# 11spd R.Der: Athena vs Chorus/Record/SR



## LigonierA1 (Aug 12, 2005)

Is there any performance difference between the Athena r. der and the Chorus and Record r.der or is the primary difference that the higher end der are a bit lighter due to use of carbon fiber?

Edit to say that upon a more thorough search, consensus on Athena performance overall is that it's pretty much on par with the other 11psd groups. So I guess that answers my question, unless you have something different to report.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Athena, Chorus, and Record are different in weight and structural materials. SR has better pulleys (bearing and bushing versus bushing and bushing) and is lighter still. Most of the pro teams on Campy ride Record. When the pulleys on my Chorus RD wear out I'm going to buy some SR pulleys. 

My new bike will have Record levers, crankset, and Chorus derailleurs. I don't see any advantage of Record over Chorus levers but the Record levers were on sale. The Record cranksets have USB bearings versus standard although high quality bearings on Chorus.


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## ericjacobsen3 (Apr 27, 2007)

*Athena benefit.*

One advantage I realized for Athena: the aluminum outer plate (which looks very nice) won't crack if the bike get's laid over. The 11sp chorus & record carbon plates in the pivot corner for 11sp only hit the ground when the bike falls on the drive side.

I have seen several 11sp carbon derailleurs on ebay broken at the pivot and my Chorus somehow got rubbed once already. Knowing this the metallic look of Athena is cast in a more desirable light.

Carbon is not at its best in a flat plate put in torsion as on a derailleur getting banged. I'd be willing to bet that an aluminum plate of the same weight is stiffer and stronger than the carbon.

Only thing bugging me about the Athena derailleur is the stamped steel back plate that would be Sora grade on Shimano. Luckily it is fairly easy not to see.


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## LigonierA1 (Aug 12, 2005)

ericjacobsen3 said:


> One advantage I realized for Athena: the aluminum outer plate (which looks very nice) won't crack if the bike get's laid over. The 11sp chorus & record carbon plates in the pivot corner for 11sp only hit the ground when the bike falls on the drive side.
> Carbon is not at its best in a flat plate put in torsion as on a derailleur getting banged. I'd be willing to bet that an aluminum plate of the same weight is stiffer and stronger than the carbon.


I have harbored this concern for some time. Der and cf....they don't strike me as a good idea. Lighter is good but if the der can't even sustain a fall at 0 mph, err.........that's alotta coin for that sort of durability. Granted, it wasn't designed to "hit the ground" and I'm no engineer. Add to this that I'm replacing a 9spd Record Ti, one of the shiniest most beautiful pieces of aluminium to ever hang on a bike frame.....the carbon is almost a bridge too far. 

Note that I'm not anti carbon fiber at all, my frame, hbar, Ergolevers, and crankset are cf . But in a der parallelogram, I have had reservations and this info seems to bear out my concerns. 

And I'm clumsy, so the bike is GOING to get dropped eventually. Looks like Athena is my choice.


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