Campagnolo Athena Compatibility

pblakeney

Hi, just wondering if anyone has successfully used a medium cage rear derailleur with 2015 era Athena levers?
I am planning (hoping) ahead to do some serious cycling holidays (Angliru, Mortirolo, Gavia etc) and I'm not getting any younger so looking to fit a 12-32 cassette which is incompatible with the short cage.
Ideally as high spec as compatible, but the real problem comes when I spec 11 speed and in silver.
The silver finish being most awkward. I'd prefer Chorus which is not available in silver but aesthetics do count.

A potential solution is Potenza levers and derailleurs but I'd rather not buy levers if I don't have to.

thecycleclinic

Cable pull mismatch. athena rd want a different cable than post 2015 shifter offer. Dead end. Dont bother.

Also for long term shifting accuracy power shift shifter should be matched with rear derailleurs form a power shift groupset. Ultra shift derailleurs get paired with ultra shift rear derailleurs.

Ultra shift rd get a stronger spring to counter the over shift of ultra shift egos.

Use a potenza rd with ultrashift ergo and the down shift will become poor sooner even though when everything is fresh it will work fine.

Silver potenza groupsets are still avilable I sell them regularly.

If you are using athena shifters then medium cage athena rd in silver are still avilable from good shops. You just have to know where to look.

pblakeney

Thank you for your concise reply. At least I know where I stand.
I had found a long cage (triple) Athena but Campagnolo confused me (as usual) with this for the maximum cassette...
.

.
Might just end up going Potenza gears but I'm keeping the crankset. The new ones are fugly.

the_cyclist_of_catan

"Cable pull mismatch. athena rd want a different cable than post 2015 shifter offer. Dead end. Dont bother."

This is true. Except nobody told me when I purchased 2015+ Chorus shifters to go with my pre-2015 Athena RD after a crash wiped out the original shifters and I fancied the multi shift capabilities of Chorus.

Because nobody told me, it worked great for 4 years. It only stopped working great when someone else replaced the cables, couldn’t get the shifting to work crisply, and then told me about the incompatibility.

It’s still not crisp, and there is one change between two cogs where I have to go two one way, then one back some of the time. But it works.

Though the Athena RD is shortly to be retired for a 2015 Chorus one, as various other parts of the drivetrain need replacing and I might as well.

pblakeney

the_cyclist_of_catan said:

Because nobody told me, it worked great for 4 years. It only stopped working great when someone else replaced the cables, couldn’t get the shifting to work crisply, and then told me about the incompatibility.

Just for clarity, there is no way of getting a cable to replicate when the set up was working great?

yellowv2

You could run a 32 rear sprocket with the chorus rear dérailleur it’s fine in the small chain ring, just be careful not to try 32 in the big ring.
I have run it for exactly your intended use with no problem. I got a set of Miche sprockets from Malcom or you go Potenza cassette just it costs more ££.

pblakeney

Thanks Y2 but I can't go Chorus as it has not been available in silver for many a year.
The reason I want silver and a 32 sprocket... I used 34x29 to get to the top of the Galibier. 😉

yellowv2

Apologies PB I didn’t realise you wanted silver, should have read your post properly 😉