1x Campagnolo Ekar drivetrain

[OnTheRivet]

Be interested in some opinions of this as a road group. A 42T chainring and 9-36 for general riding and 9-42 for lots of steep climbing sound great. Anyone run it on a road bike?

3t Strada? If you can find Ekar anywhere, it's on the dedicated 1x roadbike...

Was wondering if anyone has used it on the road and what their thoughts were from experience. Keep hearing that 9,10 tooth cogs are too inefficient but interested in real world experience if that is true or not.


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I look at it like this, there are so many bigger efficiency determiners when riding a bike the small cog inefficiency becomes a non-issue for the average punter. If I was a world tour pro who had maximized everything sure maybe I'd think about it, but for a guy who likes to go fast and have fun it's way down the list of things I need to worry about. The ceramicspeed test showed the overall difference is efficiency between a typical 1x and 2x drive train is like 2.5 watts, for frame of reference, the GCN aero testing showed that dropping from a standard hoods position to an "aero" hoods position saved 34 watts, I know which one I'm going to worry more about.

[OnTheRivet]

(double)

[cunn1n9]

Be interested in some opinions of this as a road group. A 42T chainring and 9-36 for general riding and 9-42 for lots of steep climbing sound great. Anyone run it on a road bike?

3t Strada? If you can find Ekar anywhere, it's on the dedicated 1x roadbike...

Was wondering if anyone has used it on the road and what their thoughts were from experience. Keep hearing that 9,10 tooth cogs are too inefficient but interested in real world experience if that is true or not.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I look at it like this, there are so many bigger efficiency determiners when riding a bike the small cog inefficiency becomes a non-issue for the average punter. If I was a world tour pro who had maximized everything sure maybe I'd think about it, but for a guy who likes to go fast and have fun it's way down the list of things I need to worry about. The ceramicspeed test showed the overall difference is efficiency between a typical 1x and 2x drive train is like 2.5 watts, for frame of reference, the GCN aero testing showed that dropping from a standard hoods position to an "aero" hoods position saved 34 watts, I know which one I'm going to worry more about.

Sounds like a sensible analysis. Many thanks.


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[bobrayner]

I think it depends on the discipline, too. There are probably a lot of TT and triathlon riders who spend 50% of their time on the smallest sprocket - optimising its efficiency is critical for them. But on gravel, you're spending all day working through the whole range of gears, and efficiency on the biggest sprockets (for the big climbs) is much more important. There are some rides where I might use the smallest sprocket for a bit of a boost on a descent, but more rides where I'd rather freewheel, focus on the trail, and save my energy for the next climb. So, although efficiency is central to any bike-geek's thinking, a tiny increase in chainline losses in return for the 9T giving you the option of an extra high gear without fitting a big chainring that eats into your hill-climbing ratios... that's not something I would lose sleep over.

[gwerziou]

Interesting article re: N3W. Yes, it is rolling out, as it were, to all of Campy's wheelsets.
https://bikerumor.com/2021/01/25/campag ... cassettes/

[kevinw]

I'm keen on the Ekar groupset but I just saw the cost of the replacement cassettes - £250 - anybody else worried about that cost for a consumable?

I'm concerned about wear on the small sprockets especially.

I'll definately be keeping on top of the chain wear.

[DHG01]

I'm keen on the Ekar groupset but I just saw the cost of the replacement cassettes - £250 - anybody else worried about that cost for a consumable?

I'm concerned about wear on the small sprockets especially.

I'll definately be keeping on top of the chain wear.

If it concerns you, AliExpress will address

[Butcher]

The last time I checked, Campy has always been a bit more.

Aliexpress has Sensah. Their shipping times are really slow, but it may fit your budget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igrnoqe6qQc

[bobrayner]

Apart from the cheap Aliexpress option, there have always been 3rd parties making aftermarket cassettes (pick your preferred point on the price:coolness graph) - I would be amazed if they didn't start making Ekar-compatible cassettes too.

It seems inevitable that other Campag groupsets will switch to N3W in future. In the last few years, Campagnolo have lagged behind the competition on a lot of tech, but they've always been proud of adding an extra sprocket to cassettes.

[DHG01]

The last time I checked, Campy has always been a bit more.

Aliexpress has Sensah. Their shipping times are really slow, but it may fit your budget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igrnoqe6qQc

I like Campy a lot; and this compatibility is one of the reasons some of us like Campy.

I actually have a bike on Record and another on SR.
I have interest in Ekar, but just not quite too convinced on 1X. We ve discussed this before, and I appreciated your views.

I wasn't too serious on AliExpress; but if something works, I wouldn't dismiss it automatically - particularly based on brand or country of manufacturing.

The affordability comment you made can come across as somewhat obnoxious; or pretty f*cking stupid coming from a shop owner. It sounds dismissive of Sensah. But hey, I am sure you know better.

[Butcher]

I was not serious about Aliexpress either.

Most if not all know that Campy is usually a bit more when it comes to price. Is it worth that? That's debateable. I certainly think so.

I think it's weird that someone would be concerned about the wear items costing more. Considering that there is no other 13sp systems out there and it's made from Campagnolo, I would expect it to be. Will the costs come down? Maybe, but that's the future. Sounds like someone is whinning about money. Obviously, Campagnolo is not cheap. I have an issue with people whinning about money on material items they do not need.

If you are more concerned about cost, I was kinda joking about buying a cheap Chinese groupset. If you got offended by that, I'm sorry, you'll have to get over that. I've owned Campagnolo since 1976 and I'm fairly loyal to the brand. I'm not saying it's the best, but it's the best for me.

As for being a shop owner, I've tried to change that status, I cannot seem to find that option.

[RDY]

The cost of the stock cassettes is so high that despite at the moment Ekar being very low volume, perhaps Omni Racer or one of the other Taiwanese cassette makers will make an after-market option.

Yes, I know, their Ti version would probably be $100-150 more. But a full titanium cassette would be significantly more durable and also a lot lighter, and thus a better value proposition.

I expect the cassette price to fall a bit once they meet demand, or once they bring out a Record / SR level wireless EPS version of Ekar some time after Record / SR road wireless EPS drops (has to be less than a year after Shimano drop DA / Ultegra).

[kevinw]

Sorry if I came across as a bit of a Scrooge whining about the cost of the cassettes!

I thought it was a valid observation? If I plan to use the bike as a N=1 then with the wider gaps between gears I'm likely to spend a lot of time in 2-3 gears when on the flat so those cogs are going to wear out.

Wouldn't be as much of an issue if you were able to source individual sprockets or even half cassettes?

[eins4eins]

The Ekar cassette is made of two blocks. Smallest four sprockets one block - rest one block. Those small cogs should have the highest wear rate, but could then be replaced seperately.

[DHG01]

I don't race, I don't shift like an orangutan and split km throughout a few bikes, so cassette wear off is not really one of my concerns.

But this is a forum and any observation or concern is valid; dang, you can even be a schmuck over Sensah since 1976.

Now more seriously, I like testing new options and knowing more about what is being offered . Some cassettes, like Zitto, are very cheap, very light, but reliability needs be proven. I swapped on a gravel a Red 11-32 to Zitto 11-34. It is working out fine, but let's see in a couple thousand kms. Some report issues; I am happy for the time being.

In the case of Ekar, the cassette has a 10 t sprocket (or 9t). For the type of gravel I ride, I would rather 11t.