# Just installed TA Nerius 11-spd chainrings



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

I have an early Athena UT 11-speed compact crank, which I guess without looking it up must be 2009-10 vintage. It had 50/34 chainrings, but the 50 was getting worn and I was getting poor shifting and chain drops.

Just took delivery of TA Nerius rings 52/36 in Graphite ano. These are designated as 11-speed and Campy compatible.

They fit the spider just fine, but I discovered I couldn't get the bolts tight. They were now a fraction long and bottoming. The rings look to be the same thickness as Campy, but perhaps there is some tiny difference in the countersink. I ground about 1/2 mm off the end of each screw (the one that goes in from behind on these cranks), and all was fine.

They look good, the price was reasonable, $143 CDN or about $121 US from Wiggle, and no other tax or duty this time.

Cannot provide a ride report since it's minus 15 deg C here. So I will just look at them until it warms up.


----------



## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

I'd love to hear how they work. I want to replace the big ring on a triple with a 50T. Was the price you mentioned for one or both chainrings?


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

That was for both. Check Wiggle. I'd guess the split about $75/45


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

Here's a picture. No riding for me in this weather.


----------



## aa.mclaren (Jun 25, 2008)

Looks like they also make a 51t ring to fit the 110/113mm Campy cranks, so the almost-nearly mid compact format is also possible! Hopefully the modified bolts hold, my understanding was that aftermarket bolts of some sort were recommended with the T.A. or Stronglight rings on these cranks.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

The amount needed to take off the screw is no more than 1 thread, so I think they'll be fine. The hidden bolt was fine with no mod. Looks like any generic crank bolts would work in the 4 remaining holes, if one wishes.


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

aa.mclaren said:


> my understanding was that aftermarket bolts of some sort were recommended with the T.A. or Stronglight rings on these cranks.


There are aftermarket bolts available for the more recent cranks where the ring itself is threaded... in order to use the replacement rings that were already in production for Record/Chorus. So, it depends on what year the Record/Chorus crank was made. I think the change in question happened in 2012 but I don't feel like looking it up to verify. Beyond that, I don't think it was ever recommended to use different bolts.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

headloss said:


> There are aftermarket bolts available for the more recent cranks where the ring itself is threaded... in order to use the replacement rings that were already in production for Record/Chorus. So, it depends on what year the Record/Chorus crank was made. I think the change in question happened in 2012 but I don't feel like looking it up to verify. Beyond that, I don't think it was ever recommended to use different bolts.


The recommendation is in line with my recent experience though. The standard bolts would tighten up but not enough, about 1/2 a turn shy of where I wanted the torque to be. My minor grind on the screw fixed that.


----------



## tztag (Aug 15, 2010)

The Athena Carbon Ultra-Torque mounting tabs are thinner than Chorus and Record. Those rings are designed for the Chorus/Record mounting tab width. Also, the hidden mounting surface on the Athena UT is not in the same plane as Chorus/Record, so once you mount that crank up you will see that the big ring warps at the hidden bolt. The chain will also catch on the pins since the rings will be too close together.


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

tztag said:


> The Athena Carbon Ultra-Torque mounting tabs are thinner than Chorus and Record. Those rings are designed for the Chorus/Record mounting tab width. Also, the hidden mounting surface on the Athena UT is not in the same plane as Chorus/Record, so once you mount that crank up you will see that the big ring warps at the hidden bolt. The chain will also catch on the pins since the rings will be too close together.


Yeah the Campy built-in-incompatibility for rings sucks. There was one year when the small ring was compatible (Athena's first year, 2010). As with 10 speed versions, you can get it to work by spacing out 4 of the bolts, but the chainline will be slightly different and therefore the cross-chained combos may rub more than OEM. My fear is that the amount you ground off is the amount you need to space (I think it is 0.5 or 0.6mm spacers that you need, but that info was for 10 speed so it may be different). I recommend buying steel, not aluminum spacers, and like everyone here recommends, always buy Chorus.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

tztag said:


> The Athena Carbon Ultra-Torque mounting tabs are thinner than Chorus and Record. Those rings are designed for the Chorus/Record mounting tab width. Also, the hidden mounting surface on the Athena UT is not in the same plane as Chorus/Record, so once you mount that crank up you will see that the big ring warps at the hidden bolt. The chain will also catch on the pins since the rings will be too close together.


That's not good. I'll have to have do careful assessment of the situation. It's still been too cold to ride here, but I can mount them on a trainer bike to have a look.

Just had a look at the parts catalog. I hadn't realized before, but those style of Athena cranks were only produced for one year - 2010. The 34T ring is the same p/n as Record/Chorus, but the 50T ring has a different p/n which does not mean a dimensional difference of course. 

Bizzare to me that Campy would produce 11-speed cranks in the same year with different tab and ring thicknesses


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

@tztag is 100% right. Looks like I learned the hard way. The spacing issue would be an easy fix. Not so much the mounting pad which looks to be a couple of mm high judging by the wobble in the ring at that point. 

And yes I tried it without the thin spacer that is stock there.

I'm going to disassemble everything to compare these rings with the originals.

Either I find a shop to mill down the pad, or I may have a couple of brand new chainrings for sale.


----------



## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

bikerjulio said:


> @tztag is 100% right. Looks like I learned the hard way. The spacing issue would be an easy fix. Not so much the mounting pad which looks to be a couple of mm high judging by the wobble in the ring at that point.
> 
> And yes I tried it without the thin spacer that is stock there.
> 
> ...


Will they work with a stock 135mm double or the old style triple?


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

bikerjulio said:


> Bizzare to me that Campy would produce 11-speed cranks in the same year with different tab and ring thicknesses


Bizzare is a loose translation of Campagnolo in to English... I think. 

Why not do it with 11 speed? They did it with 10 speed. 2007 Centaur UT rings were compatible across the line, they they got the cheaper stamped rings after that. I guess I am at least a little surprised since the Athena rings look to be a higher quality. Campy spends way too much time intentionally making things not-compatible.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

This has to be one of the biggest FcukUp's ever on my part. Anyone want a set of nice chainrings for Campy CT Chorus or Record in 52/36 pm me, before I take a dremel to my now useless Athena crank.


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

bikerjulio said:


> This has to be one of the biggest FcukUp's ever on my part. Anyone want a set of nice chainrings for Campy CT Chorus or Record in 52/36 pm me, before I take a dremel to my now useless Athena crank.


I think you missed my post. As I said all you need is 4 spacers. I think the Origin8 ones are steel. If you're local you can have some for free, I have a bunch.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

DrSmile said:


> I think you missed my post. As I said all you need is 4 spacers. I think the Origin8 ones are steel. If you're local you can have some for free, I have a bunch.


Thanks. From someone who appreciates modern dentistry BTW. (new crown yesterday). I'm going to look at the situation again.

I'm local to the west end of Toronto. Later.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

DrSmile said:


> I think you missed my post. As I said all you need is 4 spacers. I think the Origin8 ones are steel. If you're local you can have some for free, I have a bunch.


Thanks for the offer Dr.

Spacers will fix one problem, but not the other. The spacers would space out the small ring, right? So wouldn't it be 5 spacers? What thickness spacers are needed?

The Nerius big ring is not sufficiently relieved at the hidden mount location, so the ring is being pushed inward at that location. Either the ring, or pad needs to be milled so that it can sit in one plane.


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

bikerjulio said:


> Thanks for the offer Dr.
> 
> Spacers will fix one problem, but not the other. The spacers would space out the small ring, right? So wouldn't it be 5 spacers? What thickness spacers are needed?
> 
> The Nerius big ring is not sufficiently relieved at the hidden mount location, so the ring is being pushed inward at that location. Either the ring, or pad needs to be milled so that it can sit in one plane.


Hmm... Ok sorry about that. Now that you mention the pad I remember I did encounter this on a Campy Centaur carbon crank, and did mill down the tab, but even with the rings straight the spacing was off. I got it to work but the kludge was such a pain I vowed never to do it again.

Here is my post about it with pictures:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/co...l-machined-centaur-chainrings-fit-183693.html


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

I've been comparing and measuring the original Campy rings vs the Nerius.

The Campy ring has the area of the hidden bolt relieved by 1.25mm. Nerius has no relief.

Campy then uses a 0.60mm spacer, which if omitted means that the Nerius ring would only have to be relieved (1.25 - 0.60) = 0.65mm to make things right in that respect. This may be my excuse to buy a Dremel.

The spacing difference is due to the thicker material of the Campy outer ring (the inners are identical as far as I can tell). The Campy ring is 0.5mm thicker material, but the teeth are in the same relation to the outer face as Nerius, meaning the Campy teeth are that much further apart.

To fix this issue then would require finding 5 spacers in the 0.5mm range.

Not having much luck so far when I search for these.


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

bikerjulio said:


> This may be my excuse to buy a Dremel.


Get the cheap one that only has one speed... it is less likely to fail down the road, and it's cheap. You can grab a lamp dimmer for $10 to give a variable speed control.


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

bikerjulio said:


> To fix this issue then would require finding 5 spacers in the 0.5mm range.
> 
> Not having much luck so far when I search for these.


I covered this I think:

Origin8 Chainring Spacers, Bag of 20 - 0.5mm, Stainless Steel, Silver

I did go down this road and again I highly recommend against it. For one, the second you dremel the chainring the aluminum there is now exposed and will rapidly corrode.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

DrSmile said:


> I covered this I think:
> 
> Origin8 Chainring Spacers, Bag of 20 - 0.5mm, Stainless Steel, Silver
> 
> I did go down this road and again I highly recommend against it. For one, the second you dremel the chainring the aluminum there is now exposed and will rapidly corrode.


Too late. I started with the Dremel but the grinding tool clogged up. I am trying another tool tomorrow for the "milling" on the chainring. An LBS had the 0.6mm spacers I needed. Not too worried about corrosion. I can grease it up and never go out in the rain. Should be OK. Now I think about it, the spacers that Campy provide at the hidden bolt location look like raw alloy. Better than looking at a bunch of useless bits anyway.


----------



## 1Butcher (Mar 15, 2011)

As you found out, grinding aluminum with a stone is not recommended. Cutting bit with a slow speed works great. A heavy grease on the bit suppose to work good to prevent the aluminum from sticking, but I have not had luck with that. Large tooth bits would best.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

The new Dremel tool (high speed cutter) worked fine. Must have had the rings on and off at least 6 times as I worked on it. Finally it's not perfect, but on the stand the crankset is looking and working OK. The road test awaits.


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

Just leaving this here for future reference.
http://www.moilutin-cycles.fr/Files/104460/141354628722125.pdf

(for google search purposes TA Vento Tivano Nerius Solano Horus Zephyr)

So what I'm making of the chart so far is that the power torque cranks (accept for Athena) are all normal campagnolo specs for standard and compact.
Athena, along with the UT years of Centaur and Veloce are the stamped rings. The Centaur and Veloce compact from the 2006 and 2007 uses universal 110 bcd rings without the oddball 112 behind the crank arm.

I wonder how accurate the chart is?


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

So according to that chart I bought the wrong outer ring. Should have been "Solano".

My 2010 Carbon compact Athena does not have stamped rings. Machined.

I still await the arrival of rideable weather. The outer ring is running reasonably straight, but I'm half expecting some flex. The 52T TA ring is thinner and has less material than the original 50T Campy one.


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

bikerjulio said:


> So according to that chart I bought the wrong outer ring. Should have been "Solano".


*edit* never mind. Yes.


----------



## centralflat (Mar 13, 2015)

headloss said:


> Just leaving this here for future reference.
> http://www.moilutin-cycles.fr/Files/104460/141354628722125.pdf
> 
> (for google search purposes TA Vento Tivano Nerius Solano Horus Zephyr)
> ...


Hello There,

First of all many thanks for the attached table very useful, as for the accuracy, I can confirm that Athena Carbon Compact chainrings onwards 2011 (Power Torque) fit Fulcrum RS as I made the swap and works perfectly. According to the table it is Solano but it should be rather Nerius 11 instead. Also according to table 2009 Veloce Compact (Solano) should fit 2011 Athena compact and can confirm it does not match.
I wonder Athena Aluminium chainring compatibility, I think it might be inaccurate in the table, would be glad if anyone would confirm.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

For those of you anxiously awaiting my road test, it should happen soon as the weather is just now improving in Toronto. Not today - it's wet.


----------



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

centralflat said:


> Hello There,
> 
> First of all many thanks for the attached table very useful, as for the accuracy, I can confirm that Athena Carbon Compact chainrings onwards 2011 (Power Torque) fit Fulcrum RS as I made the swap and works perfectly. According to the table it is Solano but it should be rather Nerius 11 instead. Also according to table 2009 Veloce Compact (Solano) should fit 2011 Athena compact and can confirm it does not match.
> I wonder Athena Aluminium chainring compatibility, I think it might be inaccurate in the table, would be glad if anyone would confirm.


Thanks for the input. I think the issue is with the overlap some years, mid-production changes, etc. But, who knows? I'd love to confirm more cranks on that chart!

FWIW I can now confirm that a Centaur aluminum compact with the nicer chain rings is a standard 110bcd and compatible with other brands. I might stock pile a few as I keep seeing them on ebay.


----------



## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

After another long winter of crappy cold weather I finally got out for a ride on the bike equipped with the TA Nerius rings.

As a recap, this was 52/36 rings on a rare 2010 Athena carbon UT crankset. I bought the wrong outer ring and had to mill the hidden bolt pad area and add spacers all around to make it work. I believe that if it had been a Chorus or Record crank, then the rings should have fitted OK.

Anyway, after a ride I can report that the setup is working fine. Shifts are good and the drivetrain is quiet. So for $120 or whatever it was I have a useable crank, as opposed to having to either junk it or try to find OEM rings for a reasonable price.


----------

