The 'Un-Official' Campagnolo Ekar thread

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

No worries. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Is the C-link not reusable?

[cheshirecycle]

I just sent the first bike with eKar out of the shop yesterday.

The hang up issue on the small up shift lever was an issue from the get go. I took a a sharp knife and trimmed a little ramp into the rubber "noise stopper thingy" on the back of the brake blade and that did the trick. I don't know if that's where your hang up is happening but it was there on this kit.

I also had the mid range cassette noise. Low rumble type rapid thudding in the middle 7 gears.

That was fixed by making the cassette tight. I mean tight. Like "oh dear I hope the threads on the freehub body hold" tight...

It's spec is rather tight at 45nm

Tightening that also took care of the rattle in the cassette by the spacer hidden in there.

So it's all good here...

[AC0]

Originally Posted by cheshirecycle

I just sent the first bike with eKar out of the shop yesterday.



The hang up issue on the small up shift lever was an issue from the get go. I took a a sharp knife and trimmed a little ramp into the rubber "noise stopper thingy" on the back of the brake blade and that did the trick. I don't know if that's where your hang up is happening but it was there on this kit.

The shift lever can be adjusted (look at the lever from below) so it just grazes the rubber bumper. That should prevent it from getting caught on the brake lever.



Sent from my SM-G996W using Tapatalk

[fika]

HED now has N3W hubs for some of their wheels. Had to call in to customer service since they don't have it on their site.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by fika

HED now has N3W hubs for some of their wheels. Had to call in to customer service since they don't have it on their site.

N3W hubs showed up on the Vanquish Pro and Vanquish Performance wheel web pages earlier this week. When I had contacted HED about these, they indicated that they had been having trouble sourcing the new lockrings require (but that customers could get their own lockrings), so they might not be including lockrings with their wheels yet.

[j_gantzer]

After a year on Ekar I still have my fingers crossed for an EPS version

[Wakatel_Luum]

Originally Posted by j_gantzer

After a year on Ekar I still have my fingers crossed for an EPS version

What's so bad about the mechanical version?

[grateful]

So I am continuing my new bike project (started with a Cinelli XA stem) and now have a frame (1994 Merlin Ti), a fork (IF steel-thank you steveoz) and wheels (Cinelli Protons-thank you guyintense).

My question is can I run Campy Ekar (without the disc brakes) on this old beast or do I need to stick with a FD?

Thanks

[Mark McM]

That's going to be difficult. Ekar shift levers only work with hydraulic brakes. There have been some hydraulic rim brakes calipers made, but they may not be compatible with either the levers or the the frame. For example, you could possibly try Magura hydraulic rim brake calipers, but only if the frame/fork has cantilever studs (and there's no guarantee the leverage ratios are compatible).

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by grateful

So I am continuing my new bike project (started with a Cinelli XA stem) and now have a frame (1994 Merlin Ti), a fork (IF steel-thank you steveoz) and wheels (Cinelli Protons-thank you guyintense).

My question is can I run Campy Ekar (without the disc brakes) on this old beast or do I need to stick with a FD?

Thanks

Only if you don't want to have brakes...EKAR is disc only. BUT, don't 'need' a FDer.

[Dave]

If this is a road bike, Ekar isn't a good choice. There are plenty of 12 speed options that can operate rim brakes. Most require a double crank and a FD, like any
Campy 12 mechanical group. Sram makes the XPLR group that's 1X with a 10-44 cassette, that can be operated with wireless brake/shift levers and operate rim brakes with Force levers.

[phishrabbi]

I'm still hoping that someone like Ratio technologies will create a 13 speed update hack for Chorus 12 speed right brifters, so you could use it with Ekar RD, cassette, and chain with a mechanical rim brakes.

[fredd]

Originally Posted by phishrabbi

I'm still hoping that someone like Ratio technologies will create a 13 speed update hack for Chorus 12 speed right brifters, so you could use it with Ekar RD, cassette, and chain with a mechanical rim brakes.

I emailed the folks at Ratio earlier this year and they said they hadn’t looked into campy as they felt there wouldn’t be enough demand.

[phishrabbi]

Originally Posted by fredd

I emailed the folks at Ratio earlier this year and they said they hadn’t looked into campy as they felt there wouldn’t be enough demand.

I wonder how many of us would have to sign up in advance in order to change their minds? It seems to me that the same principle involved in allowing SRAM 11 speed shifters to work with 12 speed would apply to Campy 12->13.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by phishrabbi

I'm still hoping that someone like Ratio technologies will create a 13 speed update hack for Chorus 12 speed right brifters, so you could use it with Ekar RD, cassette, and chain with a mechanical rim brakes.

Ratio has said they’re coming out with a 13s hack for SRAM levers to work with Ekar. No idea if that means it’d work with SRAM rim brake levers but the chance is reasonable given their 12s hack works with some of their rim brake levers.