Campag Athena: Carbon Upgrades worth it?

thekerrycyclist · 26-10-2010 12:48pm #1

Thinking about investing in a bike with Athena on it. There are options for carbon chainset, but there is €120 in the difference or so I am told. Is this worth it? Seems to be a bit steep.

paddyduc · 26-10-2010 1:02pm

That must be a mixed group as Athena chainset is carbon.

www.chaindrivencycles.com

Lumen · 26-10-2010 1:06pm

paddyduc wrote: »

That must be a mixed group as Athena chainset is carbon.

Nope, there is an alloy option.

There won't be any functional difference. Pick the option that best suits your bike.

levitronix · 26-10-2010 2:33pm

The carbon crank is class looking up close, carbon shifters as well , id say worth it

Planet X · 26-10-2010 4:51pm

Are the shifters not coated metal? Think so.

paddyduc · 26-10-2010 6:02pm

I've got a centaur one here and it's carbon inside and out. It looks like full carbon to me so the Athena must also be.

www.chaindrivencycles.com

Planet X · 26-10-2010 6:08pm

paddyduc wrote: »

I've got a centaur one here and it's carbon inside and out. It looks like full carbon to me so the Athena must also be.

www.chaindrivencycles.com

Alloy inner.

JacksonHeightsOwn · 26-10-2010 6:42pm

the latest model athena now offers aluminium brake levers as standard, as old school purists where moaning about the carbeon ones taking away from the asthetics of the groupset, seeing as the deraillers are alu

kerrycyclist

ive got the carbon athena, crank and brake levers, if you're up in dublin by any chance, you're more than welcome to have a spin on my bike to see if you like it

personally, i couldnt reccommend it any higher, great shifting, super comfortable hoods, and it looks prettier than shimano to :cool:

DirkVoodoo · 26-10-2010 7:59pm

Planet X wrote: »

Alloy inner.

This is true, it's a carbon wrap. Campag seem to be on a mission to downgrade each product line in successive generations, the new centaur has ditched the ultra torque crank in favor of a Shimano-esque crank design. Doesn't matter in terms of anything other than weight weenyism though.

I have the carbon crank, can't say I notice any difference between it and an alloy one. I mean, if anything is going to flex it's the chainrings, BB or pedal axles, I wouldn't have thought crank arms were high on the list. Slightly lighter, might want to look that up, but I just liked the look. Frankly, if you think it isn't worth it, it probably isn't. There is no real benefit other than the look and a small weight saving, so the question you should be asking is "is the look of the carbon worth 120 euro to you?". At the end of the day it will still perform the same.

bcmf · 26-10-2010 8:11pm

I was doing a bit of research for my new build and basically came to a Bike Radar review of the veloce alloy UT cranks which gave it the result of '....best sub £200 crankset'.
Asthetically yes carbon.
But if its stiffness you are after its an upgrade of the rings. Though I really havent heard complaints of the Campy rings being 'soft'