Which Campagnolo 11 setup should I buy?

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Jack65
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

Hi,

My first post here. I'm over 50 year old guy who is trying to setup a new bike for fast group rides with younger guys and occasional racing. I've used Campagnolo for many years starting with Mirage and currently having Specialized Roubaix SL2 with Centaur Triple used as my main bike.

I had another, faster, stiffer, no name, full carbon frame based bike, fitted with Shimano Ultegra 6600. I never liked ergonomics of the hoods but I have to admit that shifting was faster and braking was better than on my Centaur. I bought this bike sligthly used for around 1000 Euro mainly to get the wheels. And wheels are Fast Forward F6R 58mm alu-carbon clinchers which are great. I had to give that bike to my son who is racing a lot but to tell the truth I never felt good on this bike. Didn't like cockpit and could never get good fit. My son loves it.

I recently bought myself Specialized Tarmac SL4 frameset. I also bought Athena Ultra Torque Carbon 52-39 crankset that was already fitted into frame. Now I have to choose hoods, brakes and ders. Weight is not an issue for me as I will ride this bike mainly in a completely flat area. I also don't want to spend too much so Record is out of the question. But I want components that work well and will last long. So qualities that Campy is known for. I plan to save on brakes and get cheaper Athena or Potenza brakes.

I want to use my FFWD wheels with Shimano 11 cassette either 105 5800 or Ultegra.

My LBS suggested this setup:
EP15-CH1C Campagnolo CHORUS Shifers 11s EP Carbon - 250 Euro
RD15-CH1 Campagnolo CHORUS 11s Rear Der - 200 Euro
FD12-ATB2B Campagnolo ATHENA BLACK 11s Front Der - 35 Euro
BR17-POBDP POTENZA brakes - 50 Euro

What do you think? Is it good setup? Or maybe I should go full Athena or maybe Chorus shifters with Athena front and rear der?
Athena Carbon Shifers are 220 Euro so not much differnce between them and Chorus
Athena rear der is 100 Euro so twice cheaper than Chorus.

by Weenie


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AJS914
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by AJS914

Look at prices at Ribble in the UK. Way better!

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bikerjulio
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Location: Welland, Ontario

by bikerjulio

I believe the FD advice is bad.

The FD design changed in 2015 for Chorus and up, but not Athena. You need a Chorus FD.

Any Campy brakes will be fine, your choice. Veloce?

You fail to mention the cassette cogs. Chorus RD will be fine up to a 29T max. If you want to use a 32T large cog then you might want to consider Potenza throughout.

Look to Ribble and Wiggle for pricing.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

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Jack65
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

Thanx for pricing advice. I already checked Wiggle and German bike24 and rosebikes. I probably may get some discount from LBS too.

Regarding front der. I've seen that some new Chorus front der with something called S2 appeared. Supposedly better than old design at least according to Campy site. But I know that cable pulls have changed in newer design. Does that affect front der too? Which shifters are better? Chorus pre 2015 or 2015 with new triggers? In the past Campy shifters could easily be rebuilt. Is it the same with newer ones? I would prefer to get shifters that don't have plastic paddle.

Jack65
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

I don't plan to use 32 on this bike. Rather 11-23 or 12-23. I have 30x29 on my bike with triple which perfect for the Alps.

Zakalwe
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by Zakalwe

Athena shifters don't let you drop as many gears as Chorus, do they? Stick with Chorus.

Jack65
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

Zakalwe wrote:Athena shifters don't let you drop as many gears as Chorus, do they? Stick with Chorus.


I realize that. But I didn't know that I can upshift up to 3 gears for very long and even once I know I very rarely use it. For an enthusiast like me this is not a deciding factor. More important to me is the paddle, as I heard plastic one cannot be rebuilt.

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Calnago
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by Calnago

I'd just go all Chorus if you can swing it. You'll be happier in the long run, and soon have forgotten about the little extra it may cost now. And the whole 5 gear dump thing... well, I've been using Campy forever and I never dump 5 gears all at once. One or two, is common, and occasionally three at the very most. I know the Campy guys always like to say it's a fabulous thing, but if you find yourself slamming 5 gears at once, I would suggest you were in the wrong gear before the dump.
And why "save" a bit on brakes. Get the whole groupset together, front derailleur as well. It can't be that much more money. You say you want to use your Shimano 11sp wheels and cassette. I suppose they work, I hear they do, but I've not tried it myself. That would probably be your biggest $change if you went all Campy, so why not give it a try with the Shimano cassette and see if it suits you. Should be close at least.
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joeyb1000
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by joeyb1000

Chorus 2015+

(Or Athena derailleurs with Chorus 2014- shifters if you want to save money)

Jack65
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

I just started to think that price difference between Athena and Chorus is not that big and I'm going to ride this bike for few years so maybe all Chorus except brakes is way to go. I don't see any reason to buy Chorus brakes. Weight is not important and from what I see, the design of the brakes starting from Potenza through Athena and Chorus is identical. So basically you pay premium for Chorus written on you brakes, nothing else. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

wingguy
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by wingguy

Calnago wrote:And the whole 5 gear dump thing... well, I've been using Campy forever and I never dump 5 gears all at once. One or two, is common, and occasionally three at the very most. I know the Campy guys always like to say it's a fabulous thing, but if you find yourself slamming 5 gears at once, I would suggest you were in the wrong gear before the dump.

Right, but there's no middle ground, is there? It's either a shifter with 5 detents on the thumb lever, or just one. And if it's just one you can't do the double thumb slam shifting down into the small ring and back up 3 cogs at the same time.

Which is, I have to be honest, one of my all time favourite things to do on a bike. Sad I know, but what can I say? :P

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Yes, if the lower group only has the option of 1 gear at a time, then I'd go Chorus for sure, because it's nice to have the option, of shifting 1,2, 3 or even up to 5 if you're so inclined with one single action.

As for brakes, I'm only speaking from the point of view of it being nice to have the entire groupset complete, since you're so close anyway. And I haven't worked on anything lower than Chorus for a long time, so I wouldn't even know the difference.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
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bikerjulio
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by bikerjulio

Regarding front der. I've seen that some new Chorus front der with something called S2 appeared. Supposedly better than old design at least according to Campy site. But I know that cable pulls have changed in newer design.
Does that affect front der too?
Which shifters are better? Chorus pre 2015 or 2015 with new triggers?
In the past Campy shifters could easily be rebuilt. Is it the same with newer ones? I would prefer to get shifters that don't have plastic paddle.


Q1 Yes.

Q2 I don't have 2015 shifters personally, but the reviews seemed to indicate they were an improvement. Don't know what "new triggers" means. Perhaps you are confusing them with Powershift which got the "droopy" thumb button in 2016?

Q3 Campy dropped shifter rebuildability in 2009 along with a complete redesign of the shift mechanism. Only complete shifter bodies with internals now as spares. The good news is the durability is pretty fantastic, and to read of one "worn out" is extremely rare. And that's over 8 years now.

Campy have used composite paddles and brake levers for a very very long time BTW. On their higher end shifters going back to 2000 at least.
Last edited by bikerjulio on Thu Sep 08, 2016 11:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Regarding the "S2" part of the front derailleur... All that is is a little support arm that can butt up against your frame if you have a flexy brazeon or downtube. It serves the same function as Shimano's little support screw on their 9000 stuff. I didn't even use it on mine as the Colnago downtube and derailleur hanger are very stiff and don't need it. In fact, on the C60 I will not use the S2 version at all because it's a bit cleaner looking without that extra hardware.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

Jack65
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 4:40 pm

by Jack65

By new triggers I meant new thumb buttons. But from I see on the pictures they seem to exist only in EPS version of Chorus. All in all my setup based on Ribble shop seems to be:

Chorus Shifters:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/campagnol ... pd-w-cbls/

Chorus Rear Der:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/campagnol ... erailleur/

Chorus Front Der Braze On:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/campagnol ... erailleur/

Generic Campagnolo Skeleton Brakes:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/campagnol ... on-brakes/

by Weenie


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