I love my wife. Tonight she pulled a bin from the closet - full of Campy Athena parts circa 1997. They're based on a 7-speed indexed downtube shifter (with a large barrel and knurled ring). Nice double crank, caliper brakes, derailleurs. Apparently they came off her old roadie when it was converted to STI years ago. Now we're hoping to revive some of the kit while converting her old frame to a commuter.

I know little about freewheels and freehubs. She's got a Sachs 7-speed freewheel in good condition, and some old (pre-1997) Mavic hubs but with really buggered spoke holes (and the hubs weigh a ton). So I'm wondering, can I thread that freewheel on any 7-speed compatible hub, or only Campy? Will any 7-speed freewheel be compatible with indexed 7-speed Athena downtube shifters? If I bought a new IRD freewheel, would it match the shifters?

I'm trying to predict which parts are worth reusing, and how to mix and match if something modern (like a new hub) is necessary. Thanks very much for any advice...

gotta be before 1997, Campy was already going to 9-spd then... I'd guess early 90s at latest. But freewheels can go on any FW-compatible hub and I'm pretty sure that with 7-spd the indexing/spacing was the same for all... it was later when they started to mix up the spacing, causing compatability issues. I don't know anything about IRD FWs, but you can always check the cog width and spacing and see if it matches her Sachs; I'd imagine it would be the same.

In 1997, Campy had 8- and 9-speed. Moreover, the hubs were all freehubs by then, not thread-on freewheels. Freewheel threads are all the same, and I think all 7-speed freewheels had the same cog spacing, so your old freewheel will thread on your old hub, and it may index with the shift levers. I also suspect (could be mistaken) that indexed shift levers of that vintage were switchable to friction mode, and if so you could certainly use them that way.

Athena . . . I could never figure out why Campy changed that name, first to Daytona, and then (after the NASCAR people hassled them about their trademark) Centaur.

Athena . . . I could never figure out why Campy changed that name...


Athena is the female equivalent of Clydesdale for males in mtn biking and triathlons... perhaps that had something to do with it... or perhaps the real answer is somewhere on campyonly.com

Sounds like it's around a 1990 Athena 7 speed system. Campy 7 speed freewheels had 5mm spacing between cogs, so a 7 speed Sachs, or even a 7 speed shimano freewheel will work fine. My guess is that an IRD freewheel has the same spacing. The only freewheel that probably won't work, is an older Sun Tour. (their spacing wasn'r constant)

Athena is the female equivalent of Clydesdale for males in mtn biking and triathlons...

The MTB equivalent of Clydesdale is Philly - Athena is for triathlons.

And I'm sure that the name of the Campagnolo Athena group in the late '80s had nothing to do with triathlon - the idea of having a seperate "Athena" and "Clydesdale" divisions is a relatively recent invention, probably having to do with the popularity of the "self-esteem" movement (so big and slow men and women can still be proud of their less than stellar performances).