Campy adds Chorus EPS group, updates Athena and Veloce for 2015

VICENZA, Italy (BRAIN) — For its 2015 model year, Campagnolo has given its lower-tier Chorus road group an electronic shifting option, and adds some trickle-down technologies from its top-end Record and Super Record groups to updated Athena and Veloce groups.

Last week, Campy announced an overhaul to its high-end mechanical groups, Super Record, Record and Chorus.

Athena is traditionally a lower-tier group than Chorus, but Campy skipped over Chorus when creating electronic options, announcing an EPS option for Athena in 2012 but waiting until now to electrify Chorus. 

Besides adding the electronic shifting, the new Chorus EPS group gets some of the same updates as were announced last week for its mechanical version, most notably a new four-arm carbon crank design. The four-arm design can be used with traditional or compact chainrings.

Campagnolo said Chorus EPS features shifting that is "exactly the same as its lighter-weight siblings, Record and Super Record." Chorus EPS appears to offer interchangeable wiring with the Record and Super Record EPS groups, something that wasn't the case with the little-seen Athena EPS group. 

Campagnolo does not mention Athena EPS in its announcements, and company representatives did not respond to questions from BRAIN on Tuesday. 

Campy did announce changes to the mechanical Athena and Veloce groups for 2015. Both get new SC-14 chainring technology used on the updated Record and Super Record groups. However, Athena and Veloce use the new ring technology on five-bolt versions, as the groups do not get the new four-arm cranks.

Aside from the new chainring technology, the big update to Athena and Veloce is a redesigned downshift thumb lever on the inboard side of the group's Ergopower levers. Taking a cue from the electronic groups, the new mechanical levers' downshift paddle is angled down about 45 degrees, allowing better access from the handlebar drops as well as the tops.

The new design doesn't have enough cable throw to allow for multiple downshifts from the angled lever. To get multiple downshifts, as has been the case for many years, riders need to upgrade to the more expensive mechanical groups, which retain a horizontal downshift lever.