Originally Posted by
rekon
I'm working on buying parts for my Bianchi Impulso build. I had my mind set on the Athena groupset. However, Merlin Cycles has the Ultegra groupset on sale for ~$50 more than Athena. I don't have experience with either as I've only owned bikes with 105.
Which groupset should I go with and why?
Athena with Chorus shifters for the classic 5 smaller, 3 larger behavior. Especially if you'll be running a compact crank where you change more cogs in back compensating for a ring shift.
Personally I'd go with NOS 2014 for the 5-arm crank that does not resemble a dead octopus and consider an Ultratorque crank.