 patents for a fully wireless 2×13 drivetrain, a 13th-cog leak in the E-Tube app, and, on 29 July 2026, the launch of the WH-R9370 wheels, the first-ever 9300-series products. The bike press now expects a groupset reveal between late 2026 and mid-2027.

- SRAM says nothing about road 13-speed but already sells it on gravel. Red XPLR AXS has been a 1×13 groupset since August 2024, and Force XPLR brought 13-speed down to $2,153. Road rumours point to 2027.

- The freehub is the practical deal-breaker. Campagnolo's 13-speed uses the existing N3W standard and SRAM uses existing XDR, so current wheels survive. Nobody knows what Shimano will use, and the expectation is something new.

What's new in 2026: the 13-speed timeline just accelerated

The 13-speed story has been simmering since Campagnolo's Ekar gravel groupset in 2020. The last fifteen months turned it into a three-way arms race, and the last 90 days have been the busiest stretch yet.

Here's the sequence with dates, because in a story moving this fast the dates are the analysis:

• June 2025 — Campagnolo launches Super Record 13, the first consumer 2×13-speed road groupset. Fully wireless: no central wiring harness, each derailleur carries its own battery.
• October 2025 — Campagnolo adds a Super Record 13 "Ultra" upgrade tier with carbon chainrings, a titanium cassette and ceramic bottom-bracket bearings. The Super Record 13 X gravel variants round out the family in late 2025.
• Early 2026 — A Shimano E-Tube Project app update quietly shows a 13th rear-cog position in its gear-usage screen. Shimano's response is a classic non-denial: the current portfolio has no 13-speed options, and the app is "designed with future compatibility in mind."
• February 2026 — Mathieu van der Poel wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on an unreleased, unbadged Dura-Ace carbon-spoke wheelset, a C50-style rim with hidden nipples, field-tested months before any announcement.
• 29 April 2026 — Campagnolo launches Record 13: five cheaper 13-speed wireless options across road, all-road and gravel, from €2,129.
• 29 July 2026 — Shimano officially launches the Dura-Ace WH-R9370 wheels, the first products ever to carry 9300-series numbering. On sale from September 2026.

Look at the shape of that list. One brand is shipping and moving downmarket. One is leaving a paper trail while announcing nothing. One is completely silent. And every major "13-speed state of play" article we could find was written before the 29 July wheel launch, which is exactly why the picture deserved a fresh look.

Campagnolo: the only 13-speed road groupset you can actually buy

Strip away the rumours and you're left with one fact that anchors everything else: Campagnolo Super Record 13 has been shipping since June 2025, and in mid-2026 it's still the only 2×13 road groupset money can buy.

The numbers hold up. The complete groupset costs $4,750 / €4,300, which is actually cheaper than the previous 12-speed Super Record Wireless generation. Flagship pricing does not usually move in that direction. Claimed weight is 2,445 g without a power meter; Campagnolo's HPPM crank-based power meter adds $1,150 / €1,100. The architecture is fully wireless, each derailleur running its own battery.

The gearing spread is unusually wide for a flagship. Four cassettes (10-29, 10-33, 11-32, 11-36) pair with seven chainring combinations, from a climbing-friendly 45/29 up to a 55/39 time-trial monster, and the front derailleur handles everything from 29 to 55 teeth. Battery life is sensible too: each derailleur battery charges in about an hour and lasts roughly 750–1,000 km, while the shifters run CR2032 coin cells that go 18–24 months between changes.

Two more things matter if you're actually buying. First, Super Record 13 keeps Campagnolo's existing N3W freehub standard, so current N3W-equipped wheels bolt straight on. No new wheelset required. Second, this is not Campagnolo's first 13-speed rodeo. The mechanical Ekar 1×13 gravel groupset has been in service since 2020, which means the Italians have been building and refining 13-speed drivetrains longer than anyone in the industry.

Here's the strange part, though: zero of the 18 men's WorldTour teams ride Campagnolo in 2026. Shimano equips 10 of 18 teams; SRAM covers the other 8. The most advanced production road groupset on the market has no presence in the sport's top flight. That's sponsorship economics, not a verdict on the hardware.

Record 13: the trickle-down that changes the maths

If Super Record 13 proved 13-speed works, Record 13 made it affordable. I'd argue this is the most under-reported shift in the whole story.

Launched on 29 April 2026, Record 13 spans five wireless variants across road, all-road and gravel. The 2×13 road groupset costs £2,300 / €2,399; the 1× version drops to £1,800 / €2,129; a power meter adds roughly £560. That's over £1,400 / €1,600 cheaper than Super Record 13, and it lands squarely in Shimano Ultegra Di2 and SRAM Force AXS territory.

The weight penalty for saving that much money is small. Record 2×13 road comes in at 2,783 g, just 208–342 g heavier than Super Record 13 depending on variant, with the 1×13 road build at 2,656 g. Against its direct rivals the gap almost disappears: Ultegra Di2 2×12 weighs 2,716.5 g (66.5 g lighter than Record) and Force AXS 2×12 weighs 2,689 g (94 g lighter). Campagnolo is asking you to accept roughly 70–95 extra grams in exchange for a 13th sprocket at the same price point.

The gravel numbers are even better. The Record X 1×13 gravel groupset (2,777 g) uses a "Nano Clutch" rear derailleur, accepts up to a 10-48T cassette, and comes in a full 210 g lighter than Shimano GRX Di2. For all-road and gravel riders who want electronic shifting with maximum range, Campagnolo suddenly has a genuinely competitive answer at a mainstream price.

Key takeaway: most 13-speed coverage still frames it as a €4,750 halo purchase. That framing has been out of date since April. 13-speed now starts at €2,129.

Shimano: reading the Dura-Ace R9300 tea leaves

Shimano has announced nothing. But the circumstantial evidence for a 13-speed Dura-Ace R9300 is now substantial enough to lay out like a case file, as long as we keep facts and inference clearly separated.

Exhibit A: the patents. Shimano patent drawings filed in May 2024 show a 2×13 drivetrain with fully wireless derailleurs, each carrying its own battery. The common reading is that the design was engineered to sidestep SRAM's wireless-shifting patents, the same route Campagnolo took with Super Record 13.

Exhibit B: the app leak. In early 2026, an E-Tube Project app update showed a 13th rear-cog position in its gear-usage display. Shimano's official response confirmed nothing and denied nothing: no 13-speed options in the current portfolio, and the app is "designed with future compatibility in mind."

Exhibit C: the racing. Van der Poel's February 2026 Omloop win came on unreleased, unbadged Dura-Ace wheels. Shimano was field-testing 9300-series hardware in WorldTour competition five months before announcing it.

Exhibit D: the calendar. Dura-Ace generations run on a metronome: R9000 in 2012, R9100 in 2016, R9200 in 2021. By that cadence R9300 is due. And note what didn't happen: no R9300 drivetrain components appeared in pro racing through the end of the 2026 Tour de France, which quietly killed the "TdF 2026 reveal" theory that circulated in spring. The working expectation among industry watchers is now a groupset announcement between late 2026 and mid-2027, with a 13-speed Ultegra successor about a year later.

What should you expect when it lands? The prevailing prediction is a fully wireless 13-speed groupset at roughly $4,899 / €5,000 for the complete disc version — and no backward compatibility with R9200 12-speed cassettes, chains or chainrings. A new, narrower Hyperglide+ chain and, very likely, a new freehub standard are the working assumptions. For reference, the current Dura-Ace Di2 R9270 12-speed disc groupset weighs about 2,428 g. That's the benchmark R9300 has to beat.

For a deeper dive into Shimano's wireless roadmap specifically, see our earlier analysis of what Shimano's wireless future means for road cyclists in 2026.

The new Dura-Ace R9370 wheels: what they tell us — and what they don't

The freshest hard news in the 13-speed wars broke on 29 July 2026: Shimano launched the Dura-Ace WH-R9370 wheel range, the first products in history to carry 9300-series numbering, replacing the R9270 generation. They go on sale in September 2026.

The range itself is a proper update, not a placeholder. Five models, all with carbon spokes, a modern 23 mm internal rim width optimised for 28-30 mm tyres, and Shimano's traditional cup-and-cone bearings, now with replaceable bearing shells. The C36 set is 178 g lighter than its predecessor, with up to 220 g saved across the range, and Shimano claims up to 2.7 W less aero drag.

US pricing reported by the press works out to roughly $2,970 per road wheelset. All models ship from September 2026.

Now, the nuance most quick takes miss: these wheels do not confirm a 13-speed freehub standard. The R9370 freehub works with current 12-speed R9200 Di2 drivetrains; pros were already racing them on R9200 builds before launch. So the wheels tell us the 9300 generation has officially begun, but they carefully avoid locking in (or revealing) whatever cassette interface the eventual R9300 drivetrain will use. The press still expects that drivetrain to need a new freehub. The R9370's 12-speed compatibility is about selling wheels now, not a promise about the future.

The practical read: if you need wheels, the R9370s are a safe buy. They work with today's 12-speed groupsets and, as the first 9300-series products, they're as future-facing as anything Shimano currently sells. Just don't read them as proof that your 12-speed cassette will survive the R9300 era.

SRAM: silent on road, loud on gravel

Every "SRAM is absent from 13-speed" take gets the story wrong. SRAM has been shipping 13-speed since August 2024. Just not for the road.

Red XPLR AXS launched in August 2024 as a 1×13 gravel groupset built around a 10-46T cassette with a 460% range, an XDR freehub, and a clever Full Mount rear derailleur that bolts directly to UDH-compatible frames with no hanger at all. Price: $3,979 with power meter, $3,529 without. The complete group weighs about 2,488 g with power meter, and the 13-speed cassette itself is a feathery 288 g. The cheaper Force XPLR AXS 13-speed followed at £1,917 / $2,153 / €2,135 without power meter, so SRAM's 13-speed technology is already selling at mid-tier prices. On gravel.

On the road? SRAM Red AXS remains 12-speed for 2026, and SRAM has made no official statement about a 13-speed road groupset. Full stop.

Now the rumour mill, clearly labelled as such. Industry reporting suggests SRAM is developing both 1x and 2x 13-speed road configurations, with unbadged prototypes possibly appearing on pro bikes during the 2026 season. One rumour piece sketches a 2027 launch: a 2×13 Red group under 2,450 g with power meter at roughly €4,600–4,850. Treat every word of that as informed speculation. What gives it some weight is SRAM's habit of race-testing new groupsets in the peloton for a full season before launching. If Red 13 is real and 2027-bound, we should spot camouflaged evidence in the 2026-27 racing calendar.

The logic holds up, too. SRAM already owns the 13-speed cassette tooling, the XDR interface and the Full Mount architecture from XPLR. Porting that to a road group is an engineering exercise, not an invention. Which is exactly why the silence reads as "not yet" rather than "not interested."

Head-to-head: what you can buy today vs what's coming

Here's the whole 13-speed landscape in one table, as of 31 July 2026. Rumoured products are marked, and the distinction matters.

Three things jump out of that table. The only column with prices you can actually pay today belongs to Campagnolo, plus SRAM if gravel gearing fits your riding. The rumoured Shimano and SRAM flagships are both projected to land above Super Record 13's price, which makes Campagnolo, for once, the value flagship. And every shipping 13-speed product runs on an existing freehub standard; only Shimano's future entry threatens a compatibility break.

If you're comparing at the mid-tier instead of the flagship level, our road bike groupset comparison of Shimano 105, SRAM Rival and Campagnolo covers the 12-speed workhorse tier this article deliberately skips.

The freehub question: the unglamorous deal-breaker

Cassettes and derailleurs get the headlines, but the freehub body — the splined interface your cassette slides onto — quietly decides whether a 13-speed upgrade costs €2,399 or €2,399 plus a new wheelset.

Where each brand stands:

• Campagnolo 13-speed → N3W. Both Super Record 13 and Record 13 use Campagnolo's existing N3W standard, introduced with Ekar in 2020. If your wheels already run N3W they carry straight over, and most modern quality wheelsets offer N3W conversion bodies.
• SRAM 13-speed (XPLR) → XDR. Red and Force XPLR 13-speed cassettes mount on the same XDR body SRAM road wheels have used for years. Existing XDR wheels need no change at all.
• Shimano 13-speed → unknown. The expectation across the bike press is that the R9300 drivetrain introduces a new freehub standard that current 12-speed wheels won't accept. The R9370 wheels' 12-speed-compatible freehub tells us nothing either way; it serves today's drivetrains.

Wheel-buyer's future-proofing checklist — run through this before your next wheel purchase:

1. Check the hub's convertibility. Does the manufacturer sell N3W and XDR freehub bodies for this hub? If yes, you're covered for every 13-speed groupset shipping today.
2. Prefer hubs with modular, widely-stocked freehub bodies (DT Swiss, Zipp/ZR, Campagnolo's own, most major brands) over proprietary designs with one interface.
3. If you're a Shimano loyalist buying wheels now, accept that a future R9300 may demand a new body, or a new hub. Budget accordingly, or buy the R9370s, which are the most officially future-facing option Shimano sells.
4. Don't pre-buy a "13-speed wheel." No such thing exists for Shimano yet, and Campagnolo/SRAM 13-speed run on bodies you may already own.

Is 13-speed actually worth it?

Honest answer: it depends on how you ride, and it's no longer a halo-price question.

The engineering case for a 13th sprocket is simple. You get tighter cadence steps at the same total range, or more range while keeping the steps you're used to. Who actually feels that? Anyone on a 1x road or all-road setup, first of all, because every extra sprocket directly shrinks the jump between gears — this is why Campagnolo's Record 13 1× and SRAM's XPLR 13-speed make so much sense. Cadence-sensitive riders too. If you notice a 4-6 rpm lurch between gears on a fast group ride, the 13th sprocket is a real, felt benefit.

The case against is equally honest. If a well-chosen 12-speed cassette already covers your terrain without annoying gaps, the 13th sprocket is incremental, not transformative. And 13-speed brings more system-specific parts: a narrower chain, a dedicated cassette, potentially a different freehub body. You're committing a bit deeper to one ecosystem.

What about durability? The "narrower chains wear out fast" worry deserves a fair hearing, and Campagnolo has the best rebuttal in the business: its 13-speed road chain is an evolution of the Ekar 13-speed chain that has been in field service since 2020. Five-plus years of real-world gravel abuse beats any lab claim.

The economics shifted this year, too. Entry to 13-speed now spans €2,129 (Record 1×) to €4,750+ (Super Record 13), and the bottom of that range is standard mid-tier electronic groupset money, not exotica.

Quick self-assessment — 13-speed is worth it for you if you tick two or more:

• [ ] You ride 1x on the road or mixed surfaces and feel the gear gaps
• [ ] You're cadence-sensitive and change gear constantly to stay in a narrow rpm band
• [ ] Your wheels already have (or can convert to) an N3W or XDR freehub
• [ ] You're buying a new groupset anyway, and €2,399 vs €2,500-class 12-speed is a wash
• [ ] You want maximum range without giving up tight steps (e.g. 10-48T gravel with usable road spacing)

Zero or one tick? Your 12-speed is not obsolete. Ride on.

Buy now or wait? The decision framework

The right move in July 2026 depends entirely on which camp you're in. Find yourself below.

(a) You want 13-speed on the road, today. There is exactly one aisle to shop in. Record 13 at €2,399 is the value pick: Ultegra Di2 money, five variants, only ~208–342 g over the flagship. Super Record 13 at $4,750/€4,300 is the flagship pick at 2,445 g, with the October 2025 Ultra upgrade path if money is no object. Your wheels probably survive the switch thanks to N3W conversion bodies. Nothing else is purchasable. Nothing else is even announced.

(b) You're a Shimano loyalist. There is nothing 13-speed to buy from Shimano until late 2026 at the very earliest, realistically 2027, and the expected ~€5,000 price with no 12-speed backward compatibility means it will be a full-system commitment when it comes. Two sensible plays: buy a discounted R9270 12-speed now and enjoy a proven groupset while the transition shakes out, or simply wait if your current drivetrain is healthy. The R9370 wheels are the exception — a safe September purchase, 12-speed compatible today and near-certain to stay relevant as the first 9300-series products.

(c) You're a SRAM rider. If 1x gravel or all-road gearing fits your riding, Red XPLR AXS (or Force XPLR at $2,153) gets you genuine 13-speed right now on your existing XDR freehub. For road, sit tight. Red AXS stays 12-speed through 2026, and the 2027 rumours, however plausible given SRAM's race-test-then-launch habit, are still rumours.

(d) You're shopping for a complete new bike. Do not delay a needed purchase for an unannounced groupset. The R9300 has no launch date, no confirmed spec, and no pro-peloton sightings through the 2026 Tour. Buy the bike that fits. If future-flexibility matters, favour builds with convertible freehub hubs (see the checklist above) so a later drivetrain swap doesn't strand your wheels.

Pro tip: whatever camp you're in, date-stamp your research. This market moved four times in fifteen months — Super Record 13, its Ultra tier, Record 13, the R9370 wheels — and any advice older than a quarter is probably missing a launch.

FAQ: the 13-speed questions everyone is asking

Which 13-speed road groupsets can you actually buy in 2026?

Two, both from Campagnolo: Super Record 13 ($4,750 / €4,300, shipping since June 2025) and Record 13 (from €2,129, shipping since April 2026). SRAM's Red XPLR AXS and Force XPLR AXS are also purchasable 13-speed groupsets, but they're 1× gravel/all-road systems, not road-specific. Shimano sells no 13-speed groupset at any level.

When will Shimano release the 13-speed Dura-Ace R9300?

Shimano has announced nothing. Put the clues together, though — the May 2024 wireless 2×13 patents, the 2026 E-Tube app leak, the 29 July 2026 launch of the first 9300-series products (the WH-R9370 wheels), and Dura-Ace's four-to-five-year generational cadence — and industry watchers land on an announcement between late 2026 and mid-2027, with a 13-speed Ultegra expected about a year later. No R9300 drivetrain parts appeared in pro racing through the 2026 Tour de France.

Will Dura-Ace R9300 work with my current 12-speed wheels and parts?

Probably not. The bike press expects no backward compatibility with R9200 12-speed cassettes, chains or chainrings, plus a new narrower Hyperglide+ chain and very likely a new freehub standard your current wheels won't accept. Note that the new R9370 wheels use a 12-speed-compatible freehub; they serve today's drivetrains and don't reveal the future standard.

Does SRAM make a 13-speed groupset?

Yes, on gravel. Red XPLR AXS (August 2024) is a 1×13 groupset with a 10-46T cassette, 460% range and an XDR freehub; Force XPLR AXS brought 13-speed down to $2,153. On the road, SRAM Red AXS remains 12-speed for 2026 and SRAM has made no official 13-speed road statement. Rumours point to a possible 2027 road launch.

How much does Campagnolo Super Record 13 cost — and what about Record 13?

Super Record 13: $4,750 / €4,300 complete, plus $1,150 / €1,100 for the HPPM power meter. Record 13: £2,300 / €2,399 for 2×13 road, £1,800 / €2,129 for 1×, power meter about £560 extra. Record 13 is over £1,400 / €1,600 cheaper than Super Record 13 while giving up only 208–342 g.

Is 13-speed worth upgrading to from 12-speed?

It gives you tighter cadence steps at the same range, or more range at the same steps. That's most valuable for 1x setups and cadence-sensitive riders. If your current 12-speed cassette already suits your terrain, the gain is incremental. Chain-durability fears run into Campagnolo's Ekar 13-speed chain, in field service since 2020. And with entry now at €2,129, price is no longer the barrier it was.

Why does no WorldTour team ride Campagnolo's 13-speed groupset?

Sponsorship economics, not performance. In 2026, Shimano equips 10 of the 18 men's WorldTour teams and SRAM the other 8, leaving Campagnolo with zero — despite Super Record 13 shipping for over a year as the market's only 13-speed road groupset.

Prices and availability verified as of 31 July 2026. This market is moving quickly — we'll update this guide as Shimano's R9300 and SRAM's road plans firm up.