Another EPS Gruppo

[alienator]

According to Road Bike Action, tomorrow Campy will be letting journos test ride Athena EPS. It's supposed to be price-competitive with Ultegra Di2. Hopefully it won't be afflicted with limited shifting like PowerShift on mechanical Athena or Centaur.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

370 PS at Ribble, shown out of stock...hmmm....

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/New-products-Campagnolo-Athena-EPS-11-Speed-Rear-Dearailleur/CAMPELRR200000000000

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Some details here: http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/6995.html

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Tronarello?



Bike Radar write-up here: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/campagnolo-athena-eps-11-speed-launched-34613/

Merry Christmas to us!

Ribble is showing levers at 208 PS: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/New-products-Campagnolo-Athena-EPS-Ergos-with-cables/CAMPELSS200

FD at 337 PS: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/New-products-Campagnolo-Athena-EPS-11-Speed-Front-Derailleur/CAMPELFR200

Interface at 102 PS: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/New-products-Campagnolo-EPS-Athena-Interface/CAMPELCO200000000000

Can't seem to Google up the battery and other pieces parts or a group price, but those prices may end up incorrect in any event by the time they actually hit the market.

This could bring the price down to the point I jump on the electric band wagon a year sooner.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Leonard Zinn does a 2-hour test ride in Italy: http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/07/news/campagnolos-new-11-speed-athena-eps-puts-electronic-shifting-within-easy-reach_230270


"Like those two groups, harnesses are available for internal routing only, not for external routing, which means no retrofitting on frames that aren’t intended for electronic shifting."

I'm not getting this. WTH...other than it looking like ass...would stop a guy from...say...using half a roll of electrical tape to do an external routing job?

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by alienator .

Hopefully it won't be afflicted with limited shifting like PowerShift on mechanical Athena or Centaur.

One can only hope. Coming from Shimano, I didn't really understand the shifting bliss that is UltraShift. I had my three down one up (just like Powershift) and thought it was just an uneccessary extravegance.

Then I was lured by a 2010/2012 Athena group combo offering on eBay featuring the older Ultrashift Athena11 (and the new black calipers + RD). Shifting glory is all I can say! Double dump on a compact... words cannot quite explain it.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

One can only hope.

Did you read the review?

Hold the button and fly from one end of the stack to the other at warp speed...just like Record. It's a Record clone minus a little Ti and carbon fiber.

Athena EPS provides the same snappy, accurate shifting (with overshift and return over the gear as well as auto-trim with chain angle) and whirring sound of the 12,000-16,000-RPM servo motors as Record and Super Record EPS. It also offers the same great ergonomics and hassle-free function in the cold, even with thick gloves, as its predecessors. The feel of the shifters with the “MultiDome” layers of domed spring steel under the lever is also the same.
Athena 11-speed EPS even includes Multi-Shift, which lets a rider run through the entire cogset in either direction by holding down the appropriate shift button, and halt a multiple shift by releasing the shift button. It’s exactly the same as Record and Super Record EPS.

And...it's got a tune mode and a limp-home mode for chumps that forget to recharge! The more I read, the more I like this stuff. An upgrade group will be stuffing my stocking!

 

[danfoz]

Didn't read it yet - was bandwidth challenged yesterday. The pics look great though. I test rode an electronic shifting Ultegra Bianchi Sempre which was as crisp and smooth as anything I've ridden before (mind blowing actually) but for me there are so many things to buy before going electronic - a new frame, new shoes, a powermeter, yada yada yada.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Didn't read it yet - was bandwidth challenged yesterday.

I hear ya! You should live where I do.

The choices are: Amish Dial-Up or Somalian DSL.

I've been Jonesing for an SRM, but my wattage numbers would probably require the factory to add another two places to the right of the decimal point so...Ima gonna go for the cheap electric option.

For me, living in the land of never-ending molehill climbs, the rapid, multiple shifts that Campy mechanical shifting offers has been a real pleasure to use and a benefit to fast climbing and descending. The electric avenue version may be even better for that? I'll give it a go.

Shifting glory is all I can say!

Sin no more! Shift in peace, my son!

 

[swampy1970]

Didn't read it yet - was bandwidth challenged yesterday. I hear ya! You should live where I do. The choices are: Amish Dial-Up or Somalian DSL. I've been Jonesing for an SRM, but my wattage numbers would probably require the factory to add another two places to the right of the decimal point so...Ima gonna go for the cheap electric option. For me, living in the land of never-ending molehill climbs, the rapid, multiple shifts that Campy mechanical shifting offers has been a real pleasure to use and a benefit to fast climbing and descending. The electric avenue version may be even better for that? I'll give it a go. Shifting glory is all I can say! Sin no more! Shift in peace, my son!

Having had a few years of "fun" with a powermeter, I'd say it's up there with the "must have" items like good shorts and comfy shoes. Even if you just use it for subtle things like pacing for a century ride, the impact that it can have on the outcome of that ride is more than pretty much any frame or wheel set could offer. If you had a Peugeot Carbolite 103 tubed frame with plastic friction downtube shifters and a mostly plastic Sachs-Huret rear mech and was gonna spend $2,000 on a new bike it'd still be a tough call as to whether the SRM or bike would be the best performance enhancement. I think it'd be fair to say that without the PowerTap I might not have finished some of the longer rides I've done this year in as good a state as I did or even finished them at all. I'm not knocking the cheap Carbolite Peugeot frames either. My Peugeot "Robert Millar" bike I had when I was a kid was ace and got me into the sport. The 52/42 and 13-24 5 speed block took a fair amount of effort at first to make it up the 10%+ hills but the geometry was fantastic - for me at least. Oh to get a 58cm road bike with a 74 degree seat angle and a nice long top tube again... RIP poor Peugeot frame - id still ride it today if I hadn't cracked the seat tube. Maybe the fact that it said Carbolite on the seat tube sticker gave the steel frame the delusion that it had to fail in a way that most people would associate carbon frames to do... but this was back I the day when carbon frames came unglued (sorry - unbonded) at the lugs leaving the riders to face plant and use their teeth as friction material.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Heh...I just told of my old 1974 or '75 PY-10 in another thread. 531, but still a 'cheap' frameset. Mine had the 'better'...ahem...Simplex line of stuff on it. IIRC a 47-52 x 14-19 straight block. Yeah, hills sucked!

The 'cheap' invitation to Campy electric shifting is why I will dive in.

If Garmin or someone gets the power meters in 'cheap' pedals or cranksets or hubs sorted out, I would gladly buy into the technology there also. Strain gages are cheap and I still can't figure out where a $4K-$5K SRM price tag comes from, but no matter. That's capitalism for ya. Like I said, at this stage in my racing career, my power output graph is tailing off faster than Obummer's popularity poll numbers!

I need to invest in Amgen stock and get to know someone in the shipping department!

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .

a 47-52 x 14-19 straight block. Yeah, hills sucked!

You guys and your granny gear stories...

I like to brag about my 14-18 5-speed straight block back in the day (in my defense of the 14t I was technically a junior), but a 47? You got me there. Not that this is a pissing contest. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by swampy1970 .


Maybe the fact that it said Carbolite on the seat tube sticker gave the steel frame the delusion that it had to fail in a way that most people would associate carbon frames to do... but this was back I the day when carbon frames came unglued (sorry - unbonded) at the lugs leaving the riders to face plant and use their teeth as friction material.

Everyone knows CF frames are junk. The Consortium of Titanium Framebuilders told me so. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

[alienator]

Everyone knows CF frames are junk. The Consortium of Titanium Framebuilders told me so.

That's one of the Kool Aid flavors. Some of the others are "Steel is Real", "Aluminum Rides Harsh", "Titanium isn't Stiff Enough", "Shimano is Afflicted with Shift Lag", "You Ride a Pinarello, So You Must be a Doctor or Dentist", and "It Would be Hot if Elise Basso Made a Lesbo **** Film with Scarlett Johansson." Of course only the last one is true all the time.

Plus

 

[CAMPYBOB]

but a 47? You got me there.

Yeah...and where I live AIN'T flat!!!

It was a Stronglight 93 or 95. I swapped the Lyotard standards for a pair of steel 45Ca platforms and was the envy of...well, everyone not on Campagnolo alloy or steel plates! The gearing was set up by some Canadian maniac the generated horsepower like a Harley. In flat road races and crits it was OK. For anything else...it hurt. As long as you could keep it moving 18+ MPH, you had a gear for every 2-1/2 RPM change in leg speed!

The frame was 'why' I sold that bike...one of only two or three I've parted with over the years. It was flexible (something about 531 Record main tubes?) and descending on it was just plain frightening. Brace both knees and get a firm grip on that cloth tape! Vibration city! We had it measured, straightened and performed an exorcism, but it still was a thrill ride when pointed down.

The cheap Simplex stuff worked well, but what wouldn't shift a 10 tooth total change?!?! No electricity required.

Now, we'll get the equivalent of 1972 touring gears (well, let's not talk about the maximum tooth abilities of a ONE POUND [15.5 ounces, in reality!] Campagnolo GT rear derailleur!) shifted in a split second with the accuracy Andy Schleck Eddie Merckx!