1x Campagnolo Ekar drivetrain

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
simbikotic
Posts: 154
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:52 am

by simbikotic

Thanks both @ogcsmith and @qwerzio for the suggestion of trying (non-Ekar) Campy rotors. So - as it happens - I have Campy AFS 03 rotors on another bike and I tried swapping them in tonight to check if they were any better. You guys are absolutely right! Very snug fit on the splines and minimal play. I was swapping them back and forth and the comparison was stark. It really does make the play in the Ekar disc look excessive.

It seems Ekar discs are cheaper (yay), but heavier and manufactured to looser tolerances. Buyer beware.

It's a little scary because they are so loose that only the very tips of the splines are in contact. I inspected the hub splines and could not see any evidence of rounding or stress marks so I guess they are going to hold but I am just not happy riding them so in the market for a replacement. I could just get another pair of AFS 03's but I was also looking at these: https://galferusa.com/bike/product/96579/DB102WCL. Has anyone else tried Galfer rotors with Campy calipers? Any compatibility concerns? The weight is certainly good...

Yoln
Posts: 965
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2019 10:26 pm

by Yoln

No compatibility issues. But definitely not as good as campy

To me campy calipers with AFS rotors (not Ekar steel spider) is the state of the art in terms of modulation and braking power. Using Galfer would be a downgrade
Last edited by Yoln on Sat Feb 19, 2022 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Litespeed Gravel Ultimate : https://tinyurl.com/zvxxy8zk
Wilier “Cento Ramato“ : https://tinyurl.com/29vs8vre
#RETIRED# Lynskey “the Do-it-all Helix” 🧬:https://tinyurl.com/bdmb5y24

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



ooo
Posts: 1590
Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 12:59 pm

by ooo

Why is ekar rotor so heavy 156.5g? it looks similar to afs 03 c3 rotor 118.5g

Image
'

User avatar
Mockenrue
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:32 am
Location: Brexshit Britain. Get me out!

by Mockenrue

The Ekar rotor has a steel spider, whereas the 03 AFS is alloy. They do look broadly similar, but if you look closely the 'arms' are slightly curved on the 03 and the cut-outs are a different shape.

kevinw
Posts: 250
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:49 pm

by kevinw

Any reason why everyone shouldn't just use the lighter ones?

gorkypl
Posts: 529
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:31 am
Location: Poland

by gorkypl

kevinw wrote:
Tue Feb 22, 2022 10:04 am
Any reason why everyone shouldn't just use the lighter ones?
Price?
Also, heat dissipation on the heavier ones is said to be better - if true, they may indeed be better suited for off road.

Fuji Cross 1.5 - Shimano 105 5800 | Cinelli Superstar Disc - Record 12s | Custom steel Karamba - Ekar 13s

Vespasianus
Posts: 283
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:15 pm

by Vespasianus

RyanH wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:03 pm
Does anyone else find the braking on the Ekar slightly underwhelming? I remember H11, particulary when set to the more powerful option, a notch above good rim brakes. These seem to require a meaningful amount of pressure from the hoods for a high speed stop (or just coming to a stop at the end of my 15% grade street). Force is roughly the same as my eTap/eeBrakes/Bontrager XXX combo but I almost want to say in a panic stop the rim brakes are better (they're certainly better with the Hed Ardennes turbine track).

I don't think it's a bleed issue as braking occurs mid lever and is very very firm there. I'd prefer more lever travel to modulate better through the power curve and better be able to clamp down from the hoods. Campy braking historically has been biased towards being optimized for braking from the hoods (very long throw in the drops).
My road bike has H11 and my gravel has Ekar. And the brakes are different. The H11 are crazy good. Immense stopping power with fantastic modulation. The Ekar brakes are really good but they don't seem to have the absolute power the H11 brakes have. The modulation is still fantastic and I would say they are 110% fine. Maybe they changed something to work better on dirt?
Cinelli Superstar - Campagnolo H11
Tommasini Custom X-Fire gravel - EKAR

gorkypl
Posts: 529
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:31 am
Location: Poland

by gorkypl

Wouldn't it be the matter of tyre width? Wider tyres have much better traction and bigger intertia, so they would require much more braking force before they can be blocked. Also gravel bikes tend to be a tad heavier than road ones, which can amplify this effect.

I have yet to build a gravel bike on Ekar, but the whole set (cyllinder, callipers and pads) is identical to modern release of 12s road groups, and only callipers are different compared to H11 and early versions of 12s road.

Fuji Cross 1.5 - Shimano 105 5800 | Cinelli Superstar Disc - Record 12s | Custom steel Karamba - Ekar 13s

henryz4
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2021 10:15 am

by henryz4

I got the ekar disk play on dt240 hubs. It is kinda scary. Asked to the lbs for replacement and I have been proposed a pair of galfer.

de lars cuevas
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:28 pm
Location: the Netherlands

by de lars cuevas

henryz4 wrote:
Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:42 pm
I got the ekar disk play on dt240 hubs. It is kinda scary. Asked to the lbs for replacement and I have been proposed a pair of galfer.
Hiya, same here. Did the LBS consider it a faulty product?

simbikotic
Posts: 154
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:52 am

by simbikotic

de lars cuevas wrote:
Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:00 pm
henryz4 wrote:
Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:42 pm
I got the ekar disk play on dt240 hubs. It is kinda scary. Asked to the lbs for replacement and I have been proposed a pair of galfer.
Hiya, same here. Did the LBS consider it a faulty product?
Interesting to hear that others are having this issue too. FWIW I am running glafers at the moment. They are a very tight fit on the splines, which is great. I have not done enough kms yet to comment on braking perf.

henryz4
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2021 10:15 am

by henryz4

de lars cuevas wrote:
Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:00 pm
Hiya, same here. Did the LBS consider it a faulty product?
Yeah they did. I tried with other disks and there was no play at all. so basically they had to admit that was Campagnolo fault.

yinzerniner
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:54 pm

by yinzerniner

simbikotic wrote:
Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:17 am
I am having a small issue with the Ekar disk rotors on a new build (thread: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=168926). The rotors are mounted on DT-Swiss 240 hubs and there is a lot of play in the spline fit, much more than I have experienced in the past with campag rotors on campag hubs. I heard AFS and centerlock are compatible but maybe the tolerances are not the same?

I had hoped that the play would go away when I tightened down the lockrings, but no. If I sit on the bike, hold the brakes and allow the bike to roll backwards with my weight on it I will hear the discs ping. They will then ping back when I use the brakes normally.

So two questions:

1. Have others had this same experience?
2. Any reccomendations for non Campag rotors I could try?
I had this issue on two different DT240 wheelsets. What I found is that:
1-Without the lockring the Campag rotors definitely exhibit more play than Shimano rotors (RT-99, RT900 and MT900 tested)
2-With the RT81 internal lockring with thin silver washer tightened down 40nm, no play on either Campag or Shimano rotors.
3-With M8010 external lockring WITHOUT washer, there is play with the Campag rotor but not with the Shimano rotors when tightened down to 40nm
4-With M8010 external lockring WITH washer, no play with either Campag or Shimano rotors when tightened to 40nm

Also what might help for rotor retention is something like the November Wheels or Boyd centerlock rotor shims. It seems like the centerlock interface of the Campag rotors' carrier is just that tiny bit smaller than Shimano rotors, so if you can do some micro-shimming it should help in providing the additional needed friction surfaces.

de lars cuevas
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:28 pm
Location: the Netherlands

by de lars cuevas

If torqued properly, there's no play. One would think that these were out of spec, QC would've go them. So I guess it's okay. Contated Campa HQ anyway, keep you informed!

Cheers, Lars.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



bmCube
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:37 pm

by bmCube

As mentioned before, there are some people who have cassette noises. I think the black aluminium sleeve inside the cassette is the victim. The sleeve is rather loose and has some play. So the noise is maybe coming from the sleeve "hitting" the freehub or rocking inside the cassette. Has somebody tried to remove the sleeve or if you didn't try to remove it, maybe a good amount of thick grease on the inside of the sleeve will help to reduce, remove the noise.
Last edited by bmCube on Wed Mar 02, 2022 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply