Campag Athena - Reduce Lever Throw

ptlk66

When on the drop bars I find it impossible to engage the large ring on the front. The throw the shift lever requires from the 6 o' clock position is to nearly the 8/9 o' clock position to engage the higher gear.

Maybe I have unusually small fingers, but it would be useful to determine if there is a way to reduce the amount of throw required or could a reposition of the levers help?

thanks

rolf_f

I do think it is the biggest design flaw in current and recent Campag. The front only needs to cover four clicks or so so really only needs half the overall through of the rear mech lever - but instead uses the full throw.

That said, unless your fingers are unusually stumpy (! - sounds like the basis for some Google research...) the problem might well be much about reach and bar shape (and note that Campag have the shortest hoods overall - so that should help). Easiest thing would be to post a pic of your setup so we can see if there is something obvious - certain bar shapes place the levers much nearer to your hands than others.

On_What

are your lever noses facing towards the stem, or are they parrallel with the stem?

on-yer-bike

There are optional spacers that come with campag leavers for riders with big hands. They may have been used by the person that built the bike. I dont have this problem as i dont think Im ever in the drops on the small ring unless climbing out of the saddle but I wouldnt be changing to the big ring under those circumstances.

g00se

Bit of a cop-out but instead of taking all three clicks in one push, do two or three smaller pushes through the ratchet?

ugo.santalucia

g00se wrote:

Bit of a cop-out but instead of taking all three clicks in one push, do two or three smaller pushes through the ratchet?

Indeed...

I also wonder how come you are already on the drops whilst on the small ring... typically one is on the drops when hammering on the flat or downhill... I have only seen Pantani and before him Charly Gaul climbing with the hands on the drops...

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I also wonder how come you are already on the drops whilst on the small ring... typically one is on the drops when hammering on the flat or downhill... I have only seen Pantani and before him Charly Gaul climbing with the hands on the drops...

I find the unusualness of this surprising. I often climb with my hands on the drops and find it works well - I wonder if my long limb, short torso geometry is similar to Pantani and Gaul. But otherwise for example, headwinds can easily put you in the position of being on the drops in the small ring and wanting to change up to the big. It's actually pretty easy (even if not good technique) to end up with chain heading towards small small crossed on flattish roads with headwinds.

ptlk66

Many thanks for the initial response - I will try post a picture of the handlebar setup later tonight.

Regards, why in drops on small ring, I am currently using my 17 mile commute to train on my Cadence and find the bike more comfortable/stable when maintaining cadence rate of 100+ rpm. As my focus on high cadence is new to me I may just need to adapt. However, there are times for short climbs where I find it easier to shift from large to small chainring and not change my position.

thanks

rolf_f

ptlk66 wrote:

Many thanks for the initial response - I will try post a picture of the handlebar setup later tonight.

Regards, why in drops on small ring, I am currently using my 17 mile commute to train on my Cadence and find the bike more comfortable/stable when maintaining cadence rate of 100+ rpm. As my focus on high cadence is new to me I may just need to adapt. However, there are times for short climbs where I find it easier to shift from large to small chainring and not change my position.

thanks

Going large chainring to small though uses the thumb button so the responses above assume you are talking about the paddle behind the brake lever - you'll only be using that when changing from small to large and it is less likely you'll be on the drops already with that change than if you are going large to small (if you see what I mean.....)

ptlk66

Here are a couple of photos of the shifter setup, also note how the shifter protrudes the brake lever on the last photo - this makes the throw even longer!!