Campag Potenza

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Tin Pot

Guru
What do we know about Potenza?

  • Athena has been replaced.

I'm running Veloce on #1 and Athena on #2 at the moment and looking to build a new bike and would've bought Athena - indeed I still can, a touch cheaper than Potenza.

What level of compatability is there between Potenza and Athena?

I want to be able to swap parts between bikes, hence choosing Athena again appeals. But as Athena becomes harder to find will Potenza components swap in?
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Athena has only just been been dropped, it was still listed on Campagnolo.com a few days ago (though now removed). Rough guess would be pretty much everything would swap over, certainly did/does between all the other 11 speed Campag groups.
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
Are they not keeping Athena just as a triple? As far as I can see the only issue is that you need the Potenza rear mech to run the larger sprocket, but that wouldn't be a problem if you're swapping it into an Athena setup.
 
Athena double is discontinued and hasn't been made since March 2016 apart from a very limited production for warranty.
Athena triple is still made (crankset, braze-on front gear, rear gears and PowerShift levers, silver and black).

There is no interchangeability of Athena derailleurs or levers with Potenza - the pull ratio on the RD is different and likewise the functionality of the FD requires the Potenza LH lever. This is not a "marketing department" lack of interchangeability - the rear shift plain doesn't work if users try to mix and match. Cable recovery in the lever vs rear derailleur movement is different.

If you want to really take advantage of the Potenza front shift, you need the Potenza four-arm crankset. Otherwise the front shift will only be very marginally better than Athena, if at all. You can (optimally) run Potenza, Chorus, Record or Super Record 2015+ cranksets, sub-optimally Athena or pre 2015 but post 2012 other range crankets, further sub-optimally any Campag 2009-2012 11s cranksets or if you really want poor shifting (compared to what you can have from a properly set up all-Campag system), third party cranks / rings that allow a 43.5 mm chainline.

There is no functional difference between the Potenza chain and cassette and their Athena predecessors, which are actually Chorus anyway - but mechanics need to note and act on two things with regard to the cassette - first, there is a revised lockring which is deeper than the existing one - it needs to be used. Second, the tighteneing torque for the cassette is 50 NM - this needs to be respected to avoid damage to the cassette body - hence the greater thread engagement on the lockring. The new lockring is steel, to reduce the risk of damage to the lockring splines at the higher tightening torque.

The Potenza medium cage RD is required for the 32T largest sprocket and is also advised for the 11-29 cassette. The Potenza short cage RD is fine up to the 27 biggest sprocket.

The Potenza brake uses an industry standard shape and size brake block on a holder which secures the block with a screw. The supplied blocks are optimised, naturally enough, for Campagnolo standard alloy rim material (not PEO alloy or carbon).
 
OP
OP
Tin Pot

Tin Pot

Guru
Okay that's very interesting.

I guess I need to decide whether to save money now or buy now and avoid the upgrade when something fails. Or buy spares.

I have most of two Veloce groupset, and a full Athena set now. I could buy Athena now for the new bike and shift and swap to Veloce on #2 to give me spares.


That 32 on the back is an interesting option though...I wonder how big of a difference climbing it would make.

Hmm...
 
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