Which Groupset?

Well i shifted half the block on my 2010 Athena levers about an hour ago....I'm pretty sure I wasn't dreaming.
And the levers are definitley plastic.

If they have changed it for 2012, then that is another story.
Seems like they have realised there isn't much difference between the two groupsets, so downgraded Athena accordingly.

I concur. Both Centaur and Athena were "downgraded", I assume to add extra value to Campagnolo's big-money gruppos.

My 9 speed Record levers shift half the block, as do me Julie's 10 speed Chorus.

Not that that info is very useful I know, but I felt like contributing.

Click-click-click-click-click. It's not hard is it.

So the apparent answer would be don't buy this years chorus, but the older multiple downshift version. Wonderful, well, that has made life slightly cheaper.

:
*The performance features are top of the line thanks to Power-Shift™ technology which enables multiple upshifting (3 gears) and single downshifting.*

When did athena go 11 speed and when did it lose it's multiple downshift (2011/12, I'd guess)?

I'd just buy a car instead.

Got one of those...not much use in london really.

The real horror of 2012 Athena is the powertorque crank, no?

It's 'bought', you tit.

fuck off cuntflapper.

Has anyone got any experience of the difference, if any, between modern chorus and athena campag groupsets?

One is about to be made redundant (chorus) and one is getting an electronic version (Athena)

I'm looking to remove my current 6600SL setup for something smoother (in shifting and cable routing!) budget around £500 wondering red/force/DA. Hmmm

Force.

Link to Force for £500 please
/edging ever close to purchase

The real horror of 2012 Athena is the powertorque crank, no?

What makes you say that? - genuinely interested, as I thought the alloy Athena crankset was the nicest, most traditionally Campagnolo-looking component in their current line-up.

I think the most awful thing they've come up with are their BB's and their scantily-sealed bearings. I love riding Campagnolo but they do plenty to make me resent buying into their hardware.

Link to Force for £500 please
/edging ever close to purchase

I've got Apex, (old) Record and Di2, and used to have Force and (old series) Ultegra.

Leaving aside the electric stuff, it's Force all the way.

Fudges 3 pc force is 400 but cheaper if you do their mix and match. Go figure.

Thing is Ultegra/force largely seen as equiv? I may hold out for a stonking deal on record 11sp but it'll be a loooong spring.

Anyone have any experience with putting modern 10/11 speed gruppos on older steel frames with 126 rear spacing? I want to keep the frame if possible but then kit it out and money is not so much an issue as I get a very good discount. I'm open to suggestions. Is this a complete waste of time as I should just get a new bike?

When did athena go 11 speed and when did it lose it's multiple downshift (2011/12, I'd guess)?

Must be new for 2012. I'm pretty sure the 2011 Athena could shift down 3?

It's a real shame Campag are going backwards, although Shimano/Sram users seem happy enough with basic shifting.

Veloce has been 1up1down since 2011 and I've used that and got on with it alright, it's simplicity might even encourage smoother riding.

The real horror of 2012 Athena is the powertorque crank, no?

What's the issue with power torque? Isn't it just a version of what Shimano/Sram have been doing and cheaper than ultra torque to make accurately?

Must be new for 2012. I'm pretty sure the 2011 Athena could shift down 3?

What's the issue with power torque? Isn't it just a version of what Shimano/Sram have been doing and cheaper than ultra torque to make accurately?

Athena went 11 in 2010. 2010 Athena could do 3 up-shifts (small cog to big cog) and 5 down-shift (big cog to small cog) in one go, just like the big boys. The spare parts docs on Campag website even show that 2010 Athena shifters used exactly the same parts inside as Chorus. Best of all there was suppose to be a version with aluminium levers which would have looked great with older steel frames and was cheaper. I remember looking for it all over the place, but alas aluminium Athena shifters were rare as rocking horse shit, so I gave up and went with the carbon version. 2010 Athena also has Ultra-Torque cranks in both carbon and aluminium.

The big downgrade came in 2011 - the new levers can only do three up-shifts and one down-shift, and the cranks became Power-Torque. Power-Torque was cheaper to make and is just like Sram/Shimano cranks except it uses neither pinch bolts like Shimano nor self-extracting bolt like Sram, so to take the chainset off you need to buy a gear puller, a £30 metal plug from Campag to plug the hole on the hollow BB axle and give the gear puller something to push against, AND carefully tape up the inside of your left crank arm so that it's not scarred by the claws of the gear puller. That's the problem people have with Power-Torque. That said, gear pullers are not expensive and I'll still need one when I change the bearings on my 2010 Athena UT cranks, just not for removing the cranks. Ho hum, the life of Campag users.

I imagine when it came down to it, there was TOO little difference between 2010 Athena and Chorus - the shifters are basically the same, and they use the same cassette and chain, everything else was similar but a little bit heavier on Athena, but Athena is a lot cheaper.

Edit: ha, found some figures, 2010 Athena was 2389g with alloy cranks, 2239 with carbon cranks, Chorus was 2153 with carbon cranks. Less than 100g of difference on carbon.

I imagine when it came down to it, there was TOO little difference between 2010 Athena and Chorus - the shifters are basically the same, and they use the same cassette and chain, everything else was similar but a little bit heavier on Athena, but Athena is a lot cheaper.
.

Its all about the pricing of a complete bike.

They downgraded Veloce quite heavily, I guess to better compete at a certain price point for OTP bikes (1-1.5k bikes). Then did the same with Athena (1.5-2.0k bikes). If you look at the OTP bike market Veloce, Athena, and Record seem to be the most common options.

Its all about selling bikes not groupsets.

Personaly I'd get Chorus.Its long been the best balance of performance and price in the Campagnolo line up. Plus I'd want Ultra torque, and I'd definitely want the shifting. If you have short thumbs, being able to continue down the cassette, while in the drops, using the thumb shifter, is vital.

Veloce has been 1up1down since 2011 and I've used that and got on with it alright,

I've built two bikes with 2011 veloce and it definitely shifts up 3 cogs at a time. You just need to throw the lever further, or there's something wrong with your setup.