Quote Originally Posted by roguedog View Post
Hey everyone,

I am leaning towards the Athena group or possibly Chorus for my experiment because it is an experiment. Um.. sadly it may come down to aesthetics. Do I want alloy look or quasi-carbon/grey/black look on the bike? Not sure the latter is worth the extra deniros though.

The other question I had was that if I saw a 10sp record group for approx what i'd spend on new Athena group.. which way should I lean. Txdoc, seems to think in her experience that it'd actually be better to go for the higher group even if it's older because it's higher quality.

Does anyone notice a difference between the 10sp and 11sp brifters? That's actually my bigger concern and one of my deciding factors. The 11sp are marketed as more ergo but I don't know if that means more geared toward male hands or females hands. This is the reason why I'm asking this forum. I'm not sure the guys really get the whole "brifters for smaller hands" issue.

I think Lunacycles has confirmed that the Campy hoods are definitely more comfortable for smaller hands than Shimanos. And I'd assume that shifting is easier too for smaller hand on Campy ?

From a gearing standpoint, I'm kinda with you guys. I mean all my stuff is still 9spd but if I'm going to spend the $ I might as well upgrade to either 10sp or 11sp it seems.
I have Campy Chorus 11 on my Colnago and love it. Wouldn't change it. I rode Shimano Ultegra before, and had the typical small hand problem on the left shifter in particular. The Campy is much better. It takes a little getting used to, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I ride a standard double crankset and am not sure they make the compact or triple. I guess I would catagorize myself as an aggressive amateur. I average 18-22 mph on a ride (18 for the hilly rides by myself, 22 if it is flat, I have someone to draft with, or I get a good tailwind for a stretch). I have only run out of gear on the worst, steepest, longest, most hideous hills, and I was still turning it over OK. Otherwise I hammer along on the big chainring for the most part.

Having said that, it is an investment. I wouldn't have spent the money if I weren't looking to squeeze every last bit of mechanical advantage out of my bike as I could afford. I ride with men and can't stand to be dropped, so I work my butt off but still need, like I said, every advantage I can get. If you can afford it and it is results/expectations reasonable, go for it.