Campagnolo Athena - alloy or carbon with Ti frame?

the_cyclist_of_catan

I'm speccing up a Sabbath September, and due to the ergonomics of the shifters fancy trying Campagnolo. Athena 11-speed seems to be a sweet spot for price versus performance, albeit at the upper end of the scale (and my budget). Going to be used on club runs and audaxes (I have the sandals standing ready); I'm currently riding between 400 and 500 miles a month.

In terms of both looks and performance, is the carbon crankset - and the carbon-wrapped shifters - worth having? I'm leaning towards bare alloy, as that would match the derailleurs, but am open to persuasion.

And on a similar note, brakes. I believe that the campagnolo brakes won't deal with 25mm tyres and mudguards - is that right, and if so, what brakes should I spec?

The LBS have suggested pretty ordinary alloy bars, stem and seat post - and I have no idea whether there is any value in going for something fancier.

This is "bike for life" territory here for me, so I'd like to get it all right; i dont want to be mucking around with upgrades 12 months on. I'm currently on an old Giant TCR with 105; just having a bike the right size ought to be a big improvement!

derbygrimpeur

I've got the carbon options and they look sweet. I'd go for these over the alloy (obviously, as that's what I bought)

Don't think you're right about the 25mm tyres/mudguards. I've got mudguards on my winter with Campag Veloce. Although maybe things are different with Athena, but can't imagine so.

Ber Nard

I'd be inclined to go with the alloy Athena groupset. The carbon wrapped levers are mostly aesthetic and the carbon cranks will be lighter and stiffer - but so much so that you'd notice? I doubt it. Athena alloy cranks are very shiny and complement the mechs well. That said, if you're going for the new black Athena groupset then go carbon for the added bling.

I had a problem with Veloce brakes, SKS P35 mudguards and 23mm tyres on a frame with very little clearance for guards: The guards would rub on the tyre when the brake was applied. I think this is a problem with the skeleton design of calipers rather than Campag calipers in general though, but Athena calipers are only skeleton aren't they? I switched to Tektro R530 and have had no problems since.

Rob

skyblue337

Re the Campag brakes - I found the arms of the Athena skeleton calipers did prevent me running Crud guards on my bike but I think it's a function of both the frame and the calipers how much clearance there is. In my case a switch to SRAM Apex gave the clearance required to fit the guards

g00se

I've got older Centaur callipers when they were the skeleton design and there's not medium or long drop options so proper guards are out. I use Crud Road Racers MKII on mine (with 23mm tyres) and they work VERY well if set up as per this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuyRZ3hAjrU

The SKS Raceblade Longs might be an option too:

http://road.cc/content/review/50952-sks ... -mudguards

If you want medium or long drop callipers, Miche Primato callipers might be worth considering too keep the Italian flavour.

skyblue337

From a personal perspective I think carbon/black groupsets go better with raw Ti than silver ones. Have a look at the Enigma bikes facebook page for pictures

rolf_f

Carbon keep the looks longer. If you do scuff them, you can re-lacquer quite easily or just polish the scratch out. Doesn't work like that with the alloy.

the_cyclist_of_catan

FWIW, three years on I've discovered a couple of things.

The carbon-wrapped brake levers have recently turned out to be a bit of PITA. After a collision with an overhanging sign, the levers themselves were badly bent, and the carbon wrap wrecked; had they been plain Alu, I could have bent them back into shape. Then there's the whole Athena durability issues; one shifter failed after 24 months, and bottom brackets are lasting me between 18 months and two years. In both cases, it would have been better to spend some extra money on Chorus (as that's proven to be more reliable). Though that wouldn't have dealt with the crash damage, of course.

The Athena brakes wouldn't go over mudguards; for a couple of years I ran Miche deep-drops, but they are a bit pants. Now have the TRP deep-drop brakes, and they are much better.

And I swapped the Alu seatpost for a Specialised CG-R. About which you can believe the hype. And fitted a Brooks B17, obviously.