Athena 11 speed Opinions

super_prestige

I know this is a big ask! Can i have your unbiased opions on Athena 11 speed.

I am just about to finalise the build of my new bike, i have always had Campag on all my bikes, my lbs is doing thier best to put me of 11 speed Campag, and to go down the Sram route
They say Campagnol 11 speed is terrible to set up the gears and need constent adjustment,Is this right.

I am a bit old school as the new frame is Italian and would like to have a Campagnolo groupset on it.

Monty Dog

The fact that your LBS can't get 11 speed to work says more about their bike mechanic skills than anything else.

ajb72

I will try to be as unbiased as I can, although everyone seems to have a camp when it comes to Sram v Campagnolo v Shimano!

The LBS is giving you an exaggerated version of the truth in my experience. I own Campagnolo Chorus 11 speed but have built up friends bikes with Athena and seen it in action enough to voice an opinion.

Campagnolo does seem to need a bit of minor adjustment, but from my experience I rarely need to do anything more than the odd quarter turn of the rear mech barrel adjuster (and this is around once every dozen rides), and never the front mech. Hardly constant adjustment. As for being 'terrible to set up' perhaps your LBS is not particularly competent - I build up all my own and friends bikes and have never found it difficult to set up at all.

The thing your LBS is not telling you is how well made Campagnolo gear is and how bomb-proof it is in performance. From what I have seem of SRAM, the finish is nowhere near as high, with paint and graphics wearing away relatively quickly.

It wouldn't be fair of me to slate SRAM though, I like the look of the high end stuff and it is good value compared to high-end Shimano and Campagnolo. I've not used it myself though so not sure if it needs much TLC or not.

gwillis

I run Athena on my bianchi and recently upgraded my Scott to the same , the only difference being the carbon crank on the bianchi. I had problems with Athena on the bianchi which was down do the indexing but since being sorted it runs pretty sweet and as others have said minor adjustments from time to time, I wasn't however completely convinced by campag until I upgraded the Scott and I wouldnt use anything else now.

I won't get technical because in the great scheme of things I know little compared to others on here. what I will say is the ratios work for me and the ultra shift is handy .

Velonutter

I had Campag on all my bikes, mostly record 10 speed, when I built my Colnago up I decided to put Athena 11 speed on it....wow its bloody amazing, so much so I upgraded my LOOK to 11 speed record and will upgrade most of my bike to 11 speed as and when funds allow.

It is very reliable, smooth, fast, silent and more importantly so easy to set up a child could do it.

Any LBS that says it is difficult should be dropped and go and find someone who knows what they are talking about.

As you can see I love 11 speed. 8)

Gazzetta67

Monty Dog wrote:

The fact that your LBS can't get 11 speed to work says more about their bike mechanic skills than anything else.

+ 1 Your LBS is probably on a commision to sell Sram or "Meccano" as i call it cos its so damn UGLY looking. It`s Nonsense to suggest it`s a nightmare to work with. I have always had Campag on my bikes too if you like something why change and most good campag dealers will tell you campag wears in - shimano wears out. Most of the old school will also tell you that Campagnolo on an Italian bike is the dogs B***ox. I Have Record & Chorus on my good bikes and athena on my winter bike and it`s never let me down.

super_prestige

Thanks for all the fast replies, you have all helped me make my mind up,
That will be another Italian frame with an extra large portion of Campagnolo please.

Gazzetta67

Must tell us all now - What kind of bike you going to buy then ?

super_prestige

Gazzetta67 wrote:

Must tell us all now - What kind of bike you going to buy then ?

All will be revealed in good time

Squillinossett

TBH, i think its much of a muchness. Most people would be happy if they had DA / Red / SR....

I think ti boils down to what people like as PERSONAL preference.

I have never known anyone have anymore problems with 11 speed over 10.

Get the one YOU want, not what the LBS wants you to have

rajMAN

SRAM - I can't even say it :shock:

graham_g

Your LBS probably just doesn't want to buy an 11sp chain tool (despite the fact that you can now get quick links for 11). Also, given that all your current bikes are campag, why on earth would you want an 'odd one out' that in the event of a mechanical you couldn't swap parts with on other bikes (I'm thinking wheels here - all your freehubs are campag!).

This really is a sign that you ought to see about finding a better LBS who will actually accommodate your personal preferences instead of just feeding you bullshit.

magliaceleste

I've run Athena on my Winter/day to day bike and it works beautifully.

There really is no problem with setting up 11 speed if you are mechanically competent. 11 speed even works perfectly on my best bike which doesn't have downtube barrel adjusters - that's how little it needs adjusting.

And that's why I don't use bike shops anymore. Just because someone has a shop does not mean they know a great deal.

leejdavies

I've managed to get 11 speed working fine. I only have 11 speed shifters, cassette and chain.

Fundamentally you don't need anything else.

And I set it up about 5 months ago and not really touched it since sure it needs a bit of a tweak here and there, but cables stretch even if pre stretched so every system will need adjusting due to this.

The shifters themselves are great I had 10 speed veloce before I would recommend going to 11. Another thing I would recommend is a KMC missing link, or KMC 11 chain. As Graham G says the chain tool is rather expensive… :shock:

Basically, just follow the instructions. I've done this twice and no fuss both times…