Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed gravel groupset

Campagnolo has re-entered the off-road cycling market with Ekar, a 1x gravel-specific groupset that delivers a wide gear range and unique shifter style. It's an excellent mechanical drivetrain option, if not quite perfect, with precise adjustment needed, and a few quirks.

Campagnolo is known as a pioneer within the cycling industry, usually being the first of the three major brands (Campag, Shimano and SRAM) to increase the number of sprockets on the cassette. While Rotor was the first to produce a 13-speed groupset with its Uno, that remains somewhat niche; Ekar is essentially the first 13-speed offering from the three major players, and it's not just a case of adding a sprocket to a drivetrain, but a whole new groupset.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

Having given the groupset an initial 'first look', I have endeavoured to test it in typically British weather, helped by our wet autumn, and in an attempt to at least begin to look at durability, amassing just shy of 1,000km in just over a few weeks.

The range

Our complete groupset came fitted to a 3T Exploro, direct from Campagnolo, with a 38-tooth chainring and 9-42T cassette. Currently Campagnolo offers the choice of 38, 40, 42 and 44-tooth chainrings, with three cassette options: 9-36, 9-42 and 10-44.

I think the option fitted will be by far the most popular, as it offers enough bigger gears for faster road riding but still a low enough gear for most. All the options are swayed towards bigger gearing, though, and I think the road 1x market is the main reason: despite being labelled gravel-specific, Ekar could become the first truly viable 1x road groupset.

With a 38-tooth chainring being the smallest available, the only way to achieve a lower gear here would be to switch to the 10-44 cassette. As it stands, does the setup I'm testing create a low enough gear? For me and the riding I do and have done while testing it's been fine, but I know it won't suit everyone – for bikepacking in particular, or certain areas around the country where long, steep climbs are the norm, it might be lacking.

Still, in my opinion it is the best currently available of the mainstream off-the-shelf groupset options – within the gravel sector, a lowest gear of 1:1 is often seen as sufficient, but I believe Ekar offers the best compromise, keeping a low enough gear for climbing while not having to spin too frantically on road sections.

If Campagnolo doesn't offer a smaller chainring option in the future, chances are third party companies will. For Campag to do so it would need to come up with a design with a smaller bolt circle diameter (BCD) – Ekar has a bespoke BCD of 123mm, and looking at the 38-tooth fitted, clearance for a smaller chainring looks tight if not impossible; perhaps Campag doesn't want to spoil the aesthetics, but to make fitting a smaller chainring possible would require a different chainset.

The cassette

The 9-42 is both two-piece in construction and, you could say, in design: the six smallest sprockets jump up in single-tooth steps, while the differences between the larger seven get increasingly bigger: 9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-21-25-30-36-42.

This is very different to both Shimano and SRAM arrangements, but I found it key to the groupset suiting the range of riding terrains that gravel bikes allow.

On pure road rides, the gaps between gears are small, with the 9-tooth sprocket there for motoring along when needed. With this particular setup, the 38x9 top gear gives approximately the same ratio as a 46-tooth chainring with 11-tooth sprocket, for reference.

This style of gearing, with the arc across the cassette, is possible because of what Campagnolo calls the 2D Parallelogram. This helps keep the top jockey wheel close to each sprocket, allowing the derailleur to follow a curved path rather than the purely straight path on a standard derailleur, where the only adjustment then would be the b-tension.

The short gaps in the gearing make it a joy both on the road and on faster off-road sections, enabling you to maintain a more constant cadence.

As you start to climb, the change between gears is still reasonably small, with the exception of perhaps the final two sprockets, each having a 6-tooth step, but by the time you are using these the gradient is likely to be pretty steep and cadence less of a concern.

Throughout the hundreds of kilometres of testing, only once did I feel I was 'between' gears and this was on a constant 7% climb that goes on for 4km, where I was pushing hard and jumping between two gears for a fair way. This was between the 14 and 16-tooth sprockets, so not the largest two, but one of the bigger jumps in terms of percentage difference between gears throughout the range. Given the total distance tested, though, to only notice a gap once is quite impressive, I think.

At all other times, either on the road or off, the range and the gears on offer have been great, and one of the real highlights of the groupset.

No doubt some will say the small 9-tooth sprocket is going to increase friction and feel rough when pedalling, but in my experience it feels no different, and certainly not rough or with any noticeable increase in friction.

This isn't a drivetrain designed for time trials, or pro road racing, where tiny percentage differences matter, and for gravel and off-road riding the benefits of being able to have a smaller chainring are far more important. There is the potential downside of the 9-tooth wearing out faster than other sprockets in the cassette, but I can only see it being an issue if you spend a high percentage of your time in that gear – and if you do, maybe you have monster legs and need a bigger chainring.

Shifting performances

The feel of the shifting is very different to both Shimano and SRAM mechanical options, feeling more positive than both. Previously I would never have said Shimano GRX was vague, but after riding with Ekar and periodically riding a GRX-equipped bike in between, that is exactly how I would describe it; there is a less audible click and less feel when shifting between gears.

When set up correctly Ekar shifting is smooth, direct and rapid. Most gear changes are very clean and crisp, although I did occasionally get a rougher one. Initially I put this down to not being used to the throw of the lever, which is different to GRX, but as time progressed I think it is more because of the very precise adjustment needed in the cable tension, and also the pressure used on the lever.

> Your complete guide to Shimano’s GRX gravel groupset

Any occasional poor shifts always seemed to be in the higher gears, 9-14, and as I shifted through to the easier ones things seemed to get smoother, which I wasn't expecting – given the single-tooth gaps between the smaller sprockets you would expect this to be the smoothest area for shifting.

Downshifts are very fast throughout the full range of the cassette, and while previously I would never have considered it a necessity, after returning to other groupsets I really miss the faster action of Ekar. I suspect this is because of a stronger spring within the rear mech or shifter itself, yet the upshifts are also easy and don't require much effort.

While the shifts are mechanically smooth most of the time, they are somewhat louder than Shimano and SRAM, although this is part of the system design and in no way a negative. On the upshifts there is a noticeable audible click from the lever as you pass through each gear change and on downshifts there's both the click of the lever and noise of the gear itself moving. This is something that riders who use a Campagnolo road drivetrain will already be quite familiar with, although I would say it seems louder with Ekar than other Campag groups.

Lever 3

Alongside the range and style of the cassette, the other big plus of the groupset is what Campagnolo has called the 'Lever 3 Design' – a new shape and slightly changed position of the shifter for downshifts. The new position makes it much easier to shift when in the drops than I've found with the road groupset offerings; it is a feature I find very ergonomic and I hope Campagnolo might consider using it for its road groupsets, as for me there is no downside.

The Lever 3 design is also easy to access when on the hoods – I could shift with my thumb without moving my hand off the hoods at all. For the upshifts, this is controlled by the shift lever positioned directly behind the brake lever, with up to three gear changes possible in one throw, although this does then require a large arc. I found single shifts easy, double shifts okay, and rarely attempted to change three gears in a single motion.

As the levers are completely separate for up and down shifts, I didn't experience any accidental shifts at all in use, which is a plus for a groupset designed for rougher riding. The levers are very far apart, making it impossible to accidentally use the wrong one – no accidental downshifts from the hoods when climbing, which is something I have experienced many times with SRAM and its DoubleTap system.

The levers still have a typical Campagnolo look and feel, with a nice rounded design that is really easy to grip and really comfortable to hold, even on longer rides. One very minor point: as the right hand lever does the shifting, it has a few notches under the hoods; these do not impair comfort in any way, but I would like to see them replicated on the opposite lever – they would serve no function, but both levers would then feel identical.

With the rear derailleur is a clutch mechanism which is designed to prevent the cage moving forwards. These have been popular in the mountain bike world on single chainring drivetrains, aimed at preventing the chain from falling off as there is no front mech or chain catcher to help.

In use, the Ekar clutch seems very strong, with almost no chain-slap to be heard even when tackling rough descents. It seems far stronger than the system on either Shimano GRX or SRAM 1x setups. Is there a downside? Shifting is smooth, even to the largest sprockets, so throughout use I would say the impact is all positive.

Braking

The Ekar brakes offer modulation that gives brilliant control, with power there if or when it is needed. From the drops the braking is brilliant, helped by the lever's nice curved shape being easy to reach and pull. There isn't a massive amount of reach adjustment, only around 5mm, but I think it will still suit all riders.

Braking performance from the hoods is also good, although here Shimano GRX has a slight edge. Ekar lacks the broad, flat shape of the GRX levers, and also the slightly grippy textured feel that make GRX levers such a pleasure to use in all weathers. It is by no means poor, but one small area where a minor negative could be given.

As with virtually all disc brakes, they do make a little noise occasionally, almost exclusively in the wet, but they still seem quieter than other brands; it also disappears quickly when the rotors are dry.

Ekar is available with 140mm or 160mm rotors; the test bike had 160mm and they proved enough for all circumstances. The power is there if you need to access it, but easy to modulate and not skid when just looking to slow down gradually.

One bugbear I found was that you cannot shift intuitively when braking; it is possible to shift and brake, but you have to bring the shift lever back away from the brake lever first. When you're in the drops this is fairly easy, though I'd prefer not to have to, but from the hoods I found it a little more tricky just because of the position of the hand.

Campagnolo claims this is done for aesthetic reasons, to ensure there is no gap between the brake and shift levers, so you can't see any light between them. While it might look good, personally I would prefer to be able to shift easily while also braking. Okay, this isn't something that happens that often, but if you know you are approaching a climb immediately following a descent, or approaching a road junction, it can be useful.

Narrow q-factor

The q-factor is the measurement from the very outside of one crank to the outside of the other, taken at the pedal holes.

In general, road bikes will have a narrower q-factor than mountain bikes, which have to be wider to accommodate wider tyres. Within the gravel sector, the q-factor has traditionally been the same as road chainsets, with the exception of GRX, which is 5mm wider.

Does it matter? To some, certainly, and it can be too narrow or too wide. Campagnolo has kept the q-factor low at just 145.5mm, which is identical to its road chainsets. Shimano road chainsets are usually 146mm, while GRX is 151mm.

Wear and durability

Although more time and miles would always be good, at no point in the test period have any issues arisen that would lead me to believe durability will be a major concern. The cassette still looks in very good condition with no wear evident, and the chain is still not stretched. Some will no doubt be quick to judge the chain as being narrower and thus potentially weaker, but in use and through thousands of shifts it has been absolutely fine. The brake pads are also holding up really well, although I am fortunate to ride in an area that isn't too harsh on pad material in general. They're certainly comparable with other makes.

With some really wet and muddy testing conditions through the end of September and into October, Ekar has so far lived up to what the British weather can throw at it.

The one slight caveat is that setup is crucial, and small adjustments can have a big effect. Our test bike came direct from Campagnolo so it was set up perfectly, as you'd expect, but in use I noticed that even very small turns of the barrel adjuster had an effect on shifting; setup and other aspects like mech hanger alignment will be absolutely crucial to ensure clean shifting.

The bottom bracket area has developed a persistent click during use, and while I cannot be one hundred per cent certain, I would put this down to the press-fit bottom bracket. The chainset moves around freely, with no play and no roughness in the bearings, so I don't believe the bottom bracket itself has worn early.

Campagnolo claims that Ekar is the lightest gravel groupset currently available, though it is not something that I have considered while testing. Had the weight come at the expense of durability, that would not be a popular move, but in my experience so far there are no major weaknesses within the system. It has stood up to a fair distance in a short amount of time, over a variety of terrain and in all sorts of conditions.

One for the road?

Given the cassette and chainring options available, there is no doubt in my mind that Ekar has been designed with at least one eye on the road 1x market – as evidenced by 3T making it an option on its Strada 1x specific road bike, although interestingly even this is sold with the 40-tooth chainring and 9-36 cassette.

> How to get ultra-low gearing on your bike

Although only relatively small in overall market terms, Ekar could, I think, potentially deliver a groupset that might finally make 1x road more viable, with range and gearing options to suit. Campagnolo has labelled Ekar a gravel groupset, but the sway towards bigger gearing shows that the road market is clearly an area the company has considered.

Price and conclusion

At £1,447 rrp for the full groupset, Ekar is more expensive than all mechanical Shimano and SRAM gravel groupset options. I think the biggest factor in how successful Ekar will be is how prices of full bikes with Ekar compare to those with other drivetrain options. If prices are at least similar, the performance and, most importantly, the range that Ekar offers will make it a more appealing option.

The price is closer to electronic groupsets from Shimano and SRAM, although even here the style and range of gearing Ekar offers is something neither Shimano nor SRAM can currently match.

Ekar is Campagnolo's first step back to creating off-road groupsets since the early 1990s, and it has delivered an incredible package. It offers excellent performance and will really suit the wide range of riding styles that gravel falls into. There are no major downsides, just a slight reservation with regard to the lack of easier gearing options, which might mean it won't suit all.

Verdict

Superb gear range and mostly excellent shifting that is very fast and accurate