Campagnolo Ekar
Campagnolo’s first gravel groupset is some debut
Over the last couple of decades Campagnolo has made a point of being the first of the three main groupset manufacturers to add an extra sprocket to its cassettes. It was the first to 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12-speed, and with the release of Ekar in 2020, it was the first to 13-speed.
Ekar is something of a double-whammy of firsts because it is also the Italian brand’s first gravel-specific groupset. Apart from a brief foray into a then-emerging mountain bike scene 30 years ago, Campagnolo groupsets have stuck exclusively to road shifting duties. As a result it has been at risk of losing territory to the everincreasing scale of Shimano and the innovation of Sram, which makes Ekar an important launch for the brand on several levels.
Aside from that extra sprocket, Ekar is notable too for its introduction of a tiny 9-tooth sprocket. To pack such a cassette design onto a conventional freehub means something had to give in Campagnolo’s pre-existing standard. And something did: the manufacturer kept the same spline pattern as before but made the freehub body 4.4mm shorter, a standard it dubs N3W.
It allows the 10-tooth and 9-tooth sprockets to project off the end of the cassette, as they are too small in diameter to fit over the freehub body in the way bigger sprockets can. While there is some data to suggest using such small sprockets has an adverse effect on drivetrain efficiency and longevity, I’d say Campagnolo has done a very neat job of managing Ekar’s gearing ratios.
‘We ended up keeping a road philosophy on one half of the cassette, with a one-tooth jump between each of the bottom six sprockets,’ says Giacomo Sartore, groupset product manager at Campagnolo. ‘On the top half of the cassette we have bigger jumps like on MTB cassettes.’
This rationale applies nicely to my riding conditions. The small steps in the bottom half of the cassette provide smooth gear progression when my speed is high and therefore sensitive to cadence, while the bigger jumps on the other end of the cassette are more noticeable yet welcome, quickly providing easier gears when the going gets loose, steep or muddy.
The way in which Campagnolo has reconciled Ekar’s wide range and close gear steps is great in a functional sense, but it leaves me with one very practical concern. The cassette is by necessity an engineering marvel, being machined from solid blocks of metal in two clusters (the largest nine sprockets on one cluster and the smallest four
on the other). That makes it expensive to replace, so drivetrain maintenance is key to maximising the cassette’s lifespan.
Drivetrain differences
Campagnolo has sensibly eschewed any extravagant design in Ekar’s rear derailleur, forgoing carbon fibre for a more pragmatic blend of materials. The derailleur also takes a different trajectory to road-going designs by moving more horizontally than diagonally, which is claimed to make it more stable. Whatever the reasoning, it is functionally excellent. Shifts remain precise, no matter whether under load or over rough ground.
Ekar’s brake callipers are the first to be designed fully in-house by Campagnolo, with previous generations having been made in conjunction with Magura. Thankfully, these all-italian units have preserved Campagnolo’s class-leading brake feel, offering plenty of power but tempering it with precise modulation. Plus I reckon they’re the quietest of the big three too.
The feel of the Ekar’s shifting is pleasingly familiar, with all of Campagnolo’s thunks and clicks present and correct. There is, however, an important alteration to the thumb paddle, which now sports a ‘C’ curve, creating separate upper and lower platforms for shifting from the hoods and the drops respectively. While it looks a little ungainly, the change is, on balance, a success. Access to the paddle in the drops is much easier than on past Campagnolo thumb shifters, which is undoubtedly an advantage out on rough trails.
Modifications like this summarise Ekar as a whole. Despite being known as a traditional company, Campagnolo hasn’t been afraid to go off-piste in its latest release. As a result, Ekar blends innovation with functionality, and is evidence that Campagnolo is still capable of heading off in exciting new directions.
The new callipers preserve Campagnolo’s class-leading brake feel, offering plenty of power with precise modulation