Campy Upgrade
 

I am in the process of purchasing a new steel frame and am trying to decide whether to transfer my 9 speed mix of Campy Chorus/Centaur (derailiurs, shifters, and brakes date back to 1996 and bottom bracket, crankset and cassette are several years old) from my existing frame and then sell the existing frame or to upgrade to a newer 10 or 11 speed Campy groupo and sell the existing bike as an entire one. If I go 10 speed I'd go Centaur, but if I were to go 11 speed I don't know whether to go for the Athena or spend the extra on Chorus. I'm assuming that there have been many improvements over the past years so that the new Athena would be a big improvement over the older Chorus/Centaur. Is the Athena comparable to the Centuar. I'd also like to get some advice on whether 11 speed is overkill. I ride several days a week - 15 to 40 miles each time with a fair amount of climbing.

Thanks

Apparently the 2011 Athena and below (once again) has the gimped single down shift B.S. that they tried with the Escape Mech a few years back and then killed because of the backlash from Campy fans. Seems they didn't learn the lesson the first time. Just bought a 2010 Athena group but got the 2011 shifters so it would be all-alloy and got hit with this "little" change. Interested in a New-In-Box 2010 Athena set with 2011 shifters for a killer price? ;)

You will find the newer ergo levers to be really nice.

I have a 2006 Campy Chorus triple and am lusting after Campy Chorus 11 speed right now. I would buy 11 speed as it shifts much nicer than 10 speed.

The new hood design is best I've ever used. The new style looks hideous, but feels really, really nice.

Cuda, did the Athena 2010 shifters have the same problem?

No, the 2010 shifters have the ultra-shift mech that allows multiple shifts as all campy Ergo SHOULD be. I got a pretty good deal on this Athena set, and I want full alloy, but I'm torn also wanting to be able to dump gears. My Gazelle AB-Frame is set up with a Cenatur Ergo shifter from the 'Escape Mech' days and really, I don't miss it too much there, I also notice that I do use it when I'm on my Fuji or Serotta that do have the functionality. Considering how much I'm dropping on the frame, I'm toying with the idea of going Chorus, but the additional $400ish would bite heavily into my wheel budget.

I will say I really do like the feel of the new shifters as noted above. I have two of the older style, and one (now two - one still boxed) of the new style. I hope the combination of custom geometry and the new shifters will make for heavily comfort for the hands.

My last road bike was Campy Daytona 10, and I really enjoyed the option of dumping more than one gear. I've been off the road for a couple of years and just picked up a new (to me) frame. I was going to build it with Athena 11, but may have to reconsider because of the neutered shifting..

You could do what I just did and buy last years levers to go with this year's parts.

I did that with 2010 Centaur 10 speed so I could still have 5-3 shifting. Not sure what's still available.

The new "Powershift" lets you dump 3 (instead of 5), and only upshift 1.

My personal view OP is 11s is overkill taking note that neither Shimano or Sram have embraced it and they sell just fine. I do like 10s a lot though but if never invented would have probably done just fine with 9 or 8 in back.

That said, the new 11s is probably outstanding as many love it and tight spacing in back is a very good thing.
Comes down to cost/benefit really.

If you like alloy, Athena is a smokin deal if you buy out of the UK. But..I wasn't aware that Campy decontented Althena to shift like the lower 10s...for 2011. That does suck and why I wouldn't consider it. I deliberately bought 2010 Campy Centaur shifters to upgrade my Campy bike because I like multiple shifting up and down like in the 'good ol days.' Make no mistake that Campy plays some goofy tricks to carve out market diversity and promote their higher end 11s stuff and why for 2011 they cheapened 10s which is a shame really.
No doubt this will just bite them in the ass for being too cute which they deserve. Speaking of market strategy, if considering super Record which is pure art which you pay for, one has to take a realistic look at Shimano's Di2 as electric shifting has some very strong points...no cables to maintain or route...perfect ergos due to no lever effort required...very fast shifts...though mechanical shifting may rival electric shifting speed.

So my recommendation if you don't open up your wallet for Chorus 11 speed is...find some Ultrashift Athena shifters IF can find them from 2010....or some 2010 carbon Centaur shifters with 2011 rear derailleur...Campy redesigned their RD's for the 2011 for the better.
My bike shifts beautifully with the latter.

go with chorus upgrade, simply because A LOT has improved over 15 years.
http://slbikes.com/index.php?route=p...product_id=119

I have the older Centaur with the Escape mechanism and don't care for it much at all. Am contemplating a switch to Chorus 10 (scouring eBay) or 11S.

Or you could buy 2010 Centaur shifters here:

http://www.shinybikes.com/campagnolo...vers-2010.html

I hoarded some 2010 Centaur shifters for future bikes, but may sell off a pair

You can get Chorus considerably cheaper from Shiny Bikes in the UK.

Interesting. Both the link and your understated offer.

It's probably worth noting that Campagnolo has discontinued small parts for first generation (including 1997 pointy-hooded 9 speed) ergo levers including the right G-spring carrier which cracks and thumb lever return spring which sometimes gets weak. 2000 and older 9-speed derailleurs also have a different pull ratio than newer derailleurs so you can't replace them.

8 speed cassette choices also dwindled after Campagnolo introduced 10 speed.

So I've been accumulating 10 speed parts which I'll either upgrade to or sell to buy 11 speed after I wear out my next chain (rear derailleur is getting sloppy, cable housings could use replacement, the shifters need to come back apart to replace a cracked G-spring carrier).

If you get 10 speed either buy a set of 2010 Centaur Ultrashift (I got mine from Shiny bikes for $193 with cables before the supply dried up) or current Chorus/Record Quickshift (this isn't Escape, although that was combined with QS) levers which are still being manufactured. 2009 shifters have weak detents and Campagnolo discontinued the small parts so it's a $90-$100 fix for a new right shift mechanism.

For 11 speeds spend extra for current Chorus shifters or find 2010 Athena parts.

I don't think 11 speeds is enough if you want a climbing cassette wider than 12-25 or 11-23 since I like one tooth jumps on my cogs up to the 19 for flat rides and prefer not changing cassettes based on whether I'm riding on plains or in mountains.

OTOH, with triple cranks I've been happy since the 8 speed era where I found 50-40-30x13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21 enough for anything west (Rocky mountains) or east (plains) of Boulder, CO.

Will the Chorus shifter small parts fit in a new Athena shifter? If I like the look of aluminum, but dislike the neutered shifter?

It is cheaper, but with shipping rates it doesn't end up being MUCH cheaper. Plus you'd have to wait like an extra week or so to get it.

Shiny Bikes is right at about $1,050 for a Chorus group. It is $1318 minus 20% since we don't pay VAT. SL Bikes, the link from one of the earlier posts is $1,550. That is $500 difference. Shipping isn't that might much. As for the shipping time, I have been waiting more than a year for a new group, I can wait a little longer.

Edit: I checked on shipping. It is $15.00 from the UK to the US.

I got my last order from the UK within four days. Neither shipping cost nor time is appreciably worse than within the United States.