Campagnolo Potenza RD with 2012/2013 Record Shifters

[jambee]

Will the combination above work? I have relatively "old" Record shifters (the "old" rubber format). Looking combine them with Potenza medium cage.

Any experience?

[Ungaro]

Shouldn't be an issue. Campagnolo is really good about backward compatibility, unlike Shimano. Although, Campy corporate always warns against "mixing" gruppos......you know, because they want to sell you a whole gruppo instead of a few components.

[jambee]

Thanks!

Anyone has experience with this combo.

[Geekonbike]

The new (2015+) Potenza, Chorus, Record etc... has slightly different cable pull than the 2012 era. If I were you I'd look for an athena rear derailleur from that era...you can find 'em on ebay for about the same $$ as Potenza.

[tuscanyswe]

The new (2015+) Potenza, Chorus, Record etc... has slightly different cable pull than the 2012 era. If I were you I'd look for an athena rear derailleur from that era...you can find 'em on ebay for about the same $$ as Potenza.

Were the athenas available in medium cage?

[Mark McM]

Were the athenas available in medium cage?

Yes, although I think only in black.

[Geekonbike]

What size cassette are you going to run? I've been able to get a 32t to shift fine with a short cage derailleur (I don't cross chain and if I'm in the 32t I'm always in the little ring up front) Just dial in the B screw.

If you're running a compact 50x34t crankset already a short cage should be ok.

[R3awak3n]

Yes, although I think only in black.

pretty sure they exist in silver too.

If anyone needs a black on, I have some for sale :D


also I would not do 32t with shortcage, works, but not that well. Good for a ride here and there but not for everyday use imo. Chain too slack.

[jambee]

I am running a short cage Chorus RD with 32 teeth cassette. That does not work very well. Too much chain slack at some point and when you get up there on the teeth it is a little sketchy.

Now, do we think that this Athena (black, and declared as LONG) will work:

https://www.bike-components.de/de/Campagnolo/Athena-Black-Schaltwerk-11-fach-p29867/

[Mark McM]

pretty sure they exist in silver too.

I've heard that there might have been some in silver, but I've looked for the silver verson for about a year now, and only found them in black (on both the new and used market). If there were any silver ones, they couldn't have made too many of them. But, I'd really like a silver one, so I'll keep looking.

[jambee]

Here is Athena is silver:
https://www.bike-components.de/de/Campagnolo/Athena-Schaltwerk-11-fach-Auslaufmodell-p25833/

I can get it and bring to the U.S. if needed.

[Mark McM]

Here is Athena is silver:
https://www.bike-components.de/de/Campagnolo/Athena-Schaltwerk-11-fach-Auslaufmodell-p25833/

I can get it and bring to the U.S. if needed.

Thanks, but this appears to be the short cage version. I'm looking for the Athena silver long cage version. (This vendor also has the Athena long cage derailleur - but only in black).

I've seen plenty of Athena silver short cage derailleurs for sale, but I have not yet seen an Athena silver long cage derailleur.

[tuscanyswe]

Aha, If only available in black (or very rare silver) that would explain why i havent seen them before as the only reason i have gone for athena over say chorus is the that it comes in silver.

[DfCas]

So the answer to the original question is no? For sure?

[ERK55]

The silver long cage Athena RD was previously sold as part of the Athena 11 sp triple groupset. I have to say I haven't seen one sold as a separate piece, at least any time recently. It seems that the black Athena long cage RD is getting scarcer, and the price has gone up.

[oldpotatoe]

The new (2015+) Potenza, Chorus, Record etc... has slightly different cable pull than the 2012 era. If I were you I'd look for an athena rear derailleur from that era...you can find 'em on ebay for about the same $$ as Potenza.

Yes but it means nada..the Potenza will work great.

[oldpotatoe]

Will the combination above work? I have relatively "old" Record shifters (the "old" rubber format). Looking combine them with Potenza medium cage.

Any experience?

It'll work fine as Athena, as has been mentioned.

[gfk_velo]

Yes but it means nada..the Potenza will work great.

Depends how you define "great" .... if you can cope with a ratty shift at either end of the cassette (assuming you set up in the middle), go for it. If you set up on sprocket 1 - 2, 2 - 3 etc, it gets progressively worse down to sprocket 11 (closest to wheel).

There *is* a difference in cable recovery - not big, but it's there.
Additionally, the tension in the Potenza return spring is insufficient to operate the internal of an UltraShift lever properly.

Sometimes you can get a vaguely acceptable set-up (we did it here in testing at Velotech to test the limits of how good or bad a hybrid pre- / post-2015 system might be) but it doesn't stay that way as wear and tear and increasing cable friction creeps in, plus that basic incompatibility.

As a generality, Campag make statements based on their own ability to test as well as the basic design parameters ... so they often say "not recommended" because they can't spend the time needed to physically test all ring combinations, all cassette sizes on all sizes and geometries of frame within their design parameters, with all the possible legacy product or cross-range combinations. It's just not practical. So rather than say "yes" to something that one might instinctively "feel" should work, they'll just say "not recommended" because part of their warranty is on the ability of the components to perform to their specification and design limits.

We know that there are many things that will *work* that fall outside of Campagnolo recommendations - some will even work *OK* and occasionally, will work exactly to spec, but blanket "yes it'll work fine" recommendations where the exact circumstances haven't been tested are very brave ....

[R3awak3n]

I am running a short cage Chorus RD with 32 teeth cassette. That does not work very well. Too much chain slack at some point and when you get up there on the teeth it is a little sketchy.

Now, do we think that this Athena (black, and declared as LONG) will work:

https://www.bike-components.de/de/Campagnolo/Athena-Black-Schaltwerk-11-fach-p29867/

the long athena works for sure, I have it working on 2 bikes. When are you coming back to the US? I have 3 of them and want to sell 2, I think I have 1 spoken for already but have 1 I can sell but shipping to germany will be too much I think and you probably better off just buying a new one