Athena (11 speed) v Ultegra

[Bones14]

I am in the process of having a new steel framed road bike built up and am debating as to which groupset to use.

I have Ultegra on my other road bike which I am happy with, however, on "steel" the polished Athena does look more in keeping with a frame of this nature. I would be grateful for any feedback with regards to the Athena, or whether to consider continuing with the Ultegra.

I am not though looking to ignite the campag/shimano argument.

Thanks in advance.............

 

[ColinJ]

I'm still using the original version of Athena (1999) on my steel-framed Basso and happy with it, and I'm sure that the current Athena will be at least as good as that, if not better - go for it!

 

[YellowV2]

I have Athena 11 on my Ti frame and love it, had 105 on my previous bike and much prefer Athena.

 

[StuAff]

Athena is brilliant.

 

[ianrauk]

Ultegra is brilliant

 

[Rob3rt]

Pick the one that you like the feel of most. The hood shape and shifting mechanisms differ.

 

[zizou]

In terms of function both are going to be good, really depends what one you find most comfortable to use - both for changing gear and riding on the hoods.

 

[jay clock]

Avoiding the C vs S argument, a key issue for me has been availability of spares. If you have a Campag hub, it immediately limits you to about 1/20th of the number of cassettes. I have got my daughter a Campag bike and really struggled to find a compatible and good quality cassette with a 27 cog, whereas with Shimano the choice is wider.

 

[Rob3rt]

Have you ruled SRAM out? I recently changed from Shimano to SRAM, availability of components is wide as Shimano and SRAM are cross compatible chain and cassette wise, but SRAM is generally substantially lighter at the same price point. BUT the feel and shifting mechanism is different. I really love the double tap, but it is certainly different from the Shimano STI or Campag shifting mechanisms.