Campy Ekar 👍 or 👎

PS It's Campag, not Campy, you heathen.

I've thought about it - planning a new All road bike for bike packing, road, off road. But 2 x 12 makes more sense for the road - I do use a CX bike for road too and I do use the 34 ring quite a bit as it's hilly where I live - big ring is only a 46, but 46 x 12 is more than enough.

All my bikes are Shimano or SRAM currently.

  I've been running Ekar GT, 10-44t, with a 44t on my all purpose eGravel bike for about 2.5 years. It gets a fair mix of road, canal path and bridleway, mostly without the battery and motor in tow (most of the Fazua system is removable in seconds). Unaided it weighs about 30 lbs unloaded (dropper, sus fork, rack, tire liners, double wrapped bars, big steel bell, etc.). Unaided, I have found that the 44t to be too difficult on steeps and I rarely use the 10t. If I had a lighter bike with less rolling resistance (I'm on 45mm) the combination (or an equivalent 9-42/40t combo) might be perfect. As it is, I've just ordered a 40t from China to avoid having to pay 90 quid for an Ekar (13sp chainrings are different). The Ekar brakes are fabulous, though I bumped up the rotor size because of mine and the bike's weight. I didn't like the thumb hook shifters at first, now I think they are great. Campy consumables (chains, cassettes, brake pads) can be expensive, but are often on sale and there are some other options.  

I do like mine. It feels "solid" and well built. The brakes are a real highlight. The feel in the brakes is a joy to use. The gear changes are not super sharp and quick but for a leisure rider its fine. Gear ratios are personal and depend on your use really. But i use the bike for long gravel events, on the road for audax in winter and is my goto winter bike and training bike.

The downsides its quite expensive for the consumables, but they do last really well. Plus i would think it could be awkward on a tour if you needed spares suddenly, its not a groupset stocked in most bikeshops.

If I had the money I would put this groupset on my other gravel bike and if i won the lottery would consider a classified hub set up with Ekar and tighten the cassette gaps and make one bike a super audax bike! 

Edit.

I like the simplicity of 1x   I did find it took a few rides to get the hoods set at the right angle , a mm here or there made a difference and can now ride 200/300km in a day  with no hand issues at all.

Posted by: fossy

↑

PS It's Campag, not Campy, you heathen.

😀 told you I had no experience with their stuff.

Posted by: aggs

↑

The gear changes are not super sharp and quick but for a leisure rider its fine.

Does that mean they just take a little while to move? So might be annoying if you were trying to shift at race pace? Or is it just clunky.

Consumables price does concern me a little though as much because less options for different rings etc. I don't tend to go through brake pads that quickly and I'd hope to get 2 years or more from a chain/cassette. Would also need new freehubs but that's a one off cost.

All other family bikes are Shimano with all 11 speed on the CX/gravel side. The 1x11 combination looks flawed so that is not going to happen.

This is the ratios of my current double, 13/9-42 Ekar with either a 38t or 40t and GRX 12/10-45. GRX 12 more evenly spread but Ekar with a nicer cadence cluster. I think most of my time would be in the 18t and above.

The up changes are ok,, the down changes just take a fraction extra time and really more noticable on gravel downshifting quickly on a steep hill after approaching at speed and your speed drops quickly, you may loose a tiny bit of momentum to get your cadence right again

Maybe i just need to adjust it a bit and mines not the GT vetsion either.

Campag Mechanical has always had a bit of an agricultural feel, which isn't a bad thing, I loved how my 11 speed Super record felt when shifting, it felt very affirmative, if you can try and find a bike with Campag fitted and just shift it through the gears to get a feel of it

I did consider Ekar for my gravel bike but then I had a spare Sram 10-52 cassette and a spare Sram GX AXS rear mech so I paired them with some Rival AXS shifters and used that one the gravel bike, feels fine on the road and I can climb quite technical off road climbs

Didn't the old saying go something like "Shimano wears out, Campag wears in..." 😃

Can't comment on the Ekar bit but I've had 11S Super Record on my summer roadie since 2014 and its been faultless. I've changed cables a couple of times and I think 1 chain, but that's it. (and I bought it s/hand)

The shift is clackier than Shimano - very positive and you know you've shifted. A bit like 9spd SRAM XO if you ever used that. I actually prefer the thumb paddle (I have Shimano on gravel and winter roadie) - the brake levers are fixed and I find the paddle more natural to use from the drops.

My main issue with Ekar is my wonky heels-in pedalling would destroy those lovely carbon cranks very quickly....

But 2 x 12 makes more sense for the road

Its available but only just released and you'll make your credit card uncomfortable with the cost.

Posted by: vlad_the_invader

↑

Didn't the old saying go something like "Shimano wears out, Campag wears in..."

I've heard it as SRAM wears out and Shimano wears in....

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm still on the fence but currently leaning towards the give Ekar a try side. I nearly ordered but then realised how much of the cassette was aluminium which has made me wobble again.

I have  ridden over 5000 miles now on my  Ekar,  on 2nd chain as a precaution , cassette is fine.

Ta, my intention would be two chains in rotation (waxing). 

It's a long while since I used it (veloce 10 spd) but Campag was annoying from a home mechanic point of view as every job seemed to need a proprietary tool that was just a little bit different to standard Shimano ones. 

13 speed chains are narrow, cheap (esp Ekar GT; relatively) and mine gets a fair bit of dirt and torque from the occasional motor assist riding, so, despite good cleaning and lubing, I change it out about every 1500. I agree that the shifting is not as perfect as GRX, but close.