# Athena 11 vs. Centaur 10



## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

I'm pretty new to Campy and am trying to figure it out. I used to be Shimano guy, then tried Sram and liked it much better. I have been happy with my Sram for years now. 
I just built up, and then sold a bike with new Veloce. Really liked it and was pleasantly surprised how much it was like Sram. Sweep the lever way over to drop down a few gears, rapid fire back up with a few clicks. Very easy to go back and forth between bikes.
Now, I'm building up another bike, was going to do Sram to keep it simple but the Campy is less money (Ribble) and Sram seems to be not in stock.
I see Centaur 10 and Athena 11 are pretty much the same price.
Why would I choose one over the other?
Thanks for any help.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

I've seen 5-6-7-8-9 and 10 speed come and go. For anyone starting out now I'd say go with 11. I have an Athena upgrade group on order right now from Ribble.


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## roadworthy (Nov 11, 2011)

Bikerjulio...what exactly is an Athena 'upgrade' group? Is this just 11s speciific parts?...or do you mean you are upgrading with Athena?
Thanks.


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## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

roadworthy said:


> Bikerjulio...what exactly is an Athena 'upgrade' group? Is this just 11s speciific parts?...or do you mean you are upgrading with Athena?
> Thanks.


http://forums.roadbikereview.com/campagnolo/my-11-speed-upgrade-first-impressions-294771.html


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

For those who don't feel like clicking the link - it's basically the parts needed to change a 10-speed group to 11. (there is some debate about the RD's, but there is a little difference).

So, Shifters, RD, cassette and 11 spd chain (I'm using KMC).


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## masi85 (Feb 20, 2007)

The advantage of 11 speed over 10 speed is on a 11-25 cassette you get an additional 16 tooth sprocket that gives you a nice intermediate gear between the 15 and 17 that is really noticable on the 50 tooth chainring. Otherwise for 10 speed you could use a 12-25 cassette and be completely spun out on the 50 12 combination going down hills unless you live in a totally flat area.


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## BikesOfALesserGod (Jul 22, 2012)

Well the cheapest way to EPS heaven is via Athena so to me it's reason enough to pick that if I foresee the newfangled electronic stuff in my future.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

So I guess I don't get why they are the same price. Is Centaur better than Athena, but the Athena is 11 and newer?
I think I would be leaning towards the Athena group now. Don't want to be on 10 when they stop making it. Like when Shimano went 10 and my 9s were out.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

I'd get the Athena group and spend a bit extra and substitute the Chorus shifters for the Athena shifters. Its a pretty small difference in cost (around $80). With Ribble, you can buy the parts individually and often pay less than buying the group. Especially if a sale is going on where groups are excluded, but parts aren't. I bet they do a holiday sale soon. 

That way you get ultrashift levers instead of powershift levers. With ultrashift, you can drop 5 gears at a time, or upshift 4 with a single motion. With powershift its more like Shimano -- one gear per click up or down (you can do three up with Shimano). So you get a lot better shifters for a small addition in cost. Everything else in the group looks very similar to Chorus. The carbon crank will cost you an additional $150 and knock off 100 grams. This is new for 2013. It used to be that the "silver" version was cheaper. Now they're the same, but you get a metal crank with the black where you used to get a carbon crank. Add the carbon crank and you're back up to what the difference used to be. Actually, this is kind of nice. You can get the black components and forgo the carbon crank if 100 grams isn't worth $150 to you. 

Another argument for 11-speed is that it's here. As time goes on, the lower level groups will become 11-speed and 10-speed stuff will become increasingly hard to find. I'm going through that now with some 9-speed bikes I own. My right shifter crapped out on me and my choices were to replace the Dura Ace shifter with lowly Sora, or track down a used Dura Ace shifter on ebay. I did the latter, but that's not going to be an option for long. 

I did this on a steel frame I built up for my wife this summer. It works great and looks awesome (I did the silver version).


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## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Shimano is adding an 11 speed group this year, sram has their 1x11 hitting the market (more for mtb, but you know that means it'll hit the road soon). You might as well get the "good stuff" and a proven track record by going 11 speed with the Athena group rather than "just" a 10 speed group.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

pmf said:


> I'd get the Athena group and spend a bit extra and substitute the Chorus shifters for the Athena shifters.


That's a very good tip. And if I am reading the compatibility chart correctly, Chorus 11 UltraShift can in fact "drive" an Athena 11 PowerShift FD and RD. 

http://www.campagnolo.com/repository/documenti/en/Compatibility_table.pdf


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

orange_julius said:


> That's a very good tip. And if I am reading the compatibility chart correctly, Chorus 11 UltraShift can in fact "drive" an Athena 11 PowerShift FD and RD.
> 
> http://www.campagnolo.com/repository/documenti/en/Compatibility_table.pdf


Yes it can. I have that set up on my wife's bike and it works flawlessly. 

When the group came out in 2010, it had ultrashift shifters (I have them on one of my bikes). As far as I could tell, they were rebadged Chorus shifters with cheaper brake levers. I think now they're basically Centuar shifters with an extra gear. 

For an extra $80, the Chorus shifters are a no-brainer upgrade.


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

Just a voice of conservatism here.....All the comments about 11 speed being the new thing, 10 "going away", etc. It's nothing to worry about. 
10 speed was supposedly the death of 9 speed and there are currently 9 speed cassettes up the wazoo for less than $60 all over the internet, a 10 speed Veloce can be had for under $70 shipped, while the cheapest I have seen 11 speed cassettes is for around $100-110 for a Miche and about $125-130 for Chorus.
Don't let the thought that 10 speed will be gone in a year or 2 be a worry, it'll still be here. You'll be able to get 10 speed campy compatible cassettes for the foreseeable future.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Thanks for the input. I was actually wondering about stepping up to a Chorus shifter and running Athena everything else. Nice to know it will work.
My frame should be here soon and I can't wait to get it together.
Thanks again.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

onrhodes said:


> Just a voice of conservatism here.....All the comments about 11 speed being the new thing, 10 "going away", etc. It's nothing to worry about.
> 10 speed was supposedly the death of 9 speed and there are currently 9 speed cassettes up the wazoo for less than $60 all over the internet, a 10 speed Veloce can be had for under $70 shipped, while the cheapest I have seen 11 speed cassettes is for around $100-110 for a Miche and about $125-130 for Chorus.
> Don't let the thought that 10 speed will be gone in a year or 2 be a worry, it'll still be here. You'll be able to get 10 speed campy compatible cassettes for the foreseeable future.


As the owner of two 9-speed Dura Ace equipped bikes, I'd beg to differ. When I bought the bikes, there was no 10-speed. However, over time replacement parts have gotten harder to come by. Sure, I can find lots of 9-speed cassettes out there, but its not easy finding Shimano ones in the sizes I want. When a shifter craps out, its Sora or ebay. 

It was a long time after I bought my bikes that Shimano went 10-speed. I've got a lot of use out of them. Only now, 10-12 years later are they starting to wear out (the components that is). Had I bought 9-speed several years later closer to when 10-speed came out, I'd be experiencing my present problems in 2017. At that point, yes, I think replacement parts would be hard to find. Is the market flush with 8-speed stuff?

I guess my point is that there will be 11-speed replacement parts out there further in the future than there will be 10-speed parts. Given the choice, and the very small difference in price, 11-speed seems like the obvious and more conservative choice to me.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

T K said:


> Thanks for the input. I was actually wondering about stepping up to a Chorus shifter and running Athena everything else. Nice to know it will work.
> My frame should be here soon and I can't wait to get it together.
> Thanks again.


What did you get?


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

pmf said:


> What did you get?


2012 Cannondale Synapse Carbon. From a member here at RBR. Should be a more comfortable compliment to my Caad.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Brings me to another question. The frameset has an FSA Gossamer crankset. I shouldn't have any issues using that right?
Also, am I reading correctly on Campy's site that they don't sell a BB30 crankset? They make a BB30 bottom bracket that works with their regular cranks?


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

They make BB30 compatible cups.
I'd rather get a BB30 to BSA conversion sleeve pressed in and used the Campa BSA cups.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

kbwh said:


> They make BB30 compatible cups.
> I'd rather get a BB30 to BSA conversion sleeve pressed in and used the Campa BSA cups.


Why is that? Seems like that would be a heavier way to go. Not that weight is a big issue for me.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

T K said:


> Why is that? Seems like that would be a heavier way to go. Not that weight is a big issue for me.


It's true that threaded BB's are less likely to have problems, BUT I've now had Campy's BB30 cups on my #1 bike, a Cannondale SS for over 2 years now with absolutely no problems. And I'd be considered a serious test case. My advice would be to start with them.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Yeah, I'm just conservative.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

T K said:


> Brings me to another question. The frameset has an FSA Gossamer crankset. I shouldn't have any issues using that right?
> Also, am I reading correctly on Campy's site that they don't sell a BB30 crankset? They make a BB30 bottom bracket that works with their regular cranks?


First, Campy now sells "cups" rather than bottom brackets these days. Bottom brackets are old technology. In English, they mate with "chainsets" rather than cranks. You can buy a BB30 set of cups that will work with the Athena cranks. I have no idea if they'll work with the FSA crap, I mean cranks, that are coming with your frame. 

This is interesting -- On Ribble, they charge $150 to upgrade to the carbon crank when you buy the group, but the difference is only $75 if you buy it individually. $75 for a weight savings of 104 grams is worth considering. The Chorus crank is $200 more and saves 173 grams -- a bit less bang for the buck. I'd get the Athena carbon cranks and toss the FSA cranks. Maybe some fool on ebay will buy them.


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## flatlander_48 (Nov 16, 2005)

I rode Centaur 10 from 2005 until 2011. I upgraded to Chorus 11 in anticipation of a later move to EPS. Chorus has a much nicer feel and riding qualities than Centaur. Not that Centaur was bad; Chorus is just better. A lot changed in that 6 years.

In the current situation with Centaur and Athena, Centaur is now the top of the line for 10spd. There's no way to upgrade except for used or NOS parts. Athena is the bottom of the 11spd line, so there are new parts for upgrade if you so choose.


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## Just James (Oct 24, 2008)

T K said:


> Brings me to another question. The frameset has an FSA Gossamer crankset. I shouldn't have any issues using that right?
> Also, am I reading correctly on Campy's site that they don't sell a BB30 crankset? They make a BB30 bottom bracket that works with their regular cranks?


Kinda related, I have those FSA Gossamer on my CAAD9 BB30 frame and they mated perfectly with my Veloce 10 group. They work well, shift well, and the cranks are very stiff. My alternate choice would been to install the threaded insert and use my older square taper Record cranks.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

flatlander_48 said:


> In the current situation with Centaur and Athena, Centaur is now the top of the line for 10spd. There's no way to upgrade except for used or NOS parts. Athena is the bottom of the 11spd line, so there are new parts for upgrade if you so choose.


This is a great point.
If I start with the Athena 11 spd there is nowhere to go but up. 
If I start with the Centaur 10, well..........


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