1x Campagnolo Ekar drivetrain

[andreszucs]

Aside from different roller size, albeit small, Ekar is 13 speed and Sram is 13 speed. What could possibly go wrong?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you mean by roller size?

Nothing is going wrong

https://youtu.be/iJZ2Hv0MwjY

[gwerziou]

SRAM is 12 speed at most, not 13 speed...

[andrewbn42]

Bad news; there still doesn't appear to be an oval Ekar-compatible chainring on the market.
(I thought there was a possible supplier, we got as far as a sample for fit-testing, but it hasn't worked out yet. Maybe soon...)

Meanwhile, I'm warming to the normal Campagnolo 38T ring. I'm using it with the 10-44 cassette and that range is perfect for the steep hills and rough trails in my area.

Just get a SRAM flat top chain. It’s working perfectly for me with the Xshifter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yes, you mentioned it before. However, I'm not sure that replacing half the groupset (and worrying about longer-term reliability and compatibility) is necessarily the best way to get an oval chainring. If it works for you, good for you.

Charging my computer and my pedals is a chore that detracts from the simplicity of cycling, but if I forget to do it, I can still enjoy a long ride. On the other hand, if you forget to charge your gears...

Doesn’t mean it needs to be electronic necessarily. I’d like to see someone testing swapping the chain by a SRAM Flat top (plus upper pulley by non narrow wide to accommodate the flat top) over the current mechanical Ekar and check the shifting qualify.

The are no reasons for longevity issues since the distance between links is identical.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My concerns with longevity would be related to the chain being wider than the cassette is designed for, which could cause chains and/or the cassette to wear faster or degrade in shift quality. With respect to your setup. Have you gotten more time on it and gotten to test how it works under high load?

[andreszucs]

Just get a SRAM flat top chain. It’s working perfectly for me with the Xshifter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yes, you mentioned it before. However, I'm not sure that replacing half the groupset (and worrying about longer-term reliability and compatibility) is necessarily the best way to get an oval chainring. If it works for you, good for you.

Charging my computer and my pedals is a chore that detracts from the simplicity of cycling, but if I forget to do it, I can still enjoy a long ride. On the other hand, if you forget to charge your gears...

Doesn’t mean it needs to be electronic necessarily. I’d like to see someone testing swapping the chain by a SRAM Flat top (plus upper pulley by non narrow wide to accommodate the flat top) over the current mechanical Ekar and check the shifting qualify.

The are no reasons for longevity issues since the distance between links is identical.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

My concerns with longevity would be related to the chain being wider than the cassette is designed for, which could cause chains and/or the cassette to wear faster or degrade in shift quality. With respect to your setup. Have you gotten more time on it and gotten to test how it works under high load?

Width of the chain makes shifting even faster because it catches the ramps earlier, I don’t a relationship between chain width and faster wear.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[gwerziou]

Campagnolo 12 speed chains definitely do not work on Ekar - my friend has tried it. Therefore I seriously doubt that the SRAM would work either with a stock setup, but I'd love to see someone try it.

[ultimobici]

Aside from different roller size, albeit small, Ekar is 13 speed and Sram is 13 speed. What could possibly go wrong?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you mean by roller size?

Nothing is going wrong

https://youtu.be/iJZ2Hv0MwjY

A Sram AXS chain has slightly larger rollers. So, while it may work “fine” initially, over time it’s likely to accelerate wear of the cassette.

But hey, what would I know? Only 30 years of industry experience. Have at it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[andreszucs]

Aside from different roller size, albeit small, Ekar is 13 speed and Sram is 13 speed. What could possibly go wrong?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you mean by roller size?

Nothing is going wrong

https://youtu.be/iJZ2Hv0MwjY

A Sram AXS chain has slightly larger rollers. So, while it may work “fine” initially, over time it’s likely to accelerate wear of the cassette.

But hey, what would I know? Only 30 years of industry experience. Have at it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a digital caliper here to check. Let’s say even if you are right, I really don’t see how the cassette would wear any faster than as intended with an Ekar chain, specially if I plan on always using the AXS chain during the life spam of the cassette. Shifting is flawless here…and I’m willing to come back here to testify on long term use every 1000 miles let’s say.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ultimobici]

Aside from different roller size, albeit small, Ekar is 13 speed and Sram is 13 speed. What could possibly go wrong?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you mean by roller size?

Nothing is going wrong

https://youtu.be/iJZ2Hv0MwjY

A Sram AXS chain has slightly larger rollers. So, while it may work “fine” initially, over time it’s likely to accelerate wear of the cassette.

But hey, what would I know? Only 30 years of industry experience. Have at it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a digital caliper here to check. Let’s say even if you are right, I really don’t see how the cassette would wear any faster than as intended with an Ekar chain, specially if I plan on always using the AXS chain during the life spam of the cassette. Shifting is flawless here…and I’m willing to come back here to testify on long term use every 1000 miles let’s say.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Back in the day, one could mix & match parts with impunity. But, as the number of sprockets has increased and tolerances have tightened, that isn’t as easy. While a slight mismatch between sprockets & chain rollers may initially seem ok, over time it is likely to either wear the sprockets or rollers quicker than they would if they were used as intended. Even Sram stipulates that the AXS road chain is incompatible with their own 12 speed MTB cassettes. I wonder why??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hectorz]

What's the thickness of Ekar chainrings teeth narrow and wide? Anyone with a micrometer and an ekar chainring?

Wolftooth said their chainrings are not compatible with Ekar.
I compared the profile from the Ekar and the Wolftooth chainrings teeth (from pictures) and they are identical, so the only difference must be the width.
I don't have a lathe but... would it be possible to file the teeth down to Ekar thickness?

[bobrayner]

What's the thickness of Ekar chainrings teeth narrow and wide? Anyone with a micrometer and an ekar chainring?

Wolftooth said their chainrings are not compatible with Ekar.
I compared the profile from the Ekar and the Wolftooth chainrings teeth (from pictures) and they are identical, so the only difference must be the width.
I don't have a lathe but... would it be possible to file the teeth down to Ekar thickness?

With enough time and tooling, anything is possible in principle; but Ekar is narrow-wide, so you can't just spin the chainring on a lathe and take 1mm off all the teeth with a simple cutting tool. Well, you could try, but it wouldn't have the desired outcome.

Filing down the teeth by hand sounds like a lot of work, but we'd love to see the results!

It would need some clever CNC, and the aftermarket chainring makers who have clever CNC aren't yet making Ekar chainrings. (I worked with one who gave it a try, but couldn't get the tooth dimensions right)

[hectorz]

yes, i meant mill, not lathe... notice how I mentioned narrow and wide on my previous post.
filing the teeth by hand would take half an hour, the thing is... how much??? i wouldn't do it without knowing the final thickness

[hectorz]

It would need some clever CNC, and the aftermarket chainring makers who have clever CNC aren't yet making Ekar chainrings. (I worked with one who gave it a try, but couldn't get the tooth dimensions right)

BS

[gwerziou]

I saw a post on some cycling site about a handmade bike with an Ekar groupset a while back that used a Garbaruk chainring on an Easton crank, I think it was. I contacted Garbaruk in some excitement since I have an unused Easton crank in my garage, and they replied that no, they are not making an Ekar chainring, that the guy had hand-filed one of their chainrings to fit.

[hectorz]

I saw a post on some cycling site about a handmade bike with an Ekar groupset a while back that used a Garbaruk chainring on an Easton crank, I think it was. I contacted Garbaruk in some excitement since I have an unused Easton crank in my garage, and they replied that no, they are not making an Ekar chainring, that the guy had hand-filed one of their chainrings to fit.

see? it can't be that difficult..
I have two shattered garbageruk chainrings, I might give it a try. Nobody has ekar? Please measure the teeth for us! I couldn't find it anywhere...

For me the problem is not the minimum chainring (I currently use a 44t with 10-42 11s sram cassette), is that my frame (SC Stigmata '19) is PF30.
I beleive Campagnolo's design is great for BSA but it is not going to perform very well on PF30.

I've been using a Wheels Manufacturing thread-on bb and it's been a breeze so far but they don't have one for Campagnolo (I asked and they said they aren't going to make it).
I'm not a fan of the sleeve solution (PF30 to BSA adapter).

The last hope is Praxis, they already HAD one for ultratorque:

But it has disappeared from their website...

Italians are awesome at marketing and... patents!

[kervelo]

C-bear also has a BB for PF30 and Campagnolo cranks.
https://www.c-bear.com/en